email writing assignment

Final Writing Assignment: Professional Emails

You will demonstrate your knowledge of email writing by writing two practice emails and by editing an email that you have already sent.

You will write one face-neutral email. You may choose one of the following topics:

· Ask a question about an assignment that is due at least a week later

· Ask for an appointment to discuss a paper that you have not yet submitted

· Write to thank a professor for something nice they did for you

You will write one face-threatening email. You may choose one of the following topics:

· Ask a professor for an extension on a paper: you have not done any of the preparation for the paper and the paper is due in two days.

· Ask a professor about a grade that you think is lower than you deserve

· Ask a professor to excuse your absence from class for 3 class meetings: you are meeting your best friend in another city (you have used up all your allotted absences)

You will choose an email that you have written to a professor. Using what you have learned about requests, advice, modals, and email language, you will edit this email to make it more professional and effective.

· You will submit the text of the original email with all identifying information (names, course numbers, email addresses) removed

· You will write one paragraph to explain the problems with your email and how you will address them

· You will submit a revised copy of the original email where you make changes to increase readability, professionalism and effectiveness.

You will be graded using the rubric on the next page.

Final Writing Assignment: Professional Emails

Name:

	Criteria	Points	Comments
Face-neutral email	Email is formatted according to standard conventions	______________/10
	Email is professionally edited	______________/5
	Email employs US conventions of politeness	______________/10
Face-threatening email	Email is formatted according to standard conventions	______________/10
	Email is professionally edited	______________/5
	Email employs US conventions of politeness	______________/10
Edited email	Original email is submitted	______________/5
	Explanatory paragraph clearly identifies problems	______________/10
	Explanatory paragraph clearly outlines planned fixes for problems	______________/5
	Revised email is formatted according to standard conventions	______________/5
	Revised email is professionally edited	______________/5
	Revised email employs US conventions of politeness	______________/10
	Revised email contains fixes outlined in the explanatory paragraph	______________/10