...students of Mason College,Festac,Lagos...
INTRODUCTION TO LETTER-WRITING
If you ask examiners they will tell you that a very substantial part of essays marked are letters…formal or informal…the obvious reason is that students tend to regard letter-writing as a way out as opposed to the monumental task of crafting other brain-bursting essays inside the exam hall…is this due to ill preparation or laziness?…or is it due to examination tension and the temporary paralysis of the brain leading to inability to think of relevant points to put together for an impressionable score?…
We have already submitted a write up for narratives/ story telling and hope that tutors will make some effort at getting students to know how and why it is easy to construct narrative essays or tell stories under tension in an exam hall…we will follow this up by more technical notes on descriptive, argumentative essays…we shall also give notes on how to prepare for debates, craft speeches and have them delivered appropriately…it is obvious that the last bits will be more useful to students beyond their days for WAEC/NECO exams….isn’t it?
With reference to letter-writing it is one thing looking for the easiest way out and it is another eventually finding your self in a maze or getting caught like mouse in a trap!…our honest opinion is that most letters are mouse traps for students and their tutors need to let them know this.… why do we say so?
a…letters are the most technical of all the essay forms!…there is a list of content that must be seen and included in certain ways without which students can lose substantial marks…
b…letters hardly give examiners room for discretion or sympathy to students as in other forms of essay…
c…students hardly feel compelled to study the finer details of what is required for letters…the usual attitude is that they have written letters for long and should be able to accumulate “enough” marks with lesser effort than would have been expended on other forms of essay.
d…the advent of e-mails and net writing (such as we are presently using for this write-up) have ensured that students commit more spelling and punctuation mistakes which they don’t even realize … especially when writing informal letters!
…having said this what then are the essentials of letter-writing?…is there a check list for tutors and students to use for doing well in letter-writing?…please find below our humble submissions under layout,language and style for both formal and informal letters…
FORMAL LETTERS
1. Date.
2. Address of writer.
3. Designation of the addressee.
4. Company’s or Organization’s address in full.
5. Salutation.
6. Heading/Title.
7 .Reason for writing stating any reference or advert seen with name of source and date of publication if possible.
8. Tone of letter should show the respect or deference to the addressee if a senior or a person you expect some favor from…even if it is a letter of complaints on something you are angry about your words need to be diplomatic and never uncouth!
9. Short sentences are preferable.
10. AVOID GRAMMATICAL,PUNCTUATION AND SPELLING ERRORS (more notes on these coming up).
11. Balance the length of sentences and link your paragraphs.
12. Balance the number of sentences in each paragraph.
13, Apart from your introduction and conclusion use only 3-5 paragraphs with each expressing different ideas.
14. For conclusion restate the reason for writing.
15. State yours “faithfully” with small letter “f”.
16. Don’t forget to sign and write the name of the writer or your name.
INFORMAL LETTERS
1. Date.
2. Address of writer.
3. NO DESIGNATION OF THE ADDRESSEE TO BE INCLUDED!
4. Informal salutation such as Dear Daddy,Dear Uncle Wale or Dear Bobby
5. DON’T LET YOUR INQUIRY ABOUT HEALTH OR WELL-BEING OCCUPY MORE THAN A LINE!…SOME STUDENTS OFTEN DECEIVE THEMSELVES ASKING AFTER THE BABY,DOG OR EVEN THE FIGHT THEIR SISTER OR MOTHER HAD IN THE MARKET A FEW MONTHS BEFORE THE LETTER!…ALL IN A BID TO ACCUMULATE ENOUGH WORDS TO MEET THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF WORDS REQUIRED…its a wonder that students do not know or are not just prepared to know that such games are easily discoverable and promptly decoded with lesser marks.
6. A letter to a friend can be chatty and should reflect some measure of familiarity between two friends…tutors should please spend more time in giving examples to students because this is their Achilles heel as they tend to let go of their guard…very merrily!
7. Long sentences are allowed and can predominate…CONTRACTED FORMS SUCH AS WEREN’T,OR DON’T ARE ALSO ALLOWED (NOT ALLOWED FOR FORMAL LETTERS!)
8. Avoid the same errors from grammar,punctuations and spellings.
9. Balance the length of sentences and link your paragraphs.
10. Balance the number of sentences in each paragraph.
11. Apart from your introduction and conclusion use only 3-5 paragraphs with each expressing different ideas.
12. For conclusion restate the reason for writing.
13. For Yours sincerely,truly,lovingly etc those italicized words must start with a small letter.
14. No signature but first name of writer allowed.
15. Though colloquial expressions and slangs may be permitted know that they are very risky…also be careful about using new acceptable words such as femme fatale which might be known and approved more by markers from urban areas of the country…anyway,why risk words that are not likely to add more marks to your essay?
…for both formal and informal letters the tone should agree with the purpose of the letter…if it is for sympathy or condolence it should give comfort…even if it is a complaint against certain behavior it should show disapproval of such behavior without betraying annoyance or anger of the writer.
NOTE
Again,we wish to say that if in doubt the student should use the following questions as guide…what?…where?…when?…why?…how?…of the topic or subject…or just remember the nouns,verbs,adjective which are related to the subject matter …of course these are emergency measures against mental blankness…
Good luck!
