WI Chapter 6 Direct Request Letter Assignment

The  is looking for new Applied Learning Experiences (ALEs) for Tarleton students.  Dr. Barker, the director of the Center for Transformative Learning, wants to to expand the philanthropic and community relations and especially employee volunteerism.  She heard about a program through in which volunteers raise puppies until they are old enough to enter their guide dog training program.  Raising puppies for this organization might be an excellent ALE.  You have been asked to draft a letter from him requesting information about the program and ask questions that a student interested in raising a puppy might ask.  He doesnt have time to think about all the details and relies on you to raise other logical questions including who pays for the costs of raising a puppy.

Write a direct request letter to Joanna Smith, Volunteer Coordinator, Southeastern Guide Dogs, 4210 77th Street, Palmetto, FL 34221. 

WI Chapter 6 Direct Request Letter Rubric

The assignment is at the bottom. Beginning with the second small mistake, each small issue is worth .5 points.  Major issues (noted on the rubric) are a full point deduction.

Writing Techniques worth three points

Cultivate You view AND stress audience benefits.

Be conversational but professional.   *Ask yourself, Would I phrase it in this way if I were speaking to someone face to face?

Avoid unnecessary negative words.

Use plain but precise language.  

Develop parallelism in writing as well as in bulleted/numbered points.

Keep paragraphs short, and use a variety of sentences. 

Use an emphasis technique – Emphasis important information through mechanics or style.  Many opt to use bulleted points for one sentence questions.  Use category headings though to group related questions together.

Be concise. Avoid flabby expressions, long lead-ins, filler words, and redundancy.  *Not everything in the writing prompt is useful information for the reader of your letter.

Be clear.  Avoid trite business phrases, slang, buzzwords, and clichs. Dont bury verbs.

Grammar/Mechanics worth three points (grammar/mechanics rules in Appendix D are referenced)

Avoid: fragments and run-ons. * These are major issue (-1 point for each occurrence).

Check noun-verb agreement and pronoun case.

Use colons properly.  A list should always be preceded by a complete thought punctuated with a colon (2.17a).

Avoid comma mistakes:

• Use a comma before the conjunction for items in a series to ensure separation of the last two elements (2.01).
• Use a comma(s) to set off the second and succeeding elements of dates, address, and geographical items (2.04).
• Use a comma before and, or, nor, or but if the conjunction joins independent clauses/complete thoughts (2.05).
• Use a comma after an introductory dependent clause (2.06a).
• Use a comma after an introductory phrase if it has four or more words OR if it contains a verb form (2.07a).
• Do not use commas needlessly(2.15)
• Do not use a comma to join two independent clauses (comma splice).

Apply capitalization rules correctly:

• Within a sentence do not capitalize titles common titles that follow names or appear alone (3.06 c and d).
• Capitalize the names of departments within your own organization (3.09).

Apply dates rules properly – December 1 NOT December 1st (4.03).

Avoid spelling errors and typos

Letter Formatting worth 2 points See page 158

Do NOT use a template. 

Use left alignment with ragged right margins.

Use single-spacing within paragraphs, *inside address, and signature block.  Leave one blank line between paragraphs. *If it doesn’t appear to be single spacing, highlight the section, right click, choose paragraph, make sure it’s set to single spacing, and check the box that says to not add extra space to paragraphs of the same style.

Set margins at 1.5 inches for short letters (under 200 words) and 1 inch for longer letters (over 200 words).

Leave anywhere from two to ten blank lines following the date to balance the message on the page.

Use letterhead with *all necessary information and include an inside address. *See what information is provided and make up/look up the rest.

Include dateline (month spelled out, *day, and year) 1 blank line below letterhead.  *December 1 NOT December 1st (4.03)

Use proper salutation, complimentary close, and block style signature block for a letter on letterhead.        

Important – This assignment should not exceed one page.  Business writing should be concise and audience oriented.

Organization for Direct Request worth 2 points See page 159

Ask the most important question or express a polite command in the first sentence. (Major issue -1 point)

Explain the request *logically and courteously next. *You must research Applied Learning Experience on the Tarleton website and think about how it relates to this direct request in order to explain the request.

Address the specific question from writing prompt and add other logical questions.

Request an action with a specific end date in the closing.

Include a reason for the *end date in the closing. *December 1 NOT December 1st (4.03)

Show appreciation in the closing.

Important – The writing plan on page 153 does NOT mean you should have three paragraphs.  Some students will be able to write this very concisely in less than three paragraphs; others students, in more than three paragraphs.  The opening, body, and closing indicate the necessary order of information.

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