two emails
Readings
“I’m Not Going to Be a Writer”
You may not be entering a field in which you are a professional communicator, but in whatever field you enter, you are a communicating professional.
What Does it Mean to Write in My Field?
To effectively enter your voice in conversation with others in your field, it is important to understand how the conversation is taking place and what the topics of discussion are. In professional writing, one of the most common ways to understand that conversation is by reviewing publicly available documents like reports and websites. Analyze these documents helps you to understand common conventions of both genre and language that are used within your field.
Is There Anything Common to All Fields?
Yes! Elements of a genre (such as reports) generally remain the same across fields, but those elements may be arranged differently. Lab reports, for example, may vary in structure and content from police reports or financial reports, but they all include areas that function in similar ways. Additionally, knowing how to write an effective email is important in all fields.
Be sure to read chapters 10 and 18! These chapters will help you complete the assignments for this module as well.
Write Two Emails
Draft two emails that include to and cc field and subject lines in each. Submit them together in a single document ( x or ). Be sure to include the standard email information like this:
From:
To:
CC:
Subject:
(and then just type the body here!)
This assignment will be graded based on the rubric below. Be sure to review the rubric before completing and submitting the assignment.
Email One
In your first email, respond to the following situation: It is Wednesday evening. You have a major assignment due on Friday. You’ve been working on this project for two weeks, and are on-track to complete the assignment on time.
That’s when disaster strikes! Your beloved cat Muffin has just spilt your tea all over your computer, rendering it useless. While you always back up your work, you won’t have access to another computer until tomorrow.
You know that the instructor’s late work policy reflects no late work is accepted unless students email them ahead of the due date with a reasonable and unavoidable cause for needing an extension (so not something that should have been planned for in advance or simple forgetfulness). Draft an email that asks for a reasonable extension on the assignment. Be sure your tone matches the intended audience. Include details that support your request.
Email Two
In your second email, respond to the following situation: You work in a jewelry store as a front line salesperson. Your supervisor has forwarded you the following email from an upset customer and asked you to respond (your name would be anywhere you see NAME). The warranty covers replacement in terms of irreparable breaks and scratches that happen in the course of normal wear and tear, but it does not cover replacement of water-resistant watches that are submerged underwater for extended periods of time.
Dear Jordan,
I was so excited to have the money finally saved up to purchase a new watch when I visited your store three months ago. NAME listened to what I wanted and found me what I thought was the perfect watch – low-maintenance and beautiful. However, as I’ve gone about my regular activities, the watch has become scratched, and one of the links has broken twice. With each of these situations, I’ve been able to send my watch in to the repair center and had it quickly returned to me good as new. Recently, though, my watch stopped working after I had gone for a swim with it on. The repair center says that it cannot replace it under the warranty. NAME told me that the warranty I bought would cover replacements.
I feel cheated, and want a refund!
Jack Miller
You know that you did
explicitly and
thoroughly explain what the warranty covered, and that you should not expose your employer to any additional liability simply because a customer has misunderstood the warranty. However, you also know that you want to keep Mr. Miller as a customer.
Compose a bad news letter (be sure to watch the lesson videos) of at least three paragraphs and all additional letter elements (salutation, close, etc.); you do not need to include the physical address for either the jewelry store or the customer.
Two Emails Rubric
| Two Emails Rubric | ||||||||||
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Criteria |
Ratings |
Pts |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeEmail One – Reasonable Request One extra day would probably cover it, and is most likely to be granted by the instructor. |
5 pts Excellent 4 pts Great 3 pts Good 2 pts Needs Improvement 1 pts Unclear 0 pts Missing |
5 pts | ||||||||
|
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeEmail One – Tone You’ve known your instructor for a while, and a casual tone is probably okay. That said, you also don’t want to come across as disrespectful or sloppy. Good punctuation, thoughtful word choice, but not excessively fluffy wording or word choice would probably be best. |
10 pts Excellent 8 pts Great 6 pts Good 4 pts Needs Improvement 2 pts Unclear 0 pts Missing |
10 pts | ||||||||
|
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeEmail One – Details Everything is an argument, and in this email you are technically arguing that your request for an extension is justified, both because the syllabus allows it and because you could use a little grace. After all, who thought Muffin would want a sip of your oolong tea? Mentioning details from the syllabus will also help remind your professor that you’ve met all their criteria for this extension. |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeEmail Two – Empathy Sure, Mr. Miller might have forgotten some of the details about the warranty, but you want to prove to him first that you really do understand how irritating it would be not only to lose a watch you really liked, but then to also be wrong about something. He may be wrong, but if you don’t empathize, he’ll feel like you are brushing him off. |
15 pts Excellent 12 pts Great 9 pts Good 6 pts Needs Improvement 3 pts Unclear 0 pts Missing |
15 pts | ||||||||
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeEmail Two – Details Along with empathy for the emotional state the loss of the expensive and reliable watch has caused, you also want to establish that you do, in fact, know all of the facts. If you jump straight to the denial of the claim, Mr. Miller might think that it’s because you don’t really know what’s going on. Establishing that you do know the facts helps support your argument. |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeEmail Two – Denial The hard part. |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeEmail Two – Positive The shift to the positive usually relies on a store policy or something sales people are allowed to offer as a small bonus or deal. Waiters can sometimes comp dessert, bankers can sometimes waive fees, and sales people can sometimes offer discounts. |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeEmail Two – Close Be nice. Encourage him to come in. Situations like this, where the customer expects a nasty fight, are where the art is. You don’t just want to keep a customer for the store; you want a customer who comes back to this store because they trust you. |
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Total Points: 100 |
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Formatting
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