Letter Writing

LETTER WRITING

-    A letter is a written communication between friends, family members, business associates, applicants, prospective employers, etc.

-    The structure, language and organization of a letter will depend on what the letter is all about and to whom it is written.

 

TYPES OF LETTER.

1   Informal: written generally to somebody one is close to such as friends, family members, etc.

2   Formal: written to somebody one is not particularly close to.

-    They include, applications, letters of complaints, business letters and all other forms of official letters.

Features of a Letter

i    The address (or addresses in respect of a formal letter)

ii   Salutation.

iii  Caption (formal letters only.)

iv  The body of the letter.

v   The style .

vi  The subscription.

vii Signature (formal letters only.)

The Address

-    It should be properly punctuated.

-    The head letters of each word in the address should be in capital letter.

-    Each word in the address should be written in full, except for universally accepted abbreviations.

-    The country of residence of writer need not be included except the letter is not within the same country.

-    Addresses could be written in block (straight) or slanting form.

-    Be consistent in your address (if you decide to use the straight form, do not mix it up with the slanting; if you want to punctuate, punctuate all through.)

-    The informal letter contains a single address, usually written at the top right hand side of the letter.

-    The formal letter contains two addresses- that of the sender at the top right hand corner of the letter; while the receiver’s address comes immediately after the sender’s at the left hand corner.

-    In formal letters, only the sender’s address should contain a date.

-    In formal letters, if the sender’s address is punctuated, the receiver’s own should also be punctuated and vice versa.

Salutation

-    This is the greeting.

-    It comes at the left hand corner, just after the address.

-    In informal letters, specific names of people one is writing to could be used because one is expected to know them very well and be close to them.

-    There should be a comma immediately after the greeting.

E.g.   Dear Uncle, Dear Uncle B, Dearest Mary, Dear Sister Mary, My dear Mary, My Dearest Mary.

-    When a common noun like sister, uncle, lady, father, mother, etc, becomes part of a person’s name, it should begin in a capital letter.

E.g.   Dear Uncle James, Dear Brother John, My dearest Sister Blessing.

-    In formal letters, the salutation should be formal because you are writing to somebody not too close to you.

E.g.   Dear Sir, Dear Madam, Sir, Madam, Dear Mr. John, etc.

The Body

-    The body of every letter should be in paragraphs.

-    Each paragraph should contain a specific idea which should be introduced by the topic sentence in the paragraph.

-    There should be several supporting sentences, all highlighting the topic sentence.

-    Each paragraph should be linked to the other by appropriate transitory words or phrases.

The Style

-    The language of an informal letter is conversational

-    Simple words and sentences are expected to be used.

-    Slang could be used if one is writing to one’s peer; but if it is to an older person, this should be avoided.

-    Contracted forms like we’ll, I’d, I’ll, he’d, etc are encouraged.

-    Be consistent with a spelling pattern – Do not mix American spelling with that of British.

-    Exchange of pleasantries is mandatory in informal letters, but leave it to the very end as marks will only be awarded for points made.

-    As for formal letters, the language is as formal as the name.

-    Slang and contracted forms of words are not acceptable.

-    Exchange of pleasantries is not acceptable.

-    A letter to an Editor of a newspaper is a formal letter and should assume all the formal features of a formal letter.

-    An article for publication in a newspaper, on the other hand, is an essay and should be written as one.

The Subscription

-    In informal letters, the subscription should b friendly.

-    Subscriptions like “Yours sincerely”, “Yours truly”, “Yours affectionately” followed by your first name should be used.

-    In formal letters, “Yours faithfully”, followed by a signature and your name should be used.

-    The “Yours” in both formal and informal letter subscription should begin with a capital letter, while the faithfully” or “sincerely” should start with small letters.

-    There should also be a comma after them and a full stop after names.

-    A formal letter should carry a title or caption.

-    The caption could be written in small letters or capital letters.

SPEECHES

-    Speeches should be written in the style that will sustain the interest, sympathy or support, as the case may be, of one’s audience.

Essential Features of a Speech

1   Title

-    This should give out information on what the speech is all about, who the speaker is and the occasion of the speech.

E.g.   A speech presented by the president of the English students’ Association, during the send off ceremony of the final year students.

2   Introduction

-    This should show who the speech is meant for and the composition of the audience arranged in a descending order of importance.

-    Locatives are therefore, essential aspects of speeches.

E.g.   The Provost, Head of Departments, Lecturers, Fellow Students, Ladies and gentlemen.

3   Body

-    The right words should be used appropriately.

-    The topic and the composition of the audience should determine your choice of words.

-    Use the appropriate figurative languages, like rhetorical questions, similes, metaphors, etc to drive home your points and to elicit the expected response.

REPORTS

-    Reports are accounts of things that actually took place.

-    In writing the report of an incident or event, you are trying to give your own account as an eye witness or from the information you gathered from people during investigation.

-    Your report should therefore provide somebody who was not there with an accurate account of what actually took place.

-    Reports could be special or simply a routine.

-    An example of a special report is when you are commissioned to investigate an incident and submit your findings.

-    An example of a routine report is that given by an organization to its members or shareholders, on a regular basis, to intimate them of the progress, or otherwise, of the organization.

-    Reports should be written in such a way as to contain limited number of all the basic elements.

