Letter to a Friend

In this assignment, students write letters to a friend about their rhetorical analysis or RBA research topic. As Erik explains, "The letter should be a form of inquiry—an opportunity to think deeply on the page before students write a draft. Peter Elbow says the point of freewriting is “to engage in a process that invites surprise, that invites the unexpected.” And William Deresiewicz notes in his essay “Solitude and Leadership,” “You do your best thinking by slowing down and concentrating.” The genre of the letter blends—or can blend—the freewheeling flow of freewriting and the slow contemplation of solitude. Pat C. Hoy II, who directed NYU’s Expository Writing Program for decades—including 1997-99, when I taught there—made the letter to a friend a key part of the program’s pedagogy. I’m grateful."

Author: Erik Ellis

Course: PWR1 / PWR2

Activity Length and Schedule: Completed for homework before writing a draft of the rhetorical analysis or after writing the TiC (PWR1) or after writing the research proposal (PWR2)

Activity goals:

• To invite students to use the informal genre of the letter to a friend to help them think and write about their rhetorical analysis text or their RBA research topics
• To help students write more thoughtful, exploratory, and conversational drafts of their essays, since they should be encouraged to use any writing from their letters in their drafts. 

Activity details: See Erik's handout with tips for students and sample letters from PWR students.