3 - formal writing - email 2025

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3

3 - Formal email writing

The structure of a good argumentative email (on paper...)

Lesson goals

- I know what the structure of a good argumentative email is.

- I can describe what makes an email strong/weak, good/bad.

Just to be clear: What is the purpose of an argumentative email?

1. to compare and contrast two different or similar things.
2. to convince the reader by using logic and evidence
3. to answer a question through research of the relevant literature
4. to analyze a piece of literature from different angles

Argumentative Email Structure

• Different structures are possible. Usually 3 - 4 paragraphs.
  
•  Your test will be a three paragraph email.

1. Introduction
- Salutation (aanhef)

- Reason for writing

2. Main argument 

(Counterargument)

3. Conclusion

- Closing

Introduction

Reason for writing

• Thank you for your letter informing me that …

• I am contacting you to enquire about …

• I am contacting you to ask for …

• In response to your email informing me that …

• In response to your email about …

• In response to the article I read about …

Starting the email politely

• Dear Sir, if it’s a man and you don’t know his name

• Dear Madam, if it’s a woman and you don’t know her name

• Dear Mr + surname, if it’s a man and you’ve got his surname

• Dear Mrs + surname, if it’s a married woman and you’ve got her surname

• Dear Ms + surname, if it’s an unmarried woman / you’re not sure

Thesis statement / main argument

• The thesis statement is that one sentence that contains the focus of your email and tells your reader what the email is going to be about.

• Example: There should be an absolute ban against smoking in public because second-hand smoke endangers the health of non-smokers.
  

• Your main argument should be:
  - clear, concrete
  - without using first person singular (I).
  - affirmative or negative sentence sentence. Not a question!!! 

Why is or isn't this a good thesis statement:

Junk food should not be banned in schools 

because it tastes good.

Discuss in your group

Why is or isn't this a good thesis statement:

Junk food should be banned in schools because 

it contributes to childhood obesity rates.

Discuss in your group

Why is or isn't this a good thesis statement:

Grades should be eliminated because they cause anxiety and put unnecessary pressure on students.

Discuss in your group

The Body

• Each paragraph is focused on one (counter)argument
• Structure for each paragraph:   
• PEEL (see next slide)

Try to link your paragraphs with content and linking words to create flow.

How to structure your body paragraphs using the PEEL method? 

Point: start your sentence with a clear topic sentence that establishes what your paragraph is about. 

Evidence/ Example: here you should use a piece of evidence that helps to reaffirm your iniitial point and develop the argument. 

Explain: next you need to explain exactly how your evidence supports your point. 

Link: you need to link the point you have just made back to your thesis or the following paragraph using a linking word

Linking words

• Link your arguments
• Link paragraphs
• Help your reader understand your message

Linking words

Conclusion

• Thesis and arguments restated in a different, interesting manner. (ability to reformulate)
• Preserve, modify or reject the thesis statement. 
• Possibly call to some sort of action or response. 
• Thought -provoking ending. 

Do not ...

...simply repeat your introduction or thesis.

 

...introduce any new or significant evidence or example for your main argument. 

Ending your email

Call-to-action

• Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions.

• I look forward to discuss this matter in person.

• I look forward to receiving your reply soon.

• I look forward to receiving your feedback.

• I look forward to meeting you.

• I look forward to your response.

• I await your response with interest.

Closing the email politely

• Yours sincerely, 

[your name]

if you know the name of the person you’re writing to

• Yours faithfully, 

[your name]

if you don’t know the name of the person you’re writing to

Language use

• avoid slang, colloquialisms, clichés
  
• no abbreviations or contractions 
• I'm > I am     -     can't > cannot     -     didn't > did not        etc.
• full sentences
• no bullet points/lists
• skip a line between §s

Rubric

Let's practice!

Read the article on the next page. 

Write your argumentative email in 150-160 words

Is breakfast really the most important meal of the day?

A shift from knowledgable writers to those simply in search of free tickets devalues cinema – and audience experience

“Feel free to share your positive feelings about the film on Twitter after the screening,” said the usher introducing the London press preview screening of Barbie, Greta Gerwig’s Mattel-produced film. The embargo for reviews, however, would not be lifted until two days later, closer to the film’s release. The audience generally didn’t bat an eyelid and it wasn’t the first time my colleagues and I had heard such directives, yet we were left feeling censored: if they won’t allow for our negative reactions, why should they get our positive ones?

The purpose of this strategy barely needs specifying: in addition to the film’s omnipresent marketing campaign, positive reactions on social media were to seal the deal and ensure that the most dubious potential spectators would be persuaded to turn up to the cinema on the opening weekend, the most crucial days for a film’s box office success. The fact that the audience at this preview screening consisted mostly of influencers was another blatant marketing strategy, which would not have been as insulting were it not for the fact that it meant many film critics were unable to see the film before its release. The phenomenon occurred in other cities as well. A few days before the film’s release, Parisian writers were dumbfounded to see some colleagues sharing glowing takes on the film on Twitter, after being told there would be no advance screenings for any of the press. Moreover, what were presented as exclusive interviews with the cast turned out to be prerecorded and pre-approved by the studio. Ahead of its release, the film was to be seen only through pink-tinted glasses.

While it is customary for film studios to try to control the narrative by organising advance screenings if they believe in a film or avoiding them if they don’t, the methods employed for the release of Barbie were more extreme. They are symptomatic of a trend that has been evolving over the past few years and that concerns not only the film criticism profession, but culture at large. If all discussion of a film’s merits before release is left to influencers, whose driving ambition is to receive free merchandise by speaking well of the studio’s products, what can we expect the film landscape to look like? Where will engaging, challenging and, if not completely unbiased then at least impartial conversation about cinema take place, and how is the audience to think critically of what is being sold to it?

It isn’t news that many people perceive critics as pessimistic writers and frustrated artists who never like anything – thanks, Ratatouille. If critics can seem harsh, however, it is because they love cinema and want what is best for it. They want it to be as artful and life-changing as it can be, rather than a purely commercial enterprise meant to make us buy more things. But even that cliche has changed lately. As the writers and actors’ strike began – in an attempt to get streamers and studios to remunerate workers properly – and cast and crew found themselves unable to promote their work, many wondered whether film critics continuing to write reviews would be crossing the picket line, further evidence that the difference between critics and PRs is blurring in the public consciousness. Somehow, we have gone to the other end of the spectrum: a critic is now perceived as someone who loves every film, automatically and uncritically.

Whether a fact or a myth, we used to believe that critics could make or break a film: Pauline Kael is said to have rescued the now-classic Bonnie and Clyde and thus encouraged Hollywood to reinvent itself. The support of critics meant a lot to young Quentin Tarantino, and the French critics (and film-makers) at the Cahiers du Cinéma contributed to Alfred Hitchcock being taken seriously in his homeland and in Hollywood. It is difficult to imagine such impactful film criticism today, which doesn’t mean that good writing doesn’t exist, coming from established and newer voices. Rather than hype machines, these writers are craftspeople, bringing together their personal experience, film knowledge, critical thinking and enthusiasm to write articles that challenge perspectives and reflect on today’s world.

Who needs film critics when studios can be sure influencers will praise their films?

Your teacher will hand out the article to you on paper

Read the article and write your response to the editor of the guardian newspaper
Katharine Viner

Linking word