letter wiki
TRANSCRIPT
-
7/30/2019 letter wiki
1/8
The famous Einstein letter from Edward
Teller and Le Szilrd to US President
Franklin Roosevelt suggesting an atomic
bomb project. Click here for page 2.
Letter (message)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A letter is a written message containing information from one party to another. The role of letters in
communication has changed significantly since the nineteenth century. Historically, letters (in paper form) were the
only reliable means of communication between two people in different locations.
As communication technology has diversified, posted letters have become less important as a routine form of
communication; they however still remain but in a modified form. For example, the development of the telegraph
shortened the time taken to send a letter by transferring the letter as an electrical signal (for example in Morse code)
between distant points. At the telegraph office closest to the destination of the letter, the signal was transferred back
into a hardcopy format and sent as a normal mail to the person's home. This allowed the normal speed of
communication to be drastically shortened for larger and larger distances. This required specialised technicians to
encode and decode the letter. The facsimile (fax) machine took this one step further: an entire letter could be
completely transferred electrically from the sender's house to the receiver's house by means of the telephone
network as an image.
Today, the Internet is becoming (or has become) the predominant medium for sending letters. The term e-mail,meaning electronic mail, has entered into everyday speech. By analogy, the term letteris sometimes used for e-mail
messages with a formal letter-like format. (And regular letters, since they take longer, are often called "snail-mail.")
Historically, letters exist from the time of ancient India, ancient Egypt and Sumer, through Rome, Greece and
China, up to the present day. Letters make up several of the books of the Bible. Archives of correspondence,
whether for personal, diplomatic, or business reasons, serve as primary sources for historians.
Contents
1 The study of letter writing
2 Advantages
3 The letter-delivering process
4 Letter layout
4.1 United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia
4.2 United States
Letter (message) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_(message)
1 of 8 1/2/2013 5:57 AM
-
7/30/2019 letter wiki
2/8
5 Letter of thanks
5.1 Types
5.1.1 Business
5.1.2 Personal
5.2 Format
6 See also
6.1 Types of letters
7 References
The study of letter writing
Due to the timelessness and universality of letter writing, there is a wealth of letters and instructional materials (for example, manuals, as in the medieval ars
dictaminis) on letter writing throughout history. The study of letter writing usually involves both the study of rhetoric and grammar.[1]
AdvantagesLetters are still used, particularly by law firms and businesses, for official (public) notifications, sometimes advertising. This is because of three main
advantages:
No special device needed - almost everybody has a residence or other place at which he or she can receive mail. A mailbox is all that the intended
recipient needs - unlike e-mail or phone calls, where the intended recipient needs access to a computer and an e-mail account or a telephone respectively.
"Catch-all"advertising- unlike e-mails, where the recipient needs an individual e-mail address to receive messages, individuals are not necessarily
chosen, by rather can widely cover many or all addresses in a given locality.
Physical record - important messages that need to be retained (e.g. invoices; government notification such as tax or immigration) can be kept relatively
easily and securely.
The letter-delivering process
Here is how a letter gets from the sender to the recipient:
Sender writes letter and places it in an envelope on which the recipient's address is written in the centre front of the envelope. Sender ensures that the
recipient's address includes the Zip or Postal (if applicable) code and often he includes his return address on the envelope.
1.
Letter (message) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_(message)
2 of 8 1/2/2013 5:57 AM
-
7/30/2019 letter wiki
3/8
A thank-you letter from Katharine
Hepburn to Alan Light thanking him for
his condolences in regards of Cary Grant's
death
Sender buys a postage stamp and attaches it to the front of the envelope on the top right corner on the front of
the envelope.
2.
Sender puts the letter in a postbox.3.
The national postal service for the sender's country (e.g., the Royal Mail, UK; US Postal Service, US;
Australia Post in Australia; or Canada Post in Canada) empties the postbox and takes all the contents to the
regional sorting office.
4.
The sorting office then sorts each letter by address and postcode and delivers the letters destined for a
particular area to that area's post office. Letters addressed to a different region are sent to that region's sortingoffice, to be sorted further.
5.
The local post office dispatches the letters to their delivery personnel who deliver them to the appropriate
addresses.
6.
This whole process, depending on how far the sender is from the recipient, can take anywhere from a day to 34
weeks. International mail is sent via trains and planes to other countries.
