A GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS ON THE RHETORIC OF EMAILS

The Rhetoric of Email

What type of email are you trying to send?

Consider the following:Who is the audience of your email?How close are you with the person you are

emailing?Does this email require a reply?Are you asking a question or seeking

information from someone you do not personally know?

Are you sending this email for a business related purpose (attain an internship or job, make professional connections etc.)

If Your Audience is a Close Friend or Family Member

When emailing someone who you would regularly talk to in person or on the phone specific rules of rhetoric apply

Personal emails tend to be less formal that other types of email.

All rules about punctuation and sentence structure are more likely to be ignored.

Informal/Personal Emails Cont.

The use of humor, internet shorthand, emoticons, or crude language are more likely to be used.

They tend to use a more conversational tone and follow a “chat-like” structure.

Examples of a Informal/Personal email: “hey emily

I can take your friday shift if no one has… could you possibly take my 12:15-2:15 tomorrow(thurs)? if not, I can still take your friday, but thought I’d check:)

Just let me know!

Kelsey”

Informal/Personal Emails Cont.

Example 2: “Ben,

Where were you yesterday dumbass? You need to hit me up about the showt his weekend, ttyl.

Chris.”Rhetorical Appeals of Personal Emails:Ethos- when discussing subject matter that both

members are knowledgeable about or when talking about the values of the members.

Pathos when the subject of the email appeals to the emotions of the readers, most often used when emailing family members.

Formal/Business Related Emails

When emailing someone who is a colleague or a superior to you a more formal and professional type of rhetoric should be used

Business emails tend to be serious in tone, while keeping to most rules of grammar and punctuation.

Business emails can vary in seriousness and structure, depending on the subject of the email, and the audience.

Formal/Business Related Emails Cont.

Examples that show differences in formal emails:“Ben, I have one more check for you to sign. Let me know

when I can get a hold of you today to take care of it.

-Mike”This email was written by a officer in a student

organization to a member of the organizationWhile this is not an extremely formal scenario,

the rhetoric of the email is more serious than an informal or personal email

Formal/Business Related Emails Cont.

Hello,I want to remind you that the syllabus calls for you to select a topic for your paper by end of day on Monday. I have posted a more definitive assignment for you to review.

Also, keep your eyes open for articles on a current public relations issue (e.g. Phelps, Octuplet Mom, Christian Bale) that you will bring to class before the end of the week so we can create a deep database and use a web-based information tool to organize our knowledge on the matter.

Have a beautiful weekend.Tim

This is an example of an email that a professor may send to one of their students. It has a professional and serious tone while still being polite

Automated or Mass Emails

Automated or mass email, tends to be very impersonal and structured. They are sent with a specific purpose, generally to inform or request information.

Often automated emails are sent by large companies to their customers or organized digital systems

Automated or Mass Emails

Examples of automated or mass emails: “To initiate the password reset process for your

emiller1@elon.edu Google Account, click the link below:

http://www.google.com/accounts/RP?c=CM-5n9366OfsjgEQp_Kj2-eur_yAQ&hl=en

If clicking the link above doesn't work, please copy and paste the URL in anew browser window instead.

If you've received this mail in error, it's likely that another user enteredyour email address by mistake while trying to reset a password. If you didn'tinitiate the request, you don't need to take any further action and can safelydisregard this email.

Thank you for using Google.”

This is an example of an email received from a company in response to a request for an online password. The email is very bland and straight to the point because it is a general email template that sent automatically

Automated or Mass Email

Elon Events Management System Confirmation

Emily,

Thank you for signing up for the event.

You have signed up for the Searching for Internships Appointment on 2/23/2009 at 10:45 AM. It will be held at 112 McEwen.

Calendar Reminder

  You can now add the event you just signed up for to your e-mail/calendar client.

If you would like to add the event to one of our support e-mail calendar clients, follow the directions below.

This is another example of an automated email that is standard except that the system changes names and dates

Overview

Overall the rhetoric of email varies with the audience and subject matter of the message

Consider who you are sending the message to

Judge the level of respect and the need for correct punctuation according to the audience and subject

Overview Cont.

Good Rules of Thumb:If you would call the person on the phone regularly you can

be more informalIf the person is older than you or your superior use a

respectful toneIf the email is being sent for a specific purpose to a large

number of people the rhetoric may be bland and impersonal

Now start sending…

By: Ben Marsh and Emily Miller