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ENG 111: College Composition I (Nayak-Loudoun)

Tips to help with your Open Letter assignment. Guide by Eliza Selander, Librarian. Send questions to eselander@nvcc.edu

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Assignment: An Open Letter Presentation

For this assignment, you and your group will present an Open Letter addressed to an individual/group of individuals about an issue that you think is a problem, and you will suggest directives to this individual/group to do something about it.

Length of presentation: about 20 minutes

Key Components and Organization: X, Y, Z

  • We wish X person/people
  • knew about Y problem
  • and would do Z about it
  1. Determine your X (to whom you are writing), Y (the problem you want to highlight) Z (what the individual/group can do about it.)
    1. Identify who you want to address the letter to (X); keep in mind why you are writing to this individual/group of individuals. (This will be the addressee)
    2. Identify the Y—the problem
    3. Develop an introduction (hook + problem).
      1. The group will need to formulate at least four/five sub issues within the larger problem (Y). (These will be the main points, and these will need to be substantiated with evidence from credible sources)
    4. Establish what directives or solutions you want to give to this individual/group about what he/she/they can do about the problem (Z)
      1. The group will need to identify at least two or three directives. (These will also be your main points and will need evidence)
  2. Keep in mind that the main points will need to be fully analyzed with support from sources and with an equal measure of ethos, pathos, and logos.

RESEARCH

  1. The presentation will require at least eight substantial pieces of evidence from at least Eight sources.  (NOTE: The group will need to have a source bank of about fifteen sources)
    1. The sources must be credible and academic.
    2. They can be newspaper, journals, magazines, books, etc. 
    3. These can include images and videos
    4. You can only use the library databases for this assignment
  2. These sources must support the points you make in Y (the problem) and in Z (the directives you suggest). (You can include evidence in the introduction, as well)
  3. This evidence will add to the ethos and logos that you want to establish in your letter
  4. Make sure you cite the sources accurately in both in the in-text (included in the slides) and Works Cited (last slide).