Session 10 writing formal and informal letters

a-What are the parts of a letter?

We write letters for different purposes such as complaint, invitation, apology, application, giving or asking for advice. The most important element of writing a good letter is your ability to identify and write to your audience. If you are writing a letter to your love interest, it will be crafted in an entirely different manner than if you are writing a letter to the human resources department of a large corporation. Learning to write a good letter also takes practice, knowledge about proper form and the ability to put into words your feelings, thoughts, and/or ideas. If you learn the basic parts of a letter, it will help you to create letters for a variety of audiences and occasions. Here are the parts of a letter:

1-Your address
At the top right of your letter, you will put your address, so the reader will know where to send their reply to.

2-Date
Put the date on which the letter was written in the format Month Day Year i.e. June, 7, 2014.

3-Inside Address
The inside address is only required for a business letter and will include the address of the person you are writing to along with the name of the recipient, their title and company name. If you are not sure who the letter should be addressed to either leave it blank or try to put in a title, i.e. "Director of Human Resources".

4-The Greeting
The greeting will address the individual that the letter is being sent to. This is usually completed in the form of "Dear Anne" or "Hey Anne", for less formal letters.

5-The Introductory Paragraph
The first paragraph and will generally outline the purpose for the letter and the reason that the letter is being sent, that is to say the  introduction should clearly state the reason you are writing   . This can address any issues that are outstanding and is used to set the tone for the entire rest of the letter. In this first paragraph, the summary of the letter can be found and the intentions which will be displayed through the rest of the letter should be outlined. From the first paragraph of the letter, the introductory paragraph, the individual should be able to note the tone of the letter.

6-The Body
The body of the letter will expand upon the introductory paragraph and the individual can extend their thoughts and feelings further when it comes to the letter. The body of the letter can be anywhere from multiple pages for personal letters, to one page or two pages for most business letters and other types of proposals. In this part of the letter, the subject is developed

7-The Closing
In the closing of the letter, the individual will close the letter and finish any thoughts that have been mentioned. It is something like a      final paragraph in which you sum up the topic or express your wish for something to be done

8- An appropriate ending (Yours/Best wishes, + first name, Yours sincerely, Yours faithfully, + full name).

b-The characteristics of formal and informal styles in letters.

The characteristic of formal style in letters are:

- The greeting (Dear Mrs Lee, Dear Sir,)

- Frequent use of the passive

- Formal language ( complex sentences, non-colloquial English)

- No abbreviated forms

- The ending (Yours sincerely,/Yours faithfully)

The characteristic of informal style in letters are:

- The greeting (Dear Alex, Dear Dad)

- Informal language and style (idioms, colloquial English)

- Abbreviated forms, pronouns omitted

- The ending (Yours/Love/Best wishes/Regards,Anthony)

 REMEMBER!!!

- Informal (friendly) letter have only one address (yours) whereas formal

Letters have two (yours and the recipient's)

- Friendly letters begin with Dear + first name and end with Love/Yours/Best wishes + first name

- Formal letters begin with:

a) Dear Sir/Madam and end with Yours faithfully + full name

b) Dear Mr/Mrs + surname and end with Yours sincerely + full name

- Semi-formal letters can begin with Dear Mr/Mrs + surname and end Best wishes/Yours + first

name/full name

 Here is an example of a friendly letter:

   Write a letter to your friend Susan telling her about your summer holiday and how you spend the weekends. Your name is Ann and your address is 506 Country Lane, North Baysville, CA 53286

                                             506 Country Lane
                                                              North Baysville, CA 53286
                                       July 16, 2007

Dear Susan,

It feels like such a long time since the last time I saw you. I know it's only been several weeks since I saw you. So far my summer has been great!

I spend my all my weekends at the beach. I am getting a nice tan and you can no longer say I am paler than you. I have been playing lots of volleyball, surfing and building a nice collection of sea shells. Just this past weekend I took second place in a sandcastle building contest!

On the weekdays I work. I drive an ice cream truck around and sell ice cream to the kids. It is so cool. It is a combination of the two things I love most, ice cream and kids. The pay isn't too great but I love the job so much.

I hope the summer's been going well for you too. There's only a month and a half left in summer vacation and after that it's back to school. Would you like to meet up some time before school starts?
Your friend,

Ann

P.S. John Austin says hi.