· We are looking for a place (a word/phrase/line) in the text · We are conversing with: · The author of the text · The readers of the text · People who might be interested in the topic · Culturally neutral pre-writing questions--- who is the author writing to? · The readers of our writing · Don’t write to me! · Culturally neutral pre-writing questions · Decide who we’re writing to before we get started! · Fascinates · Amaze · Something very interesting · Shocks · Surprises you very much · Sometimes good, sometimes bad · Can be a violation of your morals, and deeply offensive · Can just be a ‘holy crap! That happened!’ moment · Perplexes · Makes you very confused/puzzled · Don’t agree with--can’t quite figure out how everything fits together/doesn’t make sense · Maybe someone is lying and you can’t figure out why they would say such a thing · When I don’t know much about the subject, and the author gets into detail about it · When the author intentionally uses difficult words/writes in an old fashioned way · When the author goes off topic and it’s hard to see how things are connected · Something odd that doesn’t seem to belong · Ideas/stuff from unrelated cultures · Gap · Space between things-- something that should be there is missing · When someone goes off topic, why are they doing so? · Some explanation of things is missing in the text that is necessary to understand another part 3. Sometimes we consider it worth it to track down this information and start a whole new hobby or area of inquiry in our lives . Tension 8. Stretched tight, mental or emotional strain 8. The author is too tight in their definition/opinion and doesn’t make space for other ways of dealing with things 8. The author only entertains their own narrow worldview 8. The author is overly negative and doesn’t consider the positive 8. Sometimes someone is trying to keep everything in line to show us a specific perspective or message, but that wasn’t the right choice and so not everything fits together quite right. . Ambiguity 9. unclear or inexact because a choice between alternatives has not been made. 9. open to more than one interpretation; having a double meaning. 9. We have to make a choice 9. Call the author out on not making a choice 9. Discuss why the author may have resisted making a choice 9. Explain what we found ambiguous- and what we can learn from that ambiguity . Difficulty 10. Struggle- for meaning, for context, for specific answers, cultural differences and how hard they can be to understand 10. Style of writing 10. Find a place you didn’t understand and… 3. First, point out the difficulty 3. Say what you do understand 3. Say what you don’t understand 3. Fill in what you don’t understand 3. Be curious about everything Interesting place: “Least Force Necessary”- the Wall of Shame (this was punishment for people who used more than the least force necessary, a memorial to their stupidity) “Implications of Doves”-- Sundown Similarities--- difficult to write a.

1. · We are looking for a place (a word/phrase/line) in the text
· We are conversing with:
· The author of the text
· The readers of the text
· People who might be interested in the topic
· Culturally neutral pre-writing questions--- who is the author
writing to?
· The readers of our writing
· Don’t write to me!
· Culturally neutral pre-writing questions
· Decide who we’re writing to before we get started!
· Fascinates
· Amaze
· Something very interesting
· Shocks
· Surprises you very much
· Sometimes good, sometimes bad
· Can be a violation of your morals, and deeply offensive
· Can just be a ‘holy crap! That happened!’ moment
· Perplexes
· Makes you very confused/puzzled
· Don’t agree with--can’t quite figure out how everything fits
together/doesn’t make sense
· Maybe someone is lying and you can’t figure out why they
would say such a thing
· When I don’t know much about the subject, and the author
gets into detail about it
· When the author intentionally uses difficult words/writes in an
old fashioned way
· When the author goes off topic and it’s hard to see how things
are connected
· Something odd that doesn’t seem to belong
· Ideas/stuff from unrelated cultures
· Gap