The Essentials of a Report

i    The purpose should be made clear in the title.

ii   The terms of reference should contain the main gist of the report.

iii  The report should give the relevant information required by the terms of reference.

iv  The introduction should give the limit and scope of the report.

v   The information should be accurate, concise and lucid.

vi  The subject should be arranged in an appropriate logical sequence.

vii The report should be free from ambiguous words, phrases, sentences and abstract vocabularies.

viii     Words that will hold the interest of the reader should be used.

ix  It should be free from grammatical errors.

x   The tone should be appropriate –  personal comments should, as much as possible, be avoided.

xi  Unfamiliar terms in the report should be explained, either as soon as they are introduced, or at the footnote.

xii Abbreviations should be explained.

xiii     The conclusion should summarize the basic purpose of the report.

MINUTES

-    This is a permanent record of a business transacted at a meeting.

-    It is simply a record of the business done and the decisions reached.

-    Only important points raised should be recorded and irrelevant details omitted.

-    The past tense and the passive voice are generally used.

Essential Elements of a minute

i    The type of meeting should be stated.

ii   Date, time and place of meeting should be indicated.

iii  The chairman of the meeting should be identified.

iv  Names of those who attended, especially, if they are not too many and the apologies for absentees.

v   The minutes of the last meeting must be read and adopted.

vi  Matters arising from the minutes of the last meeting.

vii Resolutions arrived at.

viii     Any other business not included in the agenda. (A.O.B).

THE SENTENCE

v   This is a group of words that make complete thought or sense.

Elements of a sentence

v   Traditionally a sentence is broken into two major components:

The Subject and Predicate

1        Subject

v   The part of the sentence that performs the action

v   It is usually a noun or a noun equivalent

v   Usually , it begins a sentence

v   In interrogative sentences, however, it can change its position .

Example of Subjects

(i)                Joy (noun)                               (ii) The rich ( implied noun)   

(iii)    They (pronoun)                      (iv) To travel (infinitive + to)

(v)     Traveling (gerund)         (vi) Whoever is there (phrase / clause)       

2        The Predicate

v   This is the part of the sentence that says something about the subject.

v   Usually, it is a finite verb or must contain one.

E.g. (i) is sleeping                    (ii) cries                (iii) did it

          (iv) it is a beautiful exercise              (v) is fun     (vi) is my brother

v   Combining subjects and predicates (examples)

Subject                                    Predicate

Joy                                          is sleeping

The rich                                   cries

They                                        did it

Whoever is there                     is my brother        etc

v   It should be note that apart from the finite verb, the predicate also has other attachments or words like the objects, complements and adjuncts.

3      The Object

v   This is the word that tells what or who receives the action

v   Like the subject, it can be a noun or a noun equivalent

E.g. Peter kicked the ball

Victor ate the food

4        Complement

v   This is a word or phrase that follows a verb.

v   It usually describes the subject of the verb.

E.g.   Subject                         Predicate

          John                               is the student union president

          Victor                            the editor of Daily Times

          John                               is happy

          Victor                            is a teacher

5        The Adjunct

v    This is a word or phrase that is joined to another part of a sentence to add meaning to the sentence

E.g.   Subject                 Predicate              Complement        Adjunct

He                        can read                newspapers          (very) rapidly

He                        sits                       -                            in the sun (daily)

v    It should be noticed from the foregoing, that the traditional division of a sentence has changed.

v    Thus, a sentence now comprises of:

Subject (S), Verb (V), Object (O), Complement (C), Adjunct (A)

v    Not all sentences, however, must contain all the elements

v    A sentence could still make complete sense without the object, adjunct or complement.

E.g. (i) she died              (ii) she sings,         etc.

Types of Sentences (Based on Structure)

1        Simple Sentence:

*        This is one that has a single subject and a predicate.

*        Simple sentences have only one major idea and one finite verb.

E.g.   (i) Girls dance       (ii) The boys fought       (iii) We ate dinner

2        Compound sentence

*        This is made up of two simple sentences.

*        There are usually, two main ideas and two finite verbs.

E.g.   (i) John went to the stream and he fetched some water

          (ii) Kemi travelled to Jos and she brought Funmi to Lagos

3        Complex sentence

*        This is made up of a main clause and one or more subordinate or dependent clauses.

E.g.   (i) Femi went to the market and bought oil, for cooking dinner.

          (ii) Kemi travelled to Jos and brought Funmi, to live with us

4        Compound Complex Sentences

*        These contain two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses:

E.g.   John went to the stream and he fetched a bucket of water, which he used, to wash his clothes

                  Types of sentence (Based on Function)     

1        Declarative

*        These are assertive statements.

*        They usually begin with the subject, which is followed by the predicate and end in a full stop.

E.g.   (i) she is dancing (ii) Femi is going to Jos

2        Interrogative

*        These are statements that ask questions.

*        In this types of statement, the position of the subject changes.

*        It ends with a question mark (?)

E.g.   (i) Is he dancing? (ii) Where did you go?   (iii)    What do you want?

3        Imperative

*        They are used to express requests or issue commands.

*        The subject of this type of sentence is usually “you”, but it is usually implied.

E.g.   (i) Get out of my way.             (you, get out of my way)

          (ii) Pass the salt please.  (you, pass the salt please)

4        Exclamatory

*        They express excitements or strong feelings.

*        They usually  end with exclamation marks (!)

E.g.   (i) Oh God, I pulled it !

          (ii) God, what a day!