Letters of complaint:tact • Module6A1.3 Tact: how to influence people
You are a student,andhave verylittle money. You werefortunateenough to find
a verycheap and convenient flatto rent. Naturally, theflathasits disadvantages:
if it didn't, it wouldbe muchtoo expensivefor you. Now, withwinter comingon,
it is time to tryto persuade the landlord toimprove the flat(w ithout, ofcourse,
increasingthe rent).
Read the twoletters overleaf(thesecondone is unfinished) and decide how you
would reactto eachof themif you werethe landlord.
Arethereanydifferences offactbetween the two letters, or i s the difference
onlyoneoftone?
2 (a) Howis the first sentenceof the first letter expressed in thesecond letter?
(b) In view of all the factsyou are given,would you say theopeningof the
second letter was:
(i) hnJOcritica l?
(ii) untruthful?
(iii) de ceitful?
(iv) tactful?
Whicheverof the aboveyoudecidethe factis that this is an aspect of
language,culture andcommunication,and not a question of morality. This
kindof politeness is much the same in all English-speaking countries,and
breaking these rulesis a muchbigger languagemistakethan breaking
grammar rules.
3 Inthe first letter, Oliver describes the problems as if hewastelling a friend
abo ut the flat: he usesdramatic andstrongwordsto express his emotions,
andperhapsexaggeratesa little. In a formal, writtencomplaint,emotive
languageis inappropriate. Exaggerationmust also be avoidedbecau seif the
landlord can show that something you havesaid isnot factuallytrue, t his
destroysthe credibilityofyour otherclaims aswell.
Find examplesof emotivelanguage andexaggerationin the firstletter, and
see how it is avoided in thesecond.
4 A letter lik e this should not become a personalattackon someone.Find
instances inthe firstletter whereOliverbecomesoffensive when he addresses
his landlord in too personal a way.5 Write the last paragraph of thesecond letter. Try, as in the first three
paragraphs,to makethe landlord:- think what a polite, reasonable, articulate(and thereforedangerous)person
you are. - believethatyourcomplaints are truthful andaccurate.
- believethatyour requests arereasonable.
- really want to spend money on the flat.
- act with some urgency.
Tasktypes • 91