Chapter 7: Writing Routine, Good-News, and Goodwill Messages

160 www.campbellsoup.com
180 www.sun.com
189 www.bluemountain.com/eng3/business
190 www.hermanbros-seed.com
192 www.wal-mart-com
193 www.lifesketch.com
193 www.landsend.com
!"# !#$"#%& p. 162' !"# !#$"#% %(%)*"+%+& p. 196
,he -edium and the -essage
.bout.com
*hoosing what to include in a message& deciding how to effecti/el0 e1press it& and
selecting an appropriate format are all important considerations when 0ou write. o to
.bout.com and add to what 0ou2/e alread0 learned in this chapter about writing re3uests
and other messages.
4ollow the na/igational directions to answer these 3uestions.
1. 5oth the chapter and this site offer guidelines for writing effecti/e messages. $ist the
6se/en *7s8 that characteri9e good letters and memos. "f 0ou use clear language in a
routine message& is it still important to restrict 0ourself to one topic: ;h0 or wh0 not:
Question 1 directions: Go to the About.com home page. Click on the Arts/Humanities
topic area. Then, under Writing/ublishing, select Technical Writing. !n the "ub#ects list,
click on $usiness Writing, and then click on %etters. &e't, click on (ules )or Writing
%etters. (ead the in)ormation to ans*er the +uestions.
2. %/en the best-run businesses sometimes disappoint their customers. "magine that 0ou
ha/e been asked to write a response to an angril0 worded e-mail message that charges
0our compan0 with fraud because a product ordered through the ;eb site has not arri/ed.
;hich of the ten 6secrets8 of writing business letters do 0ou think would be most useful
in shaping 0our repl0:
Question , directions: -rom the $usiness Writing page, click on %etters. then click on
Ten "ecrets. (ead the page.

3. <escribe some similarities and some differences between a memo and a letter.
=uestion 3 directions> 4rom the 5usiness ;riting page& click on -emos' then& under
-emo ;riting& select ?-emo writing is technical writing with its slee/es rolled up.8
)ead about the purpose of memos. @se that information and what 0ou ha/e alread0
learned about letters to answer the 3uestion.