APOLOGY
PLEASE FORGIVE OUR INDISCRIMINATE USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS ABOVE TO EMPHASIZE OUR POINTS.STUDENTS ARE TO NOTE THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE SUCH LIBERTY OR DISCRETION IN WAEC/NECO EXAMS
INTRODUCTION TO LETTER-WRITING
If you ask examiners they will tell you that a very substantial part of essays marked are letters…formal or informal…the obvious reason is that students tend to regard letter-writing as a way out as opposed to the monumental task of crafting other brain-bursting essays inside the exam hall…is this due to ill preparation or laziness?…or is it due to examination tension and the temporary paralysis of the brain leading to inability to think of relevant points to put together for an impressionable score?…
We have already submitted a write up for narratives/ story telling and hope that tutors will make some effort at getting students to know how and why it is easy to construct narrative essays or tell stories under tension in an exam hall…we will follow this up by more technical notes on descriptive, argumentative essays…we shall also give notes on how to prepare for debates, craft speeches and have them delivered appropriately…it is obvious that the last bits will be more useful to students beyond their days for WAEC/NECO exams….isn’t it?
With reference to letter-writing it is one thing looking for the easiest way out and it is another eventually finding your self in a maze or getting caught like mouse in a trap!…our honest opinion is that most letters are mouse traps for students and their tutors need to let them know this.… why do we say so?
a…letters are the most technical of all the essay forms!…there is a list of content that must be seen and included in certain ways without which students can lose substantial marks…
b…letters hardly give examiners room for discretion or sympathy to students as in other forms of essay…
c…students hardly feel compelled to study the finer details of what is required for letters…the usual attitude is that they have written letters for long and should be able to accumulate “enough” marks with lesser effort than would have been expended on other forms of essay.
d…the advent of e-mails and net writing (such as we are presently using for this write-up) have ensured that students commit more spelling and punctuation mistakes which they don’t even realize … especially when writing informal letters!
…having said this what then are the essentials of letter-writing?…is there a check list for tutors and students to use for doing well in letter-writing?…please find below our humble submissions under layout,language and style for both formal and informal letters…
FORMAL LETTERS
1. Date.
2. Address of writer.
3. Designation of the addressee.
4. Company’s or Organization’s address in full.
5. Salutation.
6. Heading/Title.
7 .Reason for writing stating any reference or advert seen with name of source and date of publication if possible.
8. Tone of letter should show the respect or deference to the addressee if a senior or a person you expect some favor from…even if it is a letter of complaints on something you are angry about your words need to be diplomatic and never uncouth!
9. Short sentences are preferable.
10. AVOID GRAMMATICAL,PUNCTUATION AND SPELLING ERRORS (more notes on these coming up).
11. Balance the length of sentences and link your paragraphs.
12. Balance the number of sentences in each paragraph.
13, Apart from your introduction and conclusion use only 3-5 paragraphs with each expressing different ideas.
14. For conclusion restate the reason for writing.
15. State yours “faithfully” with small letter “f”.
16. Don’t forget to sign and write the name of the writer or your name.
INFORMAL LETTERS
1. Date.
2. Address of writer.
3. NO DESIGNATION OF THE ADDRESSEE TO BE INCLUDED!
4. Informal salutation such as Dear Daddy,Dear Uncle Wale or Dear Bobby
5. DON’T LET YOUR INQUIRY ABOUT HEALTH OR WELL-BEING OCCUPY MORE THAN A LINE!…SOME STUDENTS OFTEN DECEIVE THEMSELVES ASKING AFTER THE BABY,DOG OR EVEN THE FIGHT THEIR SISTER OR MOTHER HAD IN THE MARKET A FEW MONTHS BEFORE THE LETTER!…ALL IN A BID TO ACCUMULATE ENOUGH WORDS TO MEET THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF WORDS REQUIRED…its a wonder that students do not know or are not just prepared to know that such games are easily discoverable and promptly decoded with lesser marks.
6. A letter to a friend can be chatty and should reflect some measure of familiarity between two friends…tutors should please spend more time in giving examples to students because this is their Achilles heel as they tend to let go of their guard…very merrily!
7. Long sentences are allowed and can predominate…CONTRACTED FORMS SUCH AS WEREN’T,OR DON’T ARE ALSO ALLOWED (NOT ALLOWED FOR FORMAL LETTERS!)
8. Avoid the same errors from grammar,punctuations and spellings.
9. Balance the length of sentences and link your paragraphs.
10. Balance the number of sentences in each paragraph.
11. Apart from your introduction and conclusion use only 3-5 paragraphs with each expressing different ideas.
12. For conclusion restate the reason for writing.
13. For Yours sincerely,truly,lovingly etc those italicized words must start with a small letter.
14. No signature but first name of writer allowed.
15. Though colloquial expressions and slangs may be permitted know that they are very risky…also be careful about using new acceptable words such as femme fatale which might be known and approved more by markers from urban areas of the country…anyway,why risk words that are not likely to add more marks to your essay?
…for both formal and informal letters the tone should agree with the purpose of the letter…if it is for sympathy or condolence it should give comfort…even if it is a complaint against certain behavior it should show disapproval of such behavior without betraying annoyance or anger of the writer.
NOTE
Again,we wish to say that if in doubt the student should use the following questions as guide…what?…where?…when?…why?…how?…of the topic or subject…or just remember the nouns,verbs,adjective which are related to the subject matter …of course these are emergency measures against mental blankness…
Good luck!
APOLOGY
PLEASE FORGIVE OUR INDISCRIMINATE USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS ABOVE TO EMPHASIZE OUR POINTS.STUDENTS ARE TO NOTE THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE SUCH LIBERTY OR DISCRETION IN WAEC/NECO EXAMS
