http://www.unstressedsyllables.com/forum/tags/christmas Unstressed Syllables discussion and practice en-US Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:12:13 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q http://www.unstressedsyllables.com/forum/search.php http://www.unstressedsyllables.com/forum/topic/writing-exercise-instructions-1#post-5 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:29:57 +0000 nicki.austin 5@http://www.unstressedsyllables.com/forum/ <p>Dear United States Postal Service:</p> <p>I am writing this letter on my sister's behalf requesting a refund for the postage spent on her nephew's Christmas gifts. </p> <p>We all know the tireless work you put in all year long and especially at Christmastime. We fully appreciate receiving gifts from grandparents and cards from friends and family in a timely manner to be able to enjoy them by Christmas day. However, my sister's gifts to her nephew on his first Christmas were of utmost importance to her, and she had full expectations that they would arrive, as promised, on December 24th. The fact that they arrived safely on December 26th does not erase the disappointment my sister felt at their late arrival.</p> <p>We request a full refund for the postage and you will find relevant receipts enclosed. Thank you for your continued service to all of us and for your kind consideration of this matter.</p> <p>Sincerely,</p> <p>Nicki Austin<br /> Mother and Sister </p> http://www.unstressedsyllables.com/forum/topic/writing-exercise-instructions-1#post-3 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:33:53 +0000 Aaron Pogue 3@http://www.unstressedsyllables.com/forum/ <p>We discussed the business letter format in passing this week, and we'll get to it in more detail in the next week or two, but I'd like to see what you can do now. Maybe you're showing off your chops, proving to me that this blog doesn't have anything to offer you at all. Maybe you're setting up a phenomenal Before and After contrast, stumbling through a crude letter format now so you can really shine once I teach you how to do it right.</p> <p>Either way, have fun with it. Write me a one-page business letter (no more than 250 words, and 100 would probably be acceptable) politely thanking Santa Claus for a gift you received this Christmas, but pointing out a mistake on his part and asking for a full refund. If that's just too silly for you, substitute in your Aunt Edna, or WalMart Corporation. Mainly I want to see how well you can duplicate the business letter format, and how you structure the message in a formal correspondence. </p> http://www.unstressedsyllables.com/forum/topic/writing-exercise-instructions#post-2 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:31:41 +0000 Aaron Pogue 2@http://www.unstressedsyllables.com/forum/ <p>This week, your assignment is to write me a story in the form of a fictional blog post. With Christmas so much on our minds, it just seems obvious to tell a Christmas story, but I want you to practice some of that "getting better at being a person" that I mentioned earlier in the week.</p> <p>So tell me about your Christmas, but tell me about it from the point of view of someone else who was involved. Tell me the harrowing tale of your brother-in-law who drove in through a blizzard to make it to Christmas dinner at your house, through his eyes. Tell me about the sister who couldn't make it, or the random cashier at the grocery store who offered a surprisingly exuberant "Merry Christmas" as you made your way through the checkout line.</p> <p>Write a blog post of 200 to 600 words titled "My Christmas" and write it as though you're somebody else. It's good practice at blogging, good practice at writing from a set point of view, and good practice at seeing the world through your fellow man's eyes -- and that's certainly something worth doing at Christmastime. </p>