Letter Practice Writing Negative or Bad News Letters-SPRING 2020 PDF

Dr. Kamel A.
Elsaadany Business Writing ENGL 201 Spring 2020
BUSINESS WRITING
(ENGL 201)
SPRING 2020
LETTER PRACTICE
[Due Tuesday, March 10. Time: 1-2PM]
Writing a ‘Negative OR Bad News Letter’
NAME:--------------------------------------------- GUST ID #----------------- SECTION # ---------
CRITERIA FOR GRADING ‘NEGATIVE MESSAGES’
CRITERIA POINTS YOUR

POINTS
 Audience and purpose are strong and clear.
1. Function  Assignment topic is well understood and accurately
implemented. 15
 Understanding of the rhetorical situation encompassing
author, message, and audience is firm.
 Format is adhered to professionally.
 Each section includes all of the required elements.
 Paragraphs are single-spaced and perfectly aligned
vertically.
 Size is twelve to fourteen, and font is Sans Serif.
2. Format 20
 Three to four paragraphs are used.
 Addresses (if required) of recipients are indicated
clearly.
 In the instance of an Email and Memo, the elements such
as To, From, Date, and Subject are utilized.
 Ideas are relevant to the subject of the assignment.
 Paragraphs are coherent and discuss one central idea. 50
3. Content  Sentences and paragraphs are complete, well-
constructed, and of varied structure.
 Language style is suitable for the audience.
 Contains none or only one grammatical,
4. Grammar punctuation, or spelling error. 15
&  Colloquialisms and clichés are minimized.
Mechanics  The person used is the third, not the first or the second,
unless absolutely necessary.
TOTAL POINTS 100
Dr. Kamel A. Elsaadany Business Writing ENGL 201 Spring 2020
Read the following problem and write a negative letter accordingly.
Turning Down a Faithful Client
Page 2 of 4
Read the following analysis of the assignment.

Turning Down a Faithful Client
 Many of you will provide too much information in the letter.

 The rejection needs to be firm, but express regret.
 Alternative times should be explored.
 The ending should either ask about conducting the seminar at the usual February time
or assume the answer and mention how much the writer is looking forward to
conducting that workshop.
 Analysis—Turning Down a Faithful Client
1. Who is (are) your audience(s)? What characteristics are relevant to this particular
message? If you are writing to more than one person, how do the people in each audience
differ?
o Hope Goldberger.
o Relevant characteristics: Ms. Goldberger and Gardner Manufacturing have hired you to
conduct the estate planning workshop for the past five years.
2. What are your purposes in writing?

o To inform: to tell Ms. Goldberger that you cannot conduct the workshop.
o To persuade: to convince Gardner Manufacturing to continue using you to conduct the
workshops in the future.
o To build goodwill: to make it clear you appreciate conducting the workshops.
3. What information must your message include?

o The refusal.
o Exploration of alternatives.
o Some discussion of the next February workshop.
4. How can you build support for your position? What reasons or audience benefits will
your audience find convincing?
o This is one of the cases where it is best to simply state that it is not possible to be there
due to being out of town on a long-scheduled trip. Some students will also merely say
that they are unavailable due to personal commitments.
o Discuss the alternatives. Try to get Ms. Goldberger to engage in a discussion of when you
should give the workshop.
o The close of the letter should emphasize how much you value Garden Manufacturing and
look forward to continuing to conduct workshops there in the future.
5. What objection(s) can you expect your audience(s) to have? What negative elements of
your message must you deemphasize or overcome?
o The main point is negative.
o You need to avoid sounding arbitrary, yet not leave the door open for discussion of why.
6. What aspects of the total situation may affect audience response? the economy? the time
of year? morale in the organization? the relationship between the audience and writer?
any special circumstances?
o You don’t have enough information to know what is happening at Garden Manufacturing
to answer the question. A follow-up phone call to Ms. Goldberger might develop such
information.
Page 3 of 4
Checklist for Negative Messages
[Only for you to check your message before submitting your assignment online.]
After you write your negative letter, read the following questions about your message. If your
answer for any question is “no”, try to rewrite that part that goes with writing negative messages.
 Is the subject line appropriate?
 Does the buffer avoid suggesting positive or negative response?
 Is the reason given before refusal? Is the reason watertight, with no loopholes?
 Is negative information clear?

 Is an alternative given if available? Does message provide information needed
to act on alternative but leave choice to audience?
 Does the last paragraph avoid repeating the negative information?
 Is tone acceptable--not defensive, but not cold, preachy, or arrogant either?
Originality in a negative message may come from—

 An effective buffer, if one is appropriate
 A clear, complete statement of reason for refusal
 A good alternative, clearly presented
 Details that show writer thought about specific organization and specific people
in it
Note:
- Follow the correct Letter Format as explained to you in class and as given to you in the
textbook and class handout.
Page 4 of 4

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Dr. Kamel A.

Elsaadany Business Writing ENGL 201 Spring 2020

CRITERIA FOR GRADING ‘NEGATIVE MESSAGES’

CRITERIA POINTS YOUR

Read the following problem and write a negative letter accordingly.

Turning Down a Faithful Client

Read the following analysis of the assignment.

 Many of you will provide too much information in the letter.

 Analysis—Turning Down a Faithful Client

2. What are your purposes in writing?

3. What information must your message include?

Checklist for Negative Messages

 Does the buffer avoid suggesting positive or negative response?

 Is negative information clear?

Originality in a negative message may come from—

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