Composing emails to your employer and your friend

Instructions

You will write emails explaining a situation to both an employer and a friend.

Your employer has asked you to work on a day that you have already requested off for personal reasons. You are unable to change your plans and must therefore explain why you are unable to work (a family wedding or similar event is a possible choice for this). Your friend has asked you to assist him or her with moving on the same day. Again, you are unable to help because of the same prior engagement.

  • Write an email to your employer explaining why you are unable to work on the day specified.
  • Write an email to your friend explaining why you are unavailable to help with his or her move.
  • In a short, 1-page reflection, explain the differences between how you have communicated in the two emails. Familiarity with the other person, formality, type of language used, and other factors you may wish to include.
  • Keep in mind the audiences to whom you are writing. Ideas of grammar, formality, and word choice may be very different depending on your audience, but in both cases, clarity and succinctness are important.

Must meet the following Criteria:

  • Email to employer offers clear reason for the inability to come to work. Multiple logical and clear details are included. Email is professional and formal with no inconsistencies in language choice or tone.
  • Email to friend offers clear reason for the inability to help. Multiple logical and clear details are included. Email is personal with no inconsistencies in language choice or tone
  • Reflection offers more than three distinct and clear differences in style, message, language, and other aspects of communication in the two emails.
  • No grammatical or mechanical errors evident. Tone is appropriate for both emails but is noticeably different. Clear distinction in language used in the two emails