Persuasive Letter Topics
02/05/2007Following are some suggested topics for this assignment. You may use them or generate your own. As always, I encourage you to use situations from your own life as material for this class.
1. Write a letter to an elected official asking him/her to support or reject a particular bill. Be sure to provide lots of persuasive evidence as to why this person should support or reject this position.
2. You are a postmaster of a local post office, and recently one of your carriers has refused to deliver mail to a particular address because he is repeatedly threatened by a mean dog every time he attempts to place the mail in the box. (You supply the details.) Write a letter to the people with the scary dog informing them that their mail service has been suspended until they do something about their pet. Don't forget to provide a mechanism for the reader to inform you that the problem has been resolved so that mail service can resume.
3. You are a candidate for local office. Write letters to voters asking them to support you. You may want to narrow the focus of your audience so you can use a more specific central appeal with them. For example, if you're running for dog catcher, you may wish to inform members of the SPCA in your district that you are pro spaying and neutering. You may want to consult this link for further assistance: Fundraising Letters and Letters that Ask People to Support a Particular Candidate or Issue
4. As president of your neighborhood association, you are naturally concerned with the neighborhood's mosquito problem. You have discussed the problem with Mosquito and Rodent Control and have learned that they are willing to come and spray individual residents' yards upon their request, but that spraying alone isn't enough--residents must help with the problem by making sure that nothing outdoors serves as a container for water (mosquitoes breed in stagnant water), that high weeds are promptly chopped, and that piles of trash are reported to Waste Management and picked up. Write a letter to all of your neighborhood's residents encouraging them to not only have their yards sprayed, but to help with this problem. Be sure that your letter contains all the information they'll need to comply with your request.
5. Write a letter persuading people to donate money to a worthy cause. You may be an official representative of the organization, or may be an individual member writing on behalf of that organization. Choose your audience carefully. Who would be likely to donate in the first place, and what would make these people turn loose of their hard earned cash? What will you be doing with the money? You may want to consult this link for further assistance: Fundraising Letters and Letters that Ask People to Support a Particular Candidate or Issue
6. Write a letter to a contractor or business expressing dissatisfaction with a product or service and demanding an adjustment or refund. Your ability to get what you ask for will depend on how well you present the facts and maintain the tone of a reasonable person with a legitimate claim (instead of sounding like an old grouch who's never happy). You may want to consult this link for further assistance: Claims Adjustment Letters, Letters of Demand, and Cease and Desist Letters
7. Write a letters of recommendation for someone seeking a job or a scholarship. Your letter should do more than say the person you're recommending is the greatest thing since sliced bread. You should know this person well enough to clearly articulate why s/he would be an ideal candidate for this job or scholarship. What qualities does this person have that will allow him/her to succeed in this position? (You might have to find out more about the job or scholarship the person is applying for to adequately demonstrate how his/her qualities match the reader's needs.) Be sure to use specific examples to support your arguments.