Dr. Mark Jordan ~ ENGL 2311: Technical Writing Letter Assignment: An Arguable Claim This is another of various letters you will write; as described in my list of course requirements, these letters, when averaged together, will make up 15% of your course grade. As you will have noticed by now, some letters tie in to a longer document; some do not. This one does not. You will probably be asked to compose roughly half a dozen letters, total, so each one is fairly important to this portion of your course grade. Unless you are a local student, I want you to submit these letters by actually mailing them to me. If you can easily drop it off at my office, then do that rather than mail it, but the only difference will be that you do not need a stamp on the envelope. An arguable claim letter is basically the same thing as a letter of complaint. For background on this type of letter, you should read Chapter Nineteen, page 433, which discusses arguable claim letters and gives you an example of one. In general, such a letter requests specific remedies for things like defective products bought, poor services, unfair treatment, and so forth. Such a letter must be persuasive, respectful in tone, and should always be very specific about how your complaint can be resolved to your satisfaction. It should be persuasive because you as writer must realize that the recipient will probably have a view of the matter which is likely to conflict with yours; thus you need to convince the recipient that your claim is valid. The letter should be respectful in tone simply because any person is more likely to work with you when that person does not feel personally attacked. And your letter should end with a request for specific action because otherwise, the action which seems obvious to you may not seem obvious to the recipient. Don't just "vent," in other words. The above-mentioned page also gives these more specific suggestions: First, establish agreement--some common ground you can agree on. This sets the right tone. Next, carefully present the facts to support your claim. Do not let your tone become sarcastic or accusatory, and be sure to include all relevant information. Lastly, request a specific action which will satisfy you, and mention a suitable response time. For this specific assignment, you will compose a letter presenting an arguable claim of your choice. That is, you must pick some situation to write about. To do so, think of some actual disagreement you have had with some company or organization or perhaps a specific representative of some organization. If you can use an actual situation complete with company name, individual's name to send the letter to, and so forth, then use that; if not you will need to imagine a company name, etc. But if you can recall some actual situation to at least loosely base your letter on, then this assignment will be more useful to you. (Obviously, even if you base the letter on an actual and current complaint you have, you do not have to actually send the letter to whomever you are complaining to, though you could.) Requirements Type in 12-point font (Times New Roman is good; other choices are possible) on white paper. However, 11-point is acceptable if space is a problem. Ragbond is not necessary for the paper. Unlike the previous letters, which were written by you as an individual and not as representing some company, you may write this letter either as a private individual or as a representative of your company. If writing on behalf of some company or organization, you should write on a company letterhead. Address, if possible, to a particular, appropriate individual by name and title (example: Ms. Emma Jones, Director of Marketing), or if that is not possible, use an attention line when not addressed to an individual by name (Attention: Director of Marketing). See page 422. You may also wish to use a subject line if you use an attention line; see page 425. Write no more than one page; longer letters usually go unread. Write with an appropriate arguable claim situation in mind. Write in either block or modified block style. Show familiarity (spacing, punctuation, and wording) with the basic seven parts of a letter (date, return address, inside address, salutation, text of letter, closing, and name--both signed and typed) Use three-part style (intro, body, conclusion) for the text of the letter. Introduce yourself (or remind the r eader of who you are) and state your purpose in the introductory paragraph (only several sentences). Make your detailed argument in a several-paragraph main body. Then in the concluding paragraph, tell what remedy will satisfy you, and state a desired timetable for it. Give other means to contact you if you wish. Your envelope must include full return address, accurate mailing address to me, and preferably should be typed, but if your computer makes this very difficult (as some do), I will not penalize for a handwritten envelope On the more subtle level, your letter should strive for the desired tone: respectful, clear, but firm. Grading Criteria Satisfies the above requirements Properly uses either block or modified block letter style, and the customary seven elements All parts well proofed for any errors Uses the standard second-person form of address ("you," either stated or understood, as needed) Letter text shows awareness of the various aspects of this writing situation (need to introduce yourself, need for clear account of the claim, and so on) Method of Submission You may not email or fax your letter to me; you must either surface-mail it or hand-deliver it, in either case folded properly in an envelope. See above requirements for the envelope. Mail your letter to Dr. Mark Jordan, c/o Odessa College, 201 W. University Blvd., Odessa, TX, 79764. ("c/o" means "in care of.") Due Date Your letter must be postmarked or hand-delivered to me by no later than Monday, October 11th, to receive full credit.

markwjordan@earthlink.net work: 432.335.6549 home: 432.332.5847 fax: 432.335.6559 surface mail c/o Odessa College, 201 W. University, Odessa TX 79764