Letter # 1 - Chapter 6 in Lord of the Flies
There are two main skills you will be working on while
reading Lord of the Flies. One is summary writing, as you
know. The second skill is letter writing. Both of these
skills will be required in order to complete the summative in
this unit. Below is a note on letter writing, please read the
following, then follow the instructions below:
How To Write an Effective Letter
A well-written letter can advance your career, clarify a
business plan, make a sale, satisfy your clients or customers,
motivate your staff, enhance your social life, improve a
personal relationship, or further your personal well-being. Your
success in business depends on your ability to write effective
letters.
A)
An Effective Letter:
grabs the reader's attention
provides information, makes a recommendation, or asks for
action
 supports your position or explains benefits to reader
 mentions next steps and deadlines


B) Types of Letters
There are 3 types of routine business letters you may have to
write: 1) information, 2) bad news, and 3) persuasion.
1. Information Letter
 used when requesting facts, sending facts, or conveying
good news
 reason for writing, or good news, is in first paragraph
 provides details in next paragraph
 ends with a call for action
2. Bad News Letter
 uses the indirect approach
 opens with a neutral idea
 provides facts and supporting evidence
 reason for writing (bad news) is presented next
 ends with a neutral close
3. Persuasion Letter
 used to sell a product, service or idea to the reader
 opens with an attention-getter
 introduces the product, service or idea
 presents details
 offers benefits to the reader
C) How to Plan Your Letter:
Always plan what you want to say to the reader before you begin
to write any letter. A plan, or outline, will help you organize
your thoughts and all the points you need to cover.
 Know your purpose. Think about why you are writing the
letter and what you hope to achieve by writing it. Decide
what your main point will be.
 List all the relevant facts. Your letter will have maximum
impact if you support your point with logically presented
facts. Do any necessary research to gather information to
back up your point.
 Know your audience. Analyzing your readers helps you
decide what tone to take, what facts to include, and how
you address the readers. Consider what the readers know,
need to know, want to know, and what you want them to do.
Show the readers what's in it for them or the
organization. Furthermore, remember to think about what
the reader thinks of you.
 Generate ideas. Brainstorm by writing down all the ideas
you can come up with pertaining to your topic. Ask
yourself a series of questions such as: Who? What? When?
Where? Why? How? Then, answer those questions. You can
also create your own questions.
Your assignment:
After reading Chapter Six, write a letter from to Ralph that is
aimed at helping him become a better leader. Before writing the
letter, consider and BRAINSTORM the following:
1) What signs are there that his leadership of the boys is
not that strong? How do you let him know this without
offending him?
2) What specific examples will you point out to him regarding
his difficulties with leadership? (We can brainstorm a
list as a class)
3) What aspects of his leadership can you compliment Ralph
on?
4) How exactly can Ralph improve? Make sure that you refer
specifically to how he persuades his audience at the
meetings and at other times
5) What are the benefits for Ralph if he follows the
suggestions you make in this letter?
When you have finished brainstorming, write the letter. Make
sure you break the letter up into paragraphs and use
appropriate spelling and grammar conventions. Many
corrections, etc. pointed out regarding your essays will
apply here as well so you may want to look at the Riche's
Advice page.
Your letter is due ____________________.
Letter Writing Rubric:
Agreement:
1. As long as you
your mark for the
2. If you earn 3+
you can stop--you
complete the number of letters requested of you,
report card will reflect your best overall mark.
for every single category on two separate letters,
obviously get it.
Level 4 (80-100%)
Thinking Argument
/10
The proper tone to
persuade the target
audience is
carefully and
successfully
developed.
The letter's purpose
is clear and it is
the analysis of the
supporting evidence
is insightful.
Communication
- Mechanics
/10
Communication
- Organization
/10
Knowledge/
Understanding
of the novel
/10
Level 3 (70-80%)
The letter is written
using an appropriate
tone to persuade the
target audience.
The letter is
purposeful (ie) it
clearly states the
purpose and supports
that purpose with
evidence.
Level 2 (60-70%)
Level 1 (50-60%)
There is an attempt
to use the
appropriate tone to
persuade the target
audience.
Only a few token
attempts are made at
finding the right
tone.
The letter is
purposeful, but it is
either not clearly
stated or not fully
supported with
evidence.
The letter is either
not purposeful or
has a very limited
amount of evidence.
There are basically
no mechanical errors
(spelling,
punctuation,
capitalization,
sentence structure).
There are very few
mechanical errors
(spelling, punctuation,
capitalization,
sentence structure).
There are a few
mechanical errors
(spelling,
punctuation,
capitalization,
sentence structure).
There are a number
of mechanical errors
(spelling,
punctuation,
capitalization,
sentence structure).
The introduction and
conclusion are clear
and thoughtful.
There is a clear
introduction and
conclusion.
Either the
introduction or the
conclusion is
somewhat faulty.
The ideas progress
logically.
Transitions are
varied and
appropriate.
There is also a logical
progression supported
by the use of
transitions.
Both the
introduction and
conclusion need a
fair bit of
improvement.
The letter
demonstrates an
excellent
understanding of
paragraph structure.
The letter demonstrates
an understanding of
proper paragraph
structure.
The facts you've
chosen to discuss,
your ability to take
on the viewpoint of
a character from the
novel, and your
ability to
understand what
motivates your
target audience all
demonstrate an
excellent
understanding of the
text.
The facts you've chosen
to discuss, your
ability to take on the
viewpoint of a
character from the
novel, and your ability
to understand what
motivates your target
audience all
demonstrate a good
understanding of the
text.
There is also a
logical progression
supported by the use
of transitions.
The letter
demonstrates some
understanding of
proper paragraph
structure.
You struggle a little
either with finding
good evidence or with
understanding the
letter reader or
writer and therefore
you only demonstrate
some understanding of
the text.
Either the order of
ideas is not logical
or there is no
order.
(0-5)
Does not
meet
requirements.
Does not
meet
requirements.
Does not
meet
requirements.
The letter
demonstrates little
understanding of
paragraph structure
(eg) it is all one
paragraph.
You demonstrate a
limited
understanding of the
novel because you
are not able to
access and use
important evidence
and you have trouble
investigating the
characters.
Does not
meet
requirements.