2. · Space between things-- something that should be there is
missing
· When someone goes off topic, why are they doing so?
· Some explanation of things is missing in the text that is
necessary to understand another part
3. Sometimes we consider it worth it to track down this
information and start a whole new hobby or area of inquiry in
our lives
. Tension
8. Stretched tight, mental or emotional strain
8. The author is too tight in their definition/opinion and doesn’t
make space for other ways of dealing with things
8. The author only entertains their own narrow worldview
8. The author is overly negative and doesn’t consider the
positive
8. Sometimes someone is trying to keep everything in line to
show us a specific perspective or message, but that wasn’t the
right choice and so not everything fits together quite right.
. Ambiguity
9. unclear or inexact because a choice between alternatives has
not been made.
9. open to more than one interpretation; having a double
meaning.
9. We have to make a choice
9. Call the author out on not making a choice
9. Discuss why the author may have resisted making a choice
9. Explain what we found ambiguous- and what we can learn
from that ambiguity
. Difficulty
10. Struggle- for meaning, for context, for specific answers,
cultural differences and how hard they can be to understand
10. Style of writing
10. Find a place you didn’t understand and…
3. First, point out the difficulty
3. Say what you do understand
3. Say what you don’t understand

3. 3. Fill in what you don’t understand
3. Be curious about everything
Interesting place:
“Least Force Necessary”- the Wall of Shame (this was
punishment for people who used more than the least force
necessary, a memorial to their stupidity)
“Implications of Doves”-- Sundown
Similarities--- difficult to write about, but if we can find
adequate implications, then we can still make this work!
How we should treat animals--- both agree that we should treat
animals well
Both authors think like animals think
Both also anthropomorphize
Gaps----
Sympathy- “Implications of Doves”- he treats the suffering
mourning doves with sympathy, but not the magpies that attack
it. He should be equal and balanced in his treatment of animals.
They’re just doing what is natural to them. “Least Force
Necessary”- the author claims to treat all animals the same way,
but then even though he doesn’t kill the bear, he still uses his
pepper spray. But he obviously is writing from a place of great
feeling for the bear--- is he so careful around other animals?
Why not talk about them too? 3
Emotional reactions- shock, perplex, fascinate
Shock:“Least Force Necessary”- staring down a rushing bear,
standing your ground, and keeping your head. The man’s
decision to protect the mourning doves over three days- what’s
the connection? The dead, mutilated mourning dove- the
magpies kill him gruesomely, and don’t even eat him. Nature?
Torture?

4. Fascinate: “Least Force Necessary”- the man loves the bear so
much to get a tattoo of its paw print. “Implications of Doves”-
he watches the mourning doves so closely! They both through
their words show us that they love animals deeply. But when
faced with the animals that they love, one protects the animal,
one protects himself. What’s the difference, and what does that
say about their words and their ideas and how well they work?
Predator vs prey? Treating animals like humans? Useful animals
and pets- which is which?
Project 2: Letters – Considering Audience and Purpose
“What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters. You can’t
re-read a phone call” –Liz Carpenter
“Nobody black had learned anything from the “Letter from the
Birmingham Jail’ or from the “I Have a Dream’ speech. That
was a revelation of white people” –Andrew Young
“Becoming an effective letter writer means analyzing each
situation individually and choosing the form of correspondence
accordingly.” –Scribendi, a contemporary editing and writing
company
_____________________________________________________
_____________________
The Assignment:
· Write two letters.
· One letter will be written to those who AGREE with you. The
goal is to inspire, praise, encourage, or otherwise inspire action
in those who already agree with you.
· The second letter will be written to those who DISAGREE

5. with you. The goal here multifaceted; you may need to try to
convince them of your position, to consider opposing evidence
or argument, to belittle or berate them, to express kind
acknowledgement of their concerns, to enforce the superiority
of your own, etc.
· Example: Letter of complaint to the University Parking Office;
one audience is the official parking office; this will be formal,
well researched, and polite asking for an exception or change in
policy. The second audience will be the general public and the
anonymous parking attendant who ticketed me 3 minutes after
my pass expired (to be posted on the office’s public forum) in
which I rant and rage about the draconian parking laws.
· Each letter should be REAL—it needs to be able to be sent.
Provide addresses, specific organization names, or any
indication of the reality of the situation.
· Each letter should be a substantial length—no one line emails
here.
· Each letter should be formatted appropriately.
· Both letters should be on the same topic, but directed to
different audience groups.
· Both letters should be written with active and noticeable
appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos.
· Both letters should establish a clear, real world outcome that
you are trying to accomplish for each audience. Do not leave
the audience “to decide which action is best.” This is not your
goal. You must give readers a clear purpose.
· Each letter needs evidence. The type of evidence you use
(studies, statistics, reputable expert opinion, personal
experience) entirely depends on your purpose and target
audience’s values, but it needs some kind of evidence.

