Thought Questions

HOW TO WRITE A LETTER

Garrison Keillor

These writing prompts are followed by text boxes for your input. If you are working online and your instructor has given you the go-ahead, you can e-mail your work to him or her by clicking the "E-mail Your Answers" button. You can also e-mail a copy to yourself as a record of your work. If you are working offline, you will have to copy your answers (CTRL-C on most systems) and paste them (CTRL-V) into a text document to retain a record of your work.


1		Civil War Letter This letter was written by a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. The Virginia Military Institute has made its full text available on line. What kind of person do you think the author of this letter is? How would you describe his situation? Does he use any specific, concrete details that strike you? How would you say the author feels about his wife and family? What leads you to this conclusion?



2		Letters vs. Emails In recent years, email has become an extremely popular form of communication. If nothing else, email is much faster than a traditional letter. Look at this site called The Art of Writing Email. Consider the differences between emails and letters. Do you prefer receiving an email or a letter? Do you prefer writing an email or a letter? Does this site help you with email more than Keillor's article helps you with letters? Why do you think the author of the site and Keillor take such different approaches? Does one approach appeal to you more?

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