Letter layout
Letter (message) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_(message)
3 of 8 1/2/2013 5:57 AML tt ( ) Wiki di th f l di htt // iki di / iki/L tt ( )
-
7/30/2019 letter wiki
4/8
Vintage German letter balance for home
use
Sender's address here
24 Lambert StreetStoke-on-Trent
ST4 4WE
Date here
Formal: 1 January 2013 Informal: January
1
United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia
The following is a common way to set out a letter:
Letter (message) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_(message)
4 of 8 1/2/2013 5:57 AM Letter (message) Wikipedia the free encyclopedia http://en wikipedia org/wiki/Letter (message)
-
7/30/2019 letter wiki
5/8
Recipient's name and address
here
Mr Joseph Bloggs
25 Lambkin Street
Stoke-on-Trent
ST3 9WR
Main body
Formal: Dear Sir or Madam, Acquaintance: Dear Mr Johnson, Informal: Dear Boris,
Content
Formal: Yours faithfully, Acquaintance: Yours sincerely, Informal: Best wishes,
Sender's Name
Formal: Sender's Occupation and Enclosures Informal: Nothing (optional: P.S. / Post Scriptum = Afterthought)
United States
The following is the modified block format for a business letter, common in the United States:
January 1, 2013
Your Address
Date
Mr Jack Brough
25 First Street
Anytown, VA 10005
Dear Mr. Brough:
This is an example of a modified block letter. The difference between itand a full block letter style is that the date begins at the center point
of the page; therefore, if a letter has a 6 inch line of type, the date
begins approximately over 3 inches from the left margin.
The closing block also begins half-way across the page. The complimentary
close and the keyed signature (first and last name of the writer) begin at
the same point as the date - approximately 3 inches from the left margin.
Sincerely,
Robert Hayward
Sales Representative
Letter (message) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_(message)
5 of 8 1/2/2013 5:57 AM Letter (message) Wikipedia the free encyclopedia http://en wikipedia org/wiki/Letter (message)
-
7/30/2019 letter wiki
6/8
Thank you letter sent by the US
government to test subjects of the
Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
Letter of thanks
A letter of thanks orthank you letter is a letter that is used when one person/party wishes to express appreciation to another. There are two main types of
thank you letters: business thank you letters and personal thank you letters.
Types
Business
There are numerous situations in day-to-day business that can warrant a thank you letter. Some typical situations include:
appreciation for special consideration extended by another organization, thanking a speaker for a presentation at a board
meeting, customer appreciation letters thanking customers for their patronage, thanks to employees for exceptional service
or performance, thanks to an individual or organization for a customer referral, appreciation to volunteer service workers
for their personal contributions to a public service campaign, etc.
Personal
As with business situations, there are many instances in day-to-day life that can warrant a formal thank you letter. Examples
of typical personal thank you letter situations include: a follow-up thanks after a job interview or offer, thanks to a company
or institution in appreciation for exceptional customer service received, letter to friends and/or neighbors for their support
during a difficult period, letters for wedding gifts, thanks to a service club or agency for support given to family members,
social occasion thank you letters for a wide variety of social situations, etc.
Format
A thank you letter should be written as a standard business letter or personal letter, and should not normally exceed one page. Personal thank you letters can be
hand-written in cases in which the addressee is a friend, acquaintance or relative.
Thank you letters are also sometimes referred to as letters of gratitude. These types of thank you letters are usually written as formal business letters.
See also
Address Postage stamp
Letter (message) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_(message)
6 of 8 1/2/2013 5:57 AM Letter (message) - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia http://en wikipedia org/wiki/Letter (message)
-
7/30/2019 letter wiki
7/8
An illiterate woman and a
letter writer in Kolkata, India
Carbon copy
Compliments slip
Envelope
Historical documents
Letter box
Mail
Manuscript
Pen palPony Express
Post office
Postmaster
Postmaster General (disambiguation)
Private Express Statutes
Salutation
Secrecy of letters
Snail mail
Stationery
TypographyUniversal Postal Union
Valediction
Types of letters
Application letter
Audio letter
Begging letter
Business letter
Cease and desist letter
Chain letter
Cover letter
Dear John letter
E-mail letterEpistle
Hate mail
Introduction letter
Letter of credence
Letter of credit
Letter of inquiry
Letter of intent
Letter of marque
Letter of resignation
Letters patent
Love letter
National Letter of Intent
Open letter
Poison pen letterQuery letter
Recommendation letter
Reference letter
Sales letter
Letter (message) Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_(message)
7 f 8 1/2/2013 5 57 AM
-
7/30/2019 letter wiki
8/8