Prewriting for Letter Assignment
1. Theme/Topic: (Choose: Education, Technology, Family, Health and Wellness)
2. Angle: Arguable topics are those that have at least two sides. Choose a side that you agree or disagree with.
3. Purpose and Thesis: The purpose identifies whether you're writing to support, refute, or extend the ideas of the publication to which you are responding. The thesis statement lets the reader know what to expect in your letter. To complete your thesis, start with a formula such as "I agree with [topic/issue/author] because..." OR "I do not agree with [topic/issue/author] because..."
4. Reader/Audience Profile
a. Readers' Expectations: Write down the specific expectations of readers of the publication and how you plan to accommodate them.
b. Readers' Values/Attitudes: Write down your readers' values and attitudes toward the issue and how they will influence your letter.
5. Context: Social and Political Influences: write down social and political influences of your reader and how you plan to consider them.
6. Personal Experiences: Do you have personal experience with the topic? Write them here.
7. Summarize/paraphrase specific arguments from the article you're responding to.
a. Summary or paraphrase Point 1 with correct APA citations.
b. Summary or paraphrase Point 2 with correct APA citations.
8. Quoted Material
a. Type word for word a memorable quotation you will use in your letter, "word for word in quotation marks."
b. Type word for word a memorable quotation you will use in your letter, "word for word in quotation marks."
Now, that you've completed the prewriting, you have all the raw materials you'll need to compose a letter to the editor.
Letter to the Editor on [Title or Topic Goes Here]
Start your letter with your introduction of a sentence or two; be sure to name the author of the article you're responding to as well as the entire title. Then add the purpose of your letter. End the paragraph with your thesis, which has your main idea plus the points you're going to use to prove the main idea.
Begin your first point here; it should match up with the first point from your thesis above. You may want to add a transitional phrase to help the reader along, such as first. Then spend the rest of this paragraph supporting this first point. You may blend your argument for this point with personal experience. Add a cited statement of summary or paraphrase somewhere in this paragraph. Follow up with analysis to demonstrate the connection between the cited material and the topic of the paragraph. Be focused in this paragraph on proving your point; exclude irrelevant ideas.
Begin your second point here; it should match up with the second point from your thesis above. You may want to add a transitional phrase to help the reader along, such as secondly. Then spend the rest of this paragraph supporting this second point. You may blend your argument for this point with personal experience. Add a cited statement of summary or paraphrase somewhere in this paragraph. Follow up with analysis to demonstrate the connection between the cited material and the topic of the paragraph.
Begin your third point here; it should match up with the third point from your thesis above. You may want to add a transitional phrase to help the reader along, such as finally. Then spend the rest of this paragraph supporting this third point. You may blend your argument for this point with personal experience. Add a cited statement of summary or paraphrase somewhere in this paragraph. Follow up with analysis to demonstrate the connection between the cited material and the topic of the paragraph. Be focused in this paragraph on proving your point; exclude irrelevant ideas.
Begin your conclusion here. Restate the main idea without direct repetition, meaning you will not just copy and paste your thesis again. End with a memorable line. Call upon your readers to act, either by doing or writing something. For this paragraph, limit your sentences to three or four. The length of letter is about two pages of text without the title or References page.