Module 4
Correspondence Style

Click on the links below to go to that section of the module.

Assignment 4: Evaluate Your Writing

This module has added another area to focus on when revising your writing. This assignment builds on the concepts learned in Modules 2 (structure) and 3 (mechanics). Style and tone are two more dimensions of writing that you must be aware of as you review your work.

You will evaluate and revise two documents for this assignment:

  • The Ruritania Disaster Risk Management E-mail, which demonstrates some common problems of bureaucratic style and inappropriate or inconsistent tone
  • An e-mail or letter you have previously written at work, which needs to be revised to improve its style and/or its tone 

The Ruritania e-mail

Do not revise the structure or content of this document; instead, focus on the issues of style and tone given in the final section of the Document Review Sheet. Revise this document to correct the problems with style and tone.

Your own e-mail or letter

Do not use the same e-mail that you submitted as your assignment in Module 2; instead, choose a different document that you have already written at work. Consider its structure, mechanics, style, and tone.

First, complete a Reader Dialogue Worksheet (responsive or initiative) to ensure that the document has a clear purpose, main question, and main message, and that it answers the reader’s next questions effectively.

Then use the Document Review Sheet to help direct your evaluation. Revise the document to correct the problems you have identified.

Upload the following five files in Moodle for this assignment:

  • A completed Document Review Sheet identifying problems of style and tone in the Ruritania e-mail
  • The revised Ruritania e-mail, with problems corrected
  • Your original e-mail or letter
  • A completed Document Review Sheet identifying problem areas in your original document
  • The revised e-mail or letter, with problems corrected

Your tutor will provide feedback on the overall effectiveness of your revisions to both documents. You may be asked to revise and resubmit any part of the assignment based on this feedback.