WRTG394 Assignment 4 - Bad News Letter

Assignment 4 - Bad News Letter

Your task in this assignment is to write an effective business letter, using standard business letter format, addressing one of the following scenarios:

1. Termination of an employee for poor performance

2. Denial of promotion

3. Announcement of no cost of living salary increase or pay raises

Before beginning the letter, review the attached file from the University of Hawaii offering examples of poorly written bad news letters with suggestions for improvement. After reviewing these examples, decide whether you will take a direct or an indirect approach to writing the letter.

This assignment, which is a real world application, will help you accomplish the course goals of:

1. Effective business communication

2. Attention to audience and tone

3. Writing for a purpose

As you write your letter, make sure you set up the situation in the introductory paragraph, attend to appropriate audience and tone, select words and language carefully, and provide details and evidence to support your main points. Be sure to direct the employee to action prior to closing out your letter. This letter will be graded on the following criteria:

• Meets the requirements of the assignment
• Is free from grammar and punctuation errors
• Uses transitions to move between ideas and paragraphs
• Is appropriate in tone and language
• Is carefully proofread and edited
• Accomplishes the task