6. · A 2 page comparative analysis of the different rhetorical
choices made in the construction of the letters. What choices
did you make for each audience? Why did each audience have a
different need/value? How did you construct counterarguments
and rebuttals effectively? How did you consider audience biases
in your appeals? How did you decide which evidence to include
for each target audience? How did you tap into those
needs/values to create the best effect for your audience?
Consider the following types of letters as potential models and
mentor texts:
· open letter to discuss policy change (protest or support a
cause),
· letter to the editor in response to a published article,
· letter to request service or support,
· letter to raise funds,
· letter of despair or apology,
· letter of complaint,
· letter of suggestion,
· letter of praise
· other clear, purposefully constructed letter...
Have you:
· Established your occasion/purpose for writing the letter?
· Used the appropriate language, organization, and format to

7. reach the audience?
· Identified your credibility, concerns and voice?
· Referenced relevant, specific details that support your
position/ideas?
· Requested a call to action or a response?
· Identified and addressed the specific recipient most likely to
act/react?
Remember, letter writing is a social practice that has reflected
and influenced many significant moments in history. Your
letter extends your voice in the hopes of affecting another.
As with all our class assignments, I want you to find a way to
make this task as relevant to your life and interesting as
possible.
There will be many links to example letters posted on
Blackboard. Use these to inspire you!
Be creative, be bold, be thoughtful.
Due: 10/13
THE PROCESS: [Adapted from Wrightslaw.com, 12 Rules for
Writing Great Letters]
1. Before you write a letter, you need answer these questions.
Who? Who am I writing to? What are the values and beliefs of
this person?
What? What am I talking about? What does my audience already
know and what do they need to
learn?
Why? Why am I writing? What am I trying to accomplish?
How? How can I best use my knowledge of my audience to

8. accomplish my goal? What evidence,
tone, appeals, and goals are they most likely to respond to the
way I want them to?
2. Have a specific Reader in mind. Knowing who you're writing
to takes much of the guessing out of your letter writing process.
Imagine who this person is, with all their biases and
preconceived ideas about what you have to say and address
those ideas as you move through the letter.
Letter Writing Tips:
Make It Clear
It’s incredibly easy to get side-tracked when writing letters,
especially if you’re feeling upset or emotional. Remember: You
are writing to make a point, clarify an event, make a request,
and create a paper trail. Talk out loud. Avoid vague words,
jargon, and long rambling sentences. Use short words when
possible. If you naturally use long words to express yourself,
try substituting short words that mean the same thing. Long
rambling letters put people off because they are hard to read.
You don’t want this to happen. You want the reader, your
Stranger, to enjoy reading your letter.
Make It Alive
Speak directly to the reader. Use the same words and figures of
speech you use in your day-to-day speech. Think about the
Reader as a real person. Imagine yourself talking with him
about your problems. This is the person you are writing to.
You’re not firing a letter off to an unknown entity. Use words
like "you," "we," "us," "our" to make your letter more personal.
Everyone who reads the letter will feel that the message is
directed at them.
Make it RIGHT
Letters filled with errors are distracting. Readers get so
distracted by misspelled words and poor grammar that they miss
the point. If you send a letter that is filled with mistakes, your
real message is that you are sloppy and careless. If you prepare

9. your letter on a computer, it will be easier to read. The Reader
will thank you for little touches like this. Letters are not e-
mails; they require more careful preparation.
Letter writing is an art. A well written letter is a pleasure to
read. It’s also very hard work.