I have also used a series of rhetorical questions throughout the letter.
“Are those the lives these poor people deserve?”
This makes the reader think more deeply into the issue in hand and brings a new perspective.
Euphemisms have been used throughout the text. The word ‘gift’ has been used instead of the word ‘money’ this is a softer term than ‘money’ and it also makes the reader believe that his money is a gift to someone, which makes them feel more generous.
“Will you help with a gift of £3 a month to Help The Aged”
This sentence is also an example of the technique repetition. This sentence is repeated in my letter, so the reader does not forget about the primary purpose of the letter, which is to give the charity a donation.
I have used emotive language in my letter to help cause an emotional connection between the reader and the sufferer in the text. This is an important technique and has been repeated throughout my text and is vital for persuasive writing of this variety.
“In the UK we work to help fight poverty, injustice and misery”
This is also a good example of a triple or rule of three, which is an effective method of putting across the points and making them memorable and powerful.
I have used several persuasive adverbs including:
“Only” and “merely”
These choices of words have been used to make the donation of £3 seem to have no real accountable value.
At the beginning of my letter I have addressed it:
“Dear friend”
This is informal, but at the same time polite and it makes the reader feel comfortable with the charity and the reader.
In my letter I have used a case study to push emphasis upon the reader and make the reader really think about the person in hand.
“Since I was blessed by Help the Aged…”
Above the case study text is an emotive image. This has a similar effect to the emotive language used.
In my letter I have used a very professional layout. I had previously researched charity letters and got an idea of what kind of layout would be necessary. At the top of my page I have made two stripes go across the page one yellow and one black. These are the charity’s two main colours and it makes the letter very eye-catching and professional. Within the letterhead is the logo, which I got off the Internet, which goes very well with the colour schemes of the page. In the top right hand corner of the page I have written the address and contact details in a manor which is similar to the Help the Aged letter I has previously looked at.
On the back of the paper I have used two emotive images with statistics below “Last winter over 25,000 older people died from cold related illness” this use of statistic and image is very effective in bringing emphasis upon the reader and also shocking the reader into giving the charity money.
The font I have used is Sylfaen pt 10.5 I have used this font because it is easily readable and looks professional.
In conclusion, this is an effective charity letter, which has effective pieces of writing within it. I have used many persuasive techniques, which I have not mentioned and they all work together to make a good persuasive piece of writing.
