Question Description

2 Business Letters and 1 Memo = 3 Pieces here total

Introduction:  Having now read a few preliminary chapters for ENG 333, you understand that there are various forms of professional communication such as business letters, memos, and emails, just to name a few.  As your text makes clear, the clarity, style, and tone of your communication are of the utmost importance, regardless of which form that communication takes. 

The first formal project in this course asks you to keep these concerns foremost in your mind as you create 2 business letters and 1 memo.  You will be wearing three different “hats” for this assignment, that of a consumer, a manager, and an employee.   Here’s the scoop:

#1:  Business Letter 1 is an unfortunate issue or difficulty letter (sometimes called a “complaint” letter) of your choice.  Search your memory for time when you purchased something—either a product or a service—that did not meet your expectations (I’ve provided a sample scenario for you below). Play the role of a dissatisfied / disappointed consumer who is now asking that the product be replaced. Address your letter to a specific person (make it up) who is the Manager of the Customer Service department of the product’s company, and include each of the following small paragraphs in your “issue” letter:

• Background:  Briefly describe the situation. (Something like, “I have been a long-time customer of your print shop and have always appreciated the great work you do on my keyboard instruction manuals.  Now, however, I find it necessary to contact you regarding my displeasure with my most recent order for manuals.”)
• Problem:  Address both the cause of the problem and its effect.  a. cause (such as, “I have found 16 spelling errors and 4 mis-labelled diagrams in the 25 manuals that I ordered.”)   b. effect (such as, “This large number of errors is unacceptable, and I am therefore unable to include these manuals with my keyboard sales.”)   
• Solution:  Tell them clearly what you want them to do.(Something like, “I have enclosed a copy of the manual with all of the errors highlighted.  I would appreciate your reprinting the manuals and sending them to me by next Friday.”) 
• Wrap-up:  Wind down the letter in professional way. (Something like, “I would appreciate hearing from you so that I know the new manuals will be in production.” 
• Make up an address / company if you need to for the inside address, append an appropriate greeting and closing, and arrange all other facets of the business letter the way your book shows you.  See Chpt. 11.  I would also like to see you utilize the semicolon at least once or twice in your letter.
• Pay particular attention to issues of wording and tone!  Your goal is to achieve a positive resolution here—not to come across as some irate consumer who just wants to rant and rave.  Use your wording in such a way that invites the reader to want to interact with you—to want to make things right for you.  In other words, use your diplomacy skills!  Be assertive, but in a friendly way.  If you alienate your reader, you likely won’t be getting the solution that you’re seeking.

#2:  Business Letter 2 is an information letter alerting consumers to the recall of a popular but dangerous dehumidifier.  Begin your work on this letter by reading the following scenario:

The scenario:  You are the Vice President of Production at Kittness Heating and Cooling Manufacturing Co. This morning you got the news that your most popular dehumidifier, Tampa Glade, is being recalled because an internal switch can overheat and cause a fire hazard.  You have received 23 reports of the dehumidifiers catching fire.  One consumer even had a minor burn on his hand. The design engineers are working on a new design, and you halted production at the plant in China until a new design in approved.  You hope to get the new design in production in time for spring sales, but that is not guaranteed.  The model number for Tampa Glade is KHC-2023.  Customers can return the dehumidifiers to the stores where they purchased them or ship the humidifier directly to your warehouse with a form that you will post on your company website. 

Okay!  So that’s the situation—it’s not a good one to find yourself in as a vice president, but it’s your job to communicate to your customers in careful, reassuring terms what needs to happen here.

·  Now create an outline of what you think your paragraphs should be (the basic outline for Business Letter 1 might work, but you will probably want to add / modify some sections or two).  Also, do not turn in your outline—that’s just to help you create your letter!

·  Supply consumers with an address (make it up) where they can ship back their current machines.  Add any details you wish to your letter, but do not go on to the second page. 

·  Be succinct but detailed enough to avoid any confusion.  Remember, tone is everything here:  you want to come across to readers as concerned and on top of the situation, but you don’t want to scare anyone (in particular, ask yourself which details from the scenario would be better off omitted!!  You knowing all the dirty details is one thing, but choosing to disclose those dirty details to your customers is something else entirely!). 

·  Be workable and eager to help your customers with this (annoying) consumer issue, but exude strength, clarity, and confidence about what you’re asking them to do and why. Yes, this balance can be hard to strike, but you’ll be fine so long as your word choice is extremely deliberate.  I strongly suggest giving your completed Business Letter 2 to a few people to read when you’re done.  Ask them about the tone of the letter (it is very difficult to critique your own tone because the writer is frequently too close to the material to “hear” that tone accurately).  Let a friend (or a tutor at the Writing Center) read the letter and offer some feedback; tweak the word choice accordingly.  Also see pg. 292, the top for some helpful checklist-type questions.  If you have read Ch. 11 thoroughly, you should be able to navigate this second, slightly technical-in-nature business letter without too much angst.

#3:  The Memo asks you to assume the role of a university employee, an instructor in the history department.  A colleague, Adam, has sent you an office memo inviting you to be a guest lecturer to his African-American Culture class.  The group is in the middle of their unit on Civil Rights leaders, and you happen to be an expert on the writings of both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Unfortunately, you will be away at a conference on the proposed classroom visit date, so you need to decline the invitation. You do enjoy talking about this particular facet of American history, so you would be happy to speak to Adam’s class another time, perhaps the first week of March.  You’d like for Adam to review his schedule and let you know so that you can lock it in.  Write a memo communicating these details and any other details you like, and follow the conventions for memo writing as outlined in Chapter 11.

Pulling it All Together