they deal mainly with the inner world of thoughts and the relation of thoughts. More often than not, moreover, narration and description appeal to the emotions, their object being chiefly to move the reader, while explanation and argument appeal to the understanding, their object being chiefly to teach the reader. Though thus distinct in theory, these four kinds of writing, as you will learn later on, run into each other more or less in practice. Indeed, they are so combined and even so confused in practice that it is quite impossible at times to distinguish between them. In fact, a long, unmixed specimen of any of these four kinds of writing is hard to find, and it is therefore the custom to call a given piece of writing a narrative, a description, and so on, if narration, if description, and so on, happen to predominate in that particular piece of writing. Though, for this reason, these four terms are next to worthless as a means for classifying what has already been written, they are of actual service in learning to write. For a time, however, we shall postpone our study of these four kinds of writing, and take up the important and practical matter of letter-writing, in which may be employed any or all of the four kinds of writing. CHAPTER V LETTER-WRITING SECTION 50 The Importance of Letter-Writing PROBABLY few of you who read this book will enter those professions in which authorship, in one way or another, is a means of maintenance, but all of you will, and do even now, write letters. Much the greater part of what most people write, it is safe to say, is in the form of letters, having to do either with private or with public matters. Only the illiterate write no letters, and even they are sometimes obliged to have letters written for them. It is of utmost importance, then, that you should know how to write good letters. In the whole art of writing, in fact, you will find no work that will stand you in better stead in the affairs of life than the work of letter-writing. You write a letter in order that you may send to some person at a distance a message which you cannot communicate by word of mouth. Were you to talk to that person, you would doubtless try to deliver your message clearly, in order that it might be understood, and tactfully and courteously, in order that it might be pleasurably received. Now, precisely the same spirit should control you in composing your written messages. These should be legible, clear, tactful and courteous, sincere and unstudied. Every letter you write, to put the matter in a somewhat different light, is your personal representative, and should make the same earnest effort at a perfect manner as you yourself would make were you to meet the person you write to, and talk with him face to face. Furthermore, as was said at the beginning of this book,1 older people are ever likely to judge your breeding and training by the sort of language you use in speaking and writing. This fact has a peculiar bearing on your letters, since they may be read many times over, and may reveal defects that might not be noticed in ordinary conversation. It pays, then, to take pains with your letters. This is as true of the letters you write to your friends and relatives as it is of the letters you write to strangers. Your letters may bring you political, social, or literary distinction, they may win for you positions of honor and trust, they may make and keep friends for you, or they may lose for you these things and many more besides. SECTION 51 The Parts of a Letter Not all letters have precisely the same form, but every complete letter has the following parts: THE HEADING. THE INTRODUCTION. THE BODY OF THE LEtter. THE SUPERSCRIPTION. This tells where and when the letter is written. This gives the name and the address of the person to whom the letter is sent; also the greeting. This is the message sent. This contains the courteous close and the writer's signature. This is the matter put on the envelope for the delivery of the letter. 1 Read again what is said at p. xxiii. 1. The Heading. The heading tells where and when the letter is written, and is usually placed an inch or so from the top of the page, and well over toward the righthand edge. It may occupy one, two, or even three lines, according to taste and the amount of matter it contains. A comma is placed after each separate item, and a period after each abbreviation and at the close. This punctuation is required because the heading, if written out, would read something like this: "This letter was written at Mountain View, Cal., and on March 21, 1902." The name of the month may be abbreviated,1 but never represented by a figure, as no one likes to be forced to think out the date. Indeed, it sometimes takes more effort to substitute in the mind the name for the figure than most of us care to acknowledge. Besides, there is some chance of mistake, especially if a letter has been put aside for a time, and then looked up. Thus, 6/8/02 may mean either June 8, 1902, or 6 August, 1902. If the writer lives in a city, he should give the name and the number of his street; if he lives in a village, the name of his county. Some prefer, in writing a friendly letter, to place the heading below the signature, and at the left-hand edge of the page. This is perhaps permissible where monograms and address dies are used, though it is not to be recommended. Nothing is gained, certainly, by separating place and date, as is sometimes done, and putting the place at the head of the letter and the date at the end of the letter. 1 The abbreviations commonly used are these: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. May, June, and July, however, should never be abbreviated, and it is better to write March and April in full. 2. The Introduction. and the address of the person to whom the letter is sent, together with the greeting, or salutation. The first line of the address, if not omitted altogether, as it sometimes is in letters to relatives and intimate friends, should begin just below the last line of the heading, and at the left-hand side of the page, about an inch, or less, from the edge of the paper. The margin thus left should be kept on every page of the letter. Each line of the address should begin a little to the right of the line preceding, a comma being placed after each item and line except the last, and a period after the abbreviations and at the close. In less formal style than that of merely commercial letters, the address may be placed below the signature, and at the left-hand side of the page. The two lines of the address in (2) below might be so placed. The introduction gives the name The greeting, or salutation, which is used out of respect for the person addressed, shows by its form the degree of intimacy existing between the person written to and the writer. It therefore ranges from extreme formality to extreme familiarity; from such phrases as Sir, My dear Sir, Dear Sir, Dear Sirs, Gentlemen, My dear Madam, Dear Madam, Ladies, to such phrases as, My dear Friend,1 1 Friend is not to be used as an adjective; e.g. Friend Smith, Friend James, etc. |