Letter
A
letter is a
written message from one person to another. The role of letters in communication has changed significantly since the 19th century. Historically, letters were the only reliable means of communication between two persons in different locations. As communication technology has diversified, letters have become less important as routine communication. The development of the
telegraph,
telephone, and the
Internet have all had an impact on the writing and sending of letters. In modern industrialized nations, the exchange of personal letters has become less common, being replaced by technologies such as the telephone and
e-mail. By analogy, the term
letter is sometimes used for e-mail messages with a formal letter-like format. Historically, letters exist from the time of
ancient Egypt and
Sumer, through
Rome and
Greece and
China, up to the present day. Letters make up several of the books of the
Christian Bible. Archives of correspondence, whether for personal, diplomatic, or business reasons, serve as
primary sources for
historians.
Letters are still used, particularly by companies and advertisers. This is because of three main advantages:
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No special device needed - almost everybody has a home, which means they are easy to reach. A mailbox is all that the intended recipient needs - not like e-mail or phone calls where you need access to a
computer and a
telephone respectively.
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"Catch-all" advertising- unlike e-mails, where the recipient needs an individual e-mail address to receive messages, addresses are not chosen (per se), and so with the help of postal services, delivering an advertisement to all homes in a particular area is not hard.
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Physical record - important messages that need to be retained (e.g. receipts) can be kept more easily and securely.
Here is how a letter gets from the sender to the recipient:# Sender writes letter and buys a
stamp, which they place on the front of the
envelope.# Sender puts their letter in a mailbox and does nothing more.# The National Postal Service for the sender's country (e.g. the
Royal Mail in the
UK or the
U.S. Postal Service in the
U.S.) empties the postbox and takes all the contents to the regional sorting office.# The sorting office then sort each letter by address and postcode, and deliver the letters belonging to a particular area to that area's
post office. Letters belonging to a different region are sent to that region's sorting office, to be sorted further.# The local post office dispatches their letters to their delivery personnel (postman/woman) who deliver them to the appropriate houses.
This whole process, depending on how far the sender is from the recipient, can take anywhere from 2-3 days to 3-4 weeks. International mail is sent via
trains and
planes to other countries.
United Kingdom
The following is the normal way to set out a letter:(Note: This is the style in the
UK. See below for the format used in the
American.)
| Sender's address here |
| 24 Lambert Street |
| Stoke-on-Trent ST4 4WE |
| Recipient's name and address here |
| Mr Jimmy Wales |
| 25 Lambert Street |
| Stoke-on-Trent ST4 4WE |
| Date here |
| Formal: 29/08/2005 Informal: 29 August 2005 |
United States
The following is the modified block format for a business letter, common in the United States:
| Sender's address here |
| 24 Evergreen Terrace |
| Springfield, IL 12345 |
| Date here |
| Formal: August 25, 2005 Informal: 8/25/05 |
| Recipient's name and address here |
| Mr. John Doe |
| 25 First Street |
| Anytown, VA 10005 |
| style="text-align: center" | Content here
| Formal: Dear Sir, Informal: Dear Jimmy, |
| Content |
The sender's address and closing generally begin about one-half to two-thirds of the way across the page. The full block format is similar. In this format, however, all sections begin at the left margin. Also, paragraphs are not indented at all, rather beginning at the left margin along with all other lines. A single blank line is used to distinguish paragraphs.
Types of letters
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Web form to Letter (PDF) generator*
University of Wisconsin Writing Center Guide*
Purdue University Online Writing Labzh-yue:信
