Formal Email Inquiry Assignment

English 9

For this assignment, you will search online to find the real email address of a public figure, company, or organization, then compose a formal email to that party inquiring about questions/concerns/compliments you have related to them. You will earn points for this assignment by filling the appropriate information neatly on the back side of this sheet, as if you were preparing an actual email. This assignment is worth up to 25 points.

If you choose to actually send the email, you may earn up to 10 extra credit points. To earn these points, you must do this on your own time and “carbon” a copy to me, at . Also, you will be expected to share any results you get with the class.

An email letter of inquiry has two main parts:

1. The Heading: your email address, the destination email address, and the subject line

2. The Text: the salutation, the body, the closing, and the signature.

The Heading

Your Email Address

First and foremost, your email address must not be inappropriate in any way, and you know what we mean by that. (Don’t underestimate the readers ability to know what your email address refers to.) If you need to, create a new address. Of course, your email address is filled in automatically on the email form by the service you use.

Destination Email Address

You must fill this address in yourself. Be sure you are accurate! If you do not enter it accurately, of course the email will not go through.

The Subject Line

A good way to approach this is to think of what will get their attention. Now, you may think something wild would work, or lots of exclamation marks. No. Your best strategy is to simply state your purpose in writing, and make it brief, but not too brief, such as, “Concern about your packaging” or “Question from Kansas fan” or “Student researching your company”. Punctuate only the first word and any other proper nouns. Be sure your spelling is accurate!

The Text

The Salutation

The salutation is the very first line of your text, and it should be left-justified. Begin the word Dear, follow it by the name of the person to whom you are writing, and end with a colon. Use only the person’s last name, preceded by a title such as Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., or Professor. If you do not know the person’s name, use a general salutation such as Dear Sir or Madam: or Dear (Company name) Representative.

The Body

Since you should use block formatting with your text, double space between the salutation and the body, as well as between paragraphs, and before your closing and signature, left justifying all. The body is the main part of the letter in which you write your message. NEVER use texting abbreviations in a formal inquiry, and spelling counts!

The body should contain three important parts, each represented by a paragraph: 1st paragraph – introduce your purpose for writing

2nd paragraph – provide detail about the question/concern/compliment

3rd paragraph – thank the reader for his/her time and express interest is hearing a response

The Closing

The closing is double spaced below the body and left justified. Closings commonly used for business letters include Sincerely, Sincerely yours, and Very truly yours. Note that only the first word is capitalized and that the closing ends with a comma.

The Signature

Type your name below the closing, and include your email address beneath your name. You may also want to include your grade, the name of your school and/or city and state.

Email Inquiry Example

From: Susie Cougar (write out your name here instead of email address for grading purposes)
To: bubblesoda.com
Subject: The color of Raspberry Delight
Dear Sir or Madam:
I am writing to express a concern and make a suggestion about the color of your Raspberry Delight soda. First, I’d like to mention that I love the flavor of this soda. It’s my favorite summer treat!
While I do love the taste of Raspberry Delight, I’m not a big fan of the blue color. I know that making it red would make it easily confused with Strawberry Delight, and I also know that it’s a common idea to make raspberry flavored things blue. However, as a teenager, I am always worried that someone will think I’m really weird because your soda turns my tongue blue for hours. I’d like to suggest you could use the natural coloring of raspberries for Raspberry Delight, which is a slightly different color than strawberries. This natural color would be healthier for your consumers than artificial color, and it would leave my tongue a more natural color, too.
Thank you for your time in reading this and considering my suggestion. As I said, I am a big fan of Raspberry Delight, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Susie Cougar

Freshman, South Junior High
Lawrence, Kansas

Start brainstorming and jot down here the main points you want to make in your letter.

Once you are done, show me your notes and if they are sufficient, I will hand you the final draft sheet.

introduce your purpose for writing
provide detail about the question/concern/compliment
thank the reader for his/her time and express interest is hearing a response

Formal Email Inquiry Assignment

Final Draft Time…

Be neat, check your conventions, and follow the directions!

From: (write out your name here instead of email address for grading purposes)
To:
Subject:

Do you plan to actually send this email? ______Yes ______No

1.3.2. Clearly defines the main idea with selection of concise, logical details that meet the reader’s informational needs (Ideas and Content)

1.3.10. Writes with an awareness of purpose and audience (e.g. letters, e-mails) (Voice)

1.3.13. Selects words that consider appropriate connotation for the intended task/format (e.g. persuasive, if persuading; informational,

if informing, etc.). (Word Choice)

1.3.15. Punctuates correctly. (Conventions)

1.4. 9. ▲ Arranges information within each paragraph in a logical and effective sequence to persuade the reader (Organization)