Life skills writing

132 Pages·1999·7.631 MB·English

by  Kaplan, Ellen, Mosenfelder, Donn

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LIFE SKILLS
367
EDUCATIONAL
DESIGN, INC.
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LIFE SKILLS
WRITING
PIKES PEAK LIBRARY DISTRICT
P.O.BOX 1579 *
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80901
© 1993, 1990, 1988, 1985, 1984, 1981, 1980 Educational Design, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part,
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Educational Design, Inc., 345 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014-4502
ISBN# 0-87694-160-9 EDI 367
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Contents
UNIT 1 —LISTS, OUTLINES, and SUMMARIES.4
1. MAKING LISTS.5
2. LISTS WITH CATEGORIES .8
3. OUTLINES.11
4. ALPHABETIZING.16
5. WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY—The 5 W's .18
6. SUMMARIES.21
UNIT 2—MESSAGES, NOTICES, and ADS .24
7. WRITING MEMOS, Part 1 ..25
8. WRITING MEMOS, Part2 .27
9. TELEPHONE MESSAGES, Parti .29
10. TELEPHONE MESSAGES, Part 2.32
11. BULLETIN BOARD NOTICES .34
12. BULLETIN BOARD ADS.37
13. CLASSIFIED ADS . 40
14. RECEIPTS.42
15. INSTRUCTIONS.45
UNIT 3—LETTER FORMATS .48
16. POSTCARD FORMAT.49
17. ADDRESSING ENVELOPES.53
18. PERSONAL LETTER FORMAT.56
19. BUSINESS LETTER FORMAT .62
UNIT 4—PERSONAL LETTERS.66
20. POSTCARDS .67
21. THANK-YOU LETTERS .71
22. INVITATIONS.75
23. LETTERS OF SYMPATHY.79
24. FRIENDLY LETTERS .83
UNIT 5—BUSINESS LETTERS.87
25. BUSINESS LETTERS & The 5 W’s.88
26. LETTERS OF REQUEST .92
27. LETTERS OF COMPLAINT .97
28. ADJUSTMENT LETTERS.101
29. FOLLOW-UP LETTERS.105
UNIT 6—FORMS .109
30. FILLING OUT FORMS—INTRODUCTION.110
31. UNDERSTANDING ABBREVIATIONS ON FORMS ....114
32. FILLING OUT FORMS—INSTRUCTIONS .116
33. SAMPLE FORM A—Warranty Registration.119
34. SAMPLE FORM B—Learner’s Permit .120
35. SAMPLE FORM C—Application to a Community College.121
36. SAMPLE FORM D—Bank Check .122
37. SAMPLE FORM E—Buying by Mail .124
UNIT 1
LISTS, OUTLINES, and SUMMARIES
Making lists, putting things in alphabetical order, making short outlines and
summaries—these are all common writing tasks. You will be doing these at
home or on the job throughout most of your life.
This kind of writing is not hard to do, once you know how. And when you have
learned how to do these easy writing tasks, you’ll be on your way to doing
more complicated types of writing. Lists, outlines, and summaries all give you
practice in putting your ideas and thoughts in a clear, logical order. And
putting down your thoughts clearly so that someone else can understand
them is the basic task of all writing.
4
1. MAKING LISTS
You are having a party. You want to buy some food for your guests. How will
you remember everything you need when you go to the store?
A good way is to make up a list.
A list may be written up and down (in a column) or across the page (in a row).
Here’s a list of food to buy for the party that is written up and down in a column:
\
7© buy
-TV Foot>
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a-
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y* « i<
(na*t4e *Uuaz.
&
&
-- —
S- OAtfszefa
zf-—
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Or you could write the same list across the page, in a row, like this:
Food 70 buy /=&/Z PA-KT-y'
cJutMf meAtt jO0ttUz> Atubd)
NOTICE that when you make a list in a row, you put a comma after each item.
The commas separate each item from the others. Using commas makes the
list easier to read.
A shopping list is just one kind of list. Lots of other things are also organized
into lists:
• A menu is a list of foods in a restaurant.
• A program for a sports event lists the players.
• A bill is a list of things you have bought.
• In school, you may get a reading list of all the books you have to read for a
class.
Whenever you have several things to remember, it helps to organize them into
a list.
5
1. MAKING LISTS
Example 1
Ricky is building some shelves for her books. She makes a list of all the
materials needed for building shelves. She figures that she needs six
yard-long boards of 1" by 8" shelving for the shelves and supports. She also
needs a piece of quarter-inch plywood cut to 37V2 inches by 34 inches for
the back. To put the bookcase together she will use woodworkers’ glue and
1 Vi-inch flathead screws, No. 8. She also needs a drill to make holes for the
screws and some walnut stain, put on with a brush, to give the wood a nice
finish.
Ricky writes her list:
Example 2
Leroy is going to spend the weekend in the country at his friend’s house. He
wants to be sure to pack everything he is going to need. He wants to bring his
jeans, 2 tee-shirts, 2 pairs of underpants, and 2 pairs of socks. Since there
is a lake nearby, he will pack his bathing suit and a towel. And he doesn’t
want to forget to take along a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a comb.
Leroy makes a list like this:
TITLE ~ \ T~Q T~A;vc;er qnJ
je/XMA/, 3 tcjL - <3 ^
3 5 j&tp^uJz ^ 2, ^
REMEMBER: Commas between items.
6
1. MAKING LISTS
11 Exercise 1
—v/v-
You are going on vacation for a week this coming summer. You want to
remember to send postcards to your friends while you are away. Make a list in
a column of 4 friends to write to this next summer.
(ill Exercise 2
You just got a new job waiting on tables in a restaurant, and you are going to
start on Monday. Your new boss gives you your uniform and cap, and tells you
to bring them to work when you come in. You should also bring a pair of
comfortable shoes. Your boss tells you to bring pencils with you to write down
your orders. Since you don’t want to forget anything, you make a list (in a row)
of things to bring to work on Monday:
TITLE
LIST
with
commas
between
words
7
2. LISTS WITH CATEGORIES
Sometimes a list is easier to use if you break it up into several small lists. Each
small list is a category, or grouping of one kind of thing.
A list with categories has:
• A TITLE like a simple list
• HEADINGS telling you what each category is
• ITEMS that belong in each category listed under the right heading
Example 1
In the last unit you saw a list of food you might want to buy for a party. The first
two items were cheese and meat. Suppose you decide to buy several kinds of
cheese and several kinds of meat. Cheese and meat will be two of your
categories.
You want some American cheese and some Swiss cheese. In the meat
department you want to get some roast beef. You decide you also want some
salami and bologna plus some other things. Other is the third category—
bread, mustard, and potato chips.
This is how you write up your list:
American and Swiss are kinds of cheese.
Roast beef, salami, and bologna are kinds of meat.
Bread, mustard, and potato chips are the other foods you want.
8