05 September 2010

First professorial whine of the term

What part of the instruction "write a letter" prompts the question, "Should I start 'Dear . . . '?"?

How do you usually start a letter?

Or would I rather not know?

5 comments:

undine said...

They may not ever have written a real letter--seriously. And the form of writing a letter may not be one of the "higher-order concepts" that the K-12 establishment is keen on these days.

Anonymous said...

"Hey,"

Ink said...

"Yo!"

Just kidding.

Clio Bluestocking said...

You would rather not know.

Anonymous said...

I have to consciously remind myself to begin emails with any sort of salutation, and I have never found a satisfactory form of formal address for letters or emails - 'Dear so-and-so' feels too personal - they're NOT dear to me, or I'd have forgone formal salutations entirely!

So yes, your student may be unfamiliar with letter-writing, or dithering between "Dear Bob", "To Bob", "Hi Bob', etc.