Reflection:
While this is technically two separate assignments they were assigned as sister projects. The top document is the persuasive letter and the bottom is the bad news letter. While I had written persuasive letters before in various other writing intensive courses a bad news letter was new to me. Learning how to write an effective nod was not only a skill that had to be learned but it was entirely a new consideration when rejecting someones request. Using the textbook from the class was essential in several areas while writing both documents. From formatting the letter heads to providing examples on nods and various other aspects of the letter were very helpful in penning both of these.
The above letter was what I felt was the easier of the two to write. It also allowed me to joke around a little while doing hence why Matt Damon cares about the roads in Texas. However, the goal of this letter was to display understanding of the components that made a good persuasive letter. One component of which was the appeal to logos which is heavily used in the second paragraph and I feel is the strength of this letter.
This second letter I struggled more with, however it was a good assignment and allowed for practicing of the nod. The nod was not only the trickiest aspect of this letter but also the most crucial, without nailing the nod the reader of the letter is already lost by the first paragraph. Furthermore, the use of a list in the middle of the letter allowed for practicing of proper list making. Overall while the more difficult of the two letters this one is better in the skills that were attempted and practiced through its creation.