• Correspondence with Public Officials Assignment Guidelines

     Part I: Purpose & Directions

    1. One of the primary focuses of the social studies is to enhance active citizen participation. A way to do this is to engage in activities that are designed to enhance the public good through your civic duty of corresponding with public officials and those in positions of leadership within your community and society at large.

    2. Your task is to write to a variety of public and political figures in order to do your share of participation and hold those in positions of authority and influence responsible for their actions and beliefs or gather information from their perspective.

    3. For each letter you must address a different issue, some of your instructor’s choosing and some of your choice. For instance, you cannot write a letter regarding the same topic to the editor of a local newspaper and the editor of a national publication.

    4. For each letter you are to turn in the original letter PLUS a copy for my files in order to document your completion of the assignment.

    5. No letter will be mailed without being checked by your instructor. This means that if your letter is disrespectful, incomplete, or not within the requirements of the assignment it will be returned to you without credit awarded.

    6. You will have due dates announced for each letter. If you would like to have your letter proof-read you must submit a copy at least one day before the due date.

    Part II: Overview of Grading

     1. Each letter is worth 20 points: Please see “Correspondence with Public Officials Rubric”

    • 10 points maximum for Business Letter Format and Conventions
    • 10 points maximum for Ideas and Content Accuracy

     2. Business Letter Format and Conventions include:

    1. Paragraph 1: introduction of yourself; i.e., age, school, hobbies/interests on/off campus
      1. minimum 4 sentences
    2. Paragraph 2: clearly state/define the issue professionally and academically in your own words
      1. minimum 4 sentences
    3. Paragraph 3: state your opinion on the issue and validate it with reasons, i.e. personal experience, understanding of/outlook on the issue
      1. minimum 5 sentences
    4. Paragraph 4: propose a reasonable recommended course of action
      1. minimum 5 sentences
    • proper return address (i.e., Trevor G. Browne ONLY)
    • proper mailing address
    • date
    • proper salutations
    • proper spacing (whether handwritten or typed)
    • accuracy of spelling, punctuation, and grammar

     3. Ideas and Content Accuracy include:

    • appropriateness and accuracy on the issue
    • clarity and effectiveness of the reasons, points, questions, support, and conclusions presented