Letter Creation Assignments
You do not need to do all the letter creation assignments, only the ones assigned by your
teacher.
Letter#1:
PERSONAL LETTER ASSIGNMENT
(5 MARKS - APPLICATION)
Instructions:
Compose a personal letter to a friend or relative. It must be in a PERSONAL LETTER
format. It should be four paragraphs long. Make sure you sign your name after the
complimentary closing (using a Script font). The letter should be full blocked. Use
today’s date. On your PERSONAL Letterhead.
Content ideas:

Talk about the recent holiday.

Describe your favorite vacation destination.

Talk about your favorite sports team.

Describe your plans for next summer.

Talk about what is happening with you at your school.
Have someone proof-read you document to ensure there are no errors.
Letter#2:
WRITING A BUSINESS LETTER – COMPLAINING ABOUT POOR
SERVICE
Write a letter to a restaurant manager, complaining about the poor service you have
received when you went out for dinner with your family.
Use the PERSONAL BUSINESS format and SEMI-BLOCK style on your FAMILY
Letterhead.
 3 paragraphs
 Describe the problems encountered.
 Remember to include all the elements of a business letter (e.g. heading, date, inside
address, salutation, closing, signature)
 You are writing this letter. Therefore include your address in the heading of the
letter.
 The content of the letter should be professional and business-like.
 Pay attention to spelling and grammar!
Have someone proof-read you document to ensure there are no errors.
Letter#3:
PERSONAL BUSINESS LETTER ASSIGNMENT
Instructions:
Write a PERSONAL BUSINESS letter. The situation is as follows:
You purchased a brand new 25 inch Sony Television at Dion’s Appliance Store, 1935
Hurontario Street, Mississauga, Ontario L6R 3P8 on September 6th. It cost
$399.99 plus tax, and you paid cash. You took it home and it was working fine.
Yesterday, on Thursday, October 31st, there was an explosion after you turned it on and
the picture tube blew up spraying glass all over your living room. You had used the
remote control device to turn the power on. Fortunately, you were out of the line of fire,
and no one else was in the room. You unplugged the television as soon as you got over
the initial shock. Write a complaint letter using the indirect order approach. Refer to
your sample personal business letter for format information on the Letter Styles website
Ensure that you use SEMI BLOCK style for your letter on your FAMILY Letterhead.
Follow the usual procedure of having someone proofread, edit your work before emailing it.
Letter#4:
PERSONAL BUSINESS LETTER
Instructions:
Compose and keyboard a PERSONAL BUSINESS letter from you to Mr. Hal Vidal,
Store Manager, at Tunes For The Road, 2244 Dundas St. W., Mississauga, Ontario, L4H
6X7. You are to write a letter of complaint about the expensive car stereo you had
installed in your car, which has never worked properly. Make sure the letter is at least
three paragraphs long. It should be SEMI-BLOCK style. Use today’s date. On your
FAMILY Letterhead.
Letter#5:
BUSINESS LETTER – FULL BLOCK STYLE
Key the following letter as shown:

 Mississauga Muffins 
SOUTH COMMON MALL
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO
L5L 4G8
PH. (905) 828-8855
(Current Date)
Miss Nancy Troposhere
Director of Advertising
Toronto Star
1 Yonge Street
Suite 1515
FAX (905) 828-0978
Toronto, Ontario
M5T 4L1
Dear Miss Troposphere:
This is my first opportunity to advertise in a major daily newspaper like The Toronto
Star.
Previously, I have been using flyers delivered door-to-door, and small
advertisements in The Mississauga News.
I would like to see a rate card which describes the cost of advertising in your newspaper.
Do you have specials for your “Mississauga” edition of the newspaper which comes out
once a week? Are there specials if we book four months in advance?
I find that my clientele are very cosmopolitan. Surveys I have commissioned show that
65 percent of my customers read The Toronto Star at least three times a week. Does this
seem like a plausible number to you? If you could send me your rates right away, I am
sure that we can do business on a regular basis.
Yours,
(Your Name Here)
Owner and Manager
Your initial in caps:your admin assistant’s initials
Letter#6:
BUSINESS LETTER - Buying a Product Letter
Instructions:
Compose and key a BUSINESS letter from your own company to another company that
you would like to have buy products or services from you (or from your own company to
a customer). Use full block and correct punctuation. Use today’s date. Your letter
should have at least three paragraphs. Remember to include an appropriate salutation,
complimentary closing, and reference initials. On your BUSINESS Letterhead.
Letter#7:
TWO BUSINESS LETTERS
Instructions:
Key the following Business Letters using the proper format. Each letter is to be fullblocked with correct punctuation. Create an appropriate letterhead for each Business
Letter. Use today’s date. Do not forget to include a salutation, complimentary closing,
and reference initials.
BON VOYAGE LETTER
Letterhead Information:
To:
Bon Voyage Tours Inc., 72 Millway, Mississauga, Ontario, L5L 4B1
Ph. (905) 828-9765, Fax (905) 828-8765
Mrs. Helen LeRiche, 3424-13th Avenue, Regina, Saskathchewan, S4T 1P7
From: Your Name, Tour Organizer
It will soon be time to plan your summer holidays and I sincerely hope that you will consider Bon
Voyage Tours for the year 2000! We have much to offer you this year. In addition to our regular
favourites, we have some fascinating new holidays planned.
This year, for the first time, we will be organizing trips to Italy. Two weeks will be spent touring
this fabulous country. Also planned is our Scottish Highland Tour – ten days of delightful
touring.
Closer to home, we are exploring more of Canada’s scenic wonders. Featured this year in Arctic
Adventure, a trip through magnificent wilderness along the Dempster Highway.
Space on many of the tours is limited and I would advise you to contact us as soon as you can.
We look forward to serving you.
CABINETS LETTER
Letterhead Information:
Sherwood Cabinets, 100 Glen Erin Drive, Mississauga, Ontario,
L5L 7B6 Ph. (905) 897-7700, Fax (905) 897-0099
To:
Mr. and Mrs. F. Hutchison , 1412 Second Street,
British Columbia, V2L 3B6
Prince George,
From: Your Name, Kitchen Co-ordinator
We are pleased that you have chosen us to supply you with your new kitchen cabinets.
We will be ready to install your Sherwood design cabinets, finished in birch clear
varnish, on April 15. As stated in the contract agreement, we will be supplying Sherwood hinges,
white porcelain knobs, and molded counters on San Fernando Red. The final estimate is
$4091.85.
We look forward to making your “dream kitchen” become a reality!
Letter#8:
RECOMMENDATION LETTER ACTIVITY
Instructions:
Ivy University has asked you for a letter of recommendation. You have decided to ask
your former employer for the recommendation. Create an appropriate letterhead. Using
the information below, create a personalize the reference letter to reflect your current
academic experience, volunteer experience and job experience. Use BUSINESS letter
format.
a) In a new word processor document create the following letter, allowing the
word processor to wrap the text:
(current date)
To whom it may concern:
I highly recommend accepting Student Name into Ivy University.
Student Name has worked at Dr. Levine’s dentist office for the past two years. During this
time I was responsible for his/her training and performance evaluations. Throughout
his/her training he/she was able to pick up new skills quickly and I was happy to give
him/her an outstanding evaluation every time.
I have been able to observe many of Student Name’s strengths. For instance, he/she always
came to work with an eagerness to learn new information to help him/her perform the job
requirements better. He/she demonstrated his/her initiative by reorganizing our filing
system. Student Name’s computer skills were also demonstrated with his/her quickness in
learning the dental software our computers used.
Student Name has been an asset to our company. He/she has always shown a desire to
further his/her education and I feel confident that he/she can do extremely well at Ivy
University.
Sincerely,
Rita Barbieri
Office Manager
Be sure there are five blank lines below the date and three blank lines below
the complimentary closing Sincerely.
b) Check the document on screen for grammar and spelling errors and make any
corrections.
c) Save the document naming it Recommendation.
d) Make the following changes:

Change the date to reflect the current date.

Change the name Student Name throughout the letter to your name.

Change the male/female pronouns appropriately to reflect you.

Change the college name in the first and last paragraph to a college
you would like to attend.
e) Save the modified Recommendation and e-mail a copy to your teacher.
Letter #9:
How to Write a Letter to a Politician
There are many ways to write to a politician.
This letter is just one example. It is addressed to the Prime Minister, but you could use
the same approach to write to your City Councilor, your representative in your provincial
parliament (MPP), or your representative in the federal parliament in Ottawa (MP),
depending on which one has responsibility for the issue you are concerned about.
Your letter could be longer and more formal than this, or it could be just one sentence. It
doesn’t have to be typed, and you don't have to use big words.
The important thing is to let the politicians know how their decisions affect the citizens,
and what you want them to do. Politicians need this kind of feedback.
Say who you're writing
to.
Dear Prime Minister Chrétien:
Say why you're writing.
I am writing to express my concern about the GST
on books.
Tell a little about
yourself and why you're
interested in the issue
(try to keep this to six
sentences or less).
I am one of millions of adult Canadians who have
problems with reading and writing. I went back to
school to improve my reading and writing, and I
need to practice my reading skills as much as
possible so they don't get rusty. I would like to buy
more books for myself and my children, but find it
hard because my income is low. The GST on books
is part of the problem. Reading is educational, and
it doesn't seem right to tax it.
Tell them what you want
them to do.
I would like to see you remove the GST on books,
to help low-income families like mine buy more
books for our homes.
Sign off.
Yours truly,
(sign your name)
"cc" means that you
have sent copies to the
people you list
cc Movement for Canadian Literacy
Mac Harb, MP for Ottawa Centre
Assignment: Write a Letter to a Politician
Choose an issue that you feel strongly about and write a letter expressing your views. Use
the above format to guide your writing. Use your PERSONAL BUSINESS Letter format
and create the letter on your Personal Letterhead.
Save the letter as "politician" and email your assignment.
10 Marks Communication
5 Marks Thinking/Inquiry
5 Marks Application
Letter Review:
LETTERS REVIEW
Copy the following Questions into MS Word and answer the questions. Bold type the
questions and use a different font and font color for the answers.
1. The writer’s name and complete address on a business letter is called the
2. Why does the typist include Encl., after the initials?
3. Where is the subject line located on a business letter?
4. How much space is provided for the writer’s signature?
5. If you were writing to Pat Needham, how would you address the salutation if you did
not know if this was a man or a woman?
6. If you were writing to a corporation, what acceptable salutation would you use?
7. Besides November 29, 2000 style of date, what other form is acceptable on a
business letter. Write today’s date as an example of this.
8. When would it be reasonable to double-space the body of a letter?
9. What do you call the part of the letter that shows the complete name and address of
the person or company you are writing to?
10. Give three different ways to write a complimentary closing:
11. What is the top margin set at for a formal business letter?
12. What is the difference between a personal letter and a personal business letter?
13. What is a semi block style letter?
14. What is a full block style letter?
15. What is the difference between a personal business and a business letter?