Composition-Rhetoric eBook

Stratton D. Brooks
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 464 pages of information about Composition-Rhetoric.

Composition-Rhetoric eBook

Stratton D. Brooks
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 464 pages of information about Composition-Rhetoric.
| Ohio. | | Box 129. |______________________________________________________ >
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|            Dr. James M. Postle
|                           De Kalb
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|             Miss Ida Morrison
|                          Chicago
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EXERCISE

Write proper superscriptions to letters written to the following:—­

1.  Thaddeus Bolton, living at 524 Q Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.

2.  The wife of a physician of your acquaintance.

3.  James B. Angell, President of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
    Michigan.

4.  Your mother, visiting some relative or friend.

5.  The publishers Allyn and Bacon, 878 Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Ill.

6.  Edward Harrington, living at 1962 Seventh Avenue, New York.

7.  To a friend at a seaside resort.

8.  To a friend visiting your uncle in Oakland, California.

+100.  The Great Rule of Letter Writing.+—­The great rule of letter writing is, Never write a letter which you would not be willing to see in print over your own signature.  That which you say in anger may be discourteous and of little credit to you, but it may in time be forgotten; that which you write, however, may be in existence an untold number of years.  Thousands of letters are now on exhibition whose authors never had such a use of them in mind.  If you ever feel like writing at the end of a letter, “Burn this as soon as you read it,” do not send it, but burn the letter yourself.  Before you sign your name to any letter read it over and ask yourself, “Is this letter in form and contents one which would do me credit if it should be published?”

+101.  Business Letters.+—­Since the purpose of business letters is to inform, they should, first of all, be characterized by clearness.  In asking for information, be sure that you state your questions so that there shall be no doubt in the mind of the recipient concerning the information that you desire.  In giving information, be equally sure to state facts so clearly that there can be no possibility of a mistake.

Brevity is the soul of business letters as well as of wit.  Business men are busy men.  They have no time to waste in reading long letters, but wish to gain their information quickly.  Hence we should aim to state the desired facts in as concise a manner as possible, and we should give only pertinent facts.  Short explanations may sometimes be necessary, but nothing foreign to the subject-matter should ever be introduced.  While we should aim to make our letters short, they should not be so brief as to appear abrupt and discourteous.  It shows lack of courtesy to omit important words or to make too frequent use of abbreviations.

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
Composition-Rhetoric from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.