Exploring Rhetoric Through Marketing Letters: A Discussion Activity

Introduction to Rhetoric and Everyday Experience

In Unit 1, you have been introduced to rhetoric and how we experience it everyday whether we are conscious participants or passive consumers. Every day, we receive marketing letters in the mail, which, along with television advertisements, are the most common form of rhetoric we encounter on a daily basis. In this discussion activity, you will have the opportunity to both create and analyze this type of advertisement. Usually you cannot watch a news video or YouTube site without being presented with an advertisement first. If you are interested in public relations, or communications, this activity is for you! Also consider that a minor in English really enhances a Communications degree. Even better, a double major in both English and Communications will send you on the road to being an effective advocate for persuading people to at least consider your product, business, community service, or non-profit agency. This activity has three parts: Begin by creating a marketing letter: not an advertisement flyer, but rather a letter in which you try to persuade your reader to buy a specific product from you. Since this is in letter format: You will need to include a greeting and signature. For example: Hello, Motorcyle Riders. You can sign your letter with your own name, and create your job position of your own company if you like.

(1) Review the marketing letter in the section of Unit I lecture before writing your letter. In the lecture, you will read about the rhetorical strategies used by producers of such advertisements.

(2) Then, choose an item that you own and love and "sell" it to your fellow classmates. I don't mean to sell it literally, but rather try to convince others to go out and buy this product.

(3) Finally, create a letter to recommend this product to others. Don't merely write a letter to achieve this effect, but rather use the tools provided in your average word processing software to do so. Don't forget to utilize visual, wording, and messaging techniques in your own letter since these components will be the basis of your grade for this assignment. Most importantly, be creative. Your piece (which should be in the form of a letter) should not exceed one page, and should be attached to your discussion post - DO NOT paste your letter directly into the textbox. Your letter will be assessed in terms of the textual design, the visual design, and the adherence to the one page limit. If you want to add punch to your letter, you may use a visual image of your own creation--a photo, collage, or self-created artwork. You may not cut and paste copyrighted images from the Internet into your letter. Consider using Creative Commons images. Images will need to be attributed to the source from where you selected the image with a Works Cited box in your discussion board. It is easier to develop your own visual art. Be creative! After you have created your marketing letter, answer the following questions, in a separate post. What do you believe is more effective in this type of rhetoric - visual elements, or text? Support your answer. Where else do you see rhetoric operating in society, beyond advertising letters? Is rhetoric merely limited to advertisements and commercials or are you influenced by billboards and more? The first two parts of this activity (developing a letter and answering the previous questions) should be posted by the middle of the week. By the end of the week, you need to thoughtfully respond to at least two posts in the forum. You may either critique the letter that another student has created, or you may respond to their thoughts on the questions posed above. Either way, your responses need to be . Please state why or why not you resonated with their letter. Were you "sold" on their concept, product, service or not?