April Fools’ Day? No Fools’ Day for Academic and Business Writing!

 photo edited by Laura Lai

by Laura Lai/ Uncategorized 

Write a message to borrow money (to buy books) from:

• a parent or a close relative;
• your brother, sister, or best friend;
• school’s financial department aid. 

If it looks like a joke on April Fools’ Day, I am telling you that it is not. It is a short exercise of formality, tone, and, most important, taking into account the audience of the message.

Message 1: Mom, we need to buy books for the school’s library. I need to contribute $20.

Message 2: Tom, would you borrow me $20 til next month? We’re buying books for the school’s library.

Message 3:

Dear Mrs. Jones,

I am writing this letter to require financial aid to purchase five English dictionaries for the school’s library.

There are thirty pupils studying English in the 8^th grade and there is only one dictionary that is available for all. Our initiative to collect the necessary sum of money to purchase the five dictionaries failed, as most of the parents cannot afford them. Consequently, I turn to the Financial Department to support our initiative for this year’s pupils and for the future ones that will study English and that will be in need of a good English dictionary.

Please feel free to contact me shall you have questions or shall you need more information. 

Respectfully,

Margaret Smith – English teacher, 8A class

In terms of formality, the first two messages are less formal than the third one – the last message is the most formal of all. I would argue that the first message is also on a more familiar tone (‘mom, we need to buy books … I need to contribute’), in comparison to the second one (‘Tom, would you borrow me…’). The third message is formal and in a neutral tone. It informs the Financial Department that there is a class need for dictionaries, that pupils’ initiative failed, and that they need the support of this department. 

Furthermore, the first two sentences are more informal, they are also shorter in formulating the request, while the third message is the longest, it is an official written request, looking or borrowing some elements from the cover letter format. 

They are all different because each of the messages took into account the audience it is addressing to. Usually, familiarity with the person(s) one is addressing, goes hand in hand with a more informal and direct approach. When addressing itself to an institution, a department of an institution (as in this case when the teacher addresses herself to Mrs. Jones from the financial department), or an unknown audience, the style is more formal, more explicative, and there is room left for other eventual questions that may arise. However, I think that whatever the audience, the formulation and the tone must always be polite.