Public Genre Essay (Opinion/Letter to the Editor) Assignment: You have the choice to write a letter to the editor or any other kind of letter of persuasion. You may expand the in-class letter-writing project to complete this essay, if you wish, or you may choose a new subject altogether.
The finished letter should be 2-3 pages long and should be written with a specific audience in mind, and directed toward that audience. (It helps to envision writing to a specific publication and its readers.) It does not need to be formal but should not be too conversational. The exigence for the letter should be clearly established. The writing should clearly identify itself as opinion writing, should be concise, and should address both counter-arguments and solutions to the problem you discuss. It should open with a strong hook and conclude with a memorable statement. Logical fallacies should be avoided, The use of first-person is permitted but you do not want to the letter to drift from its intention to become overly autobiographical. The key of writing a successful letter here is to consider your audience: you are writing to a group of people, not a single person, and the exigence of your letter should be relevant to that group of people. (You do not need to consult any outside research to complete this project.)
