<p>I was writing an E-mail, which is my communication tool basically reserved for college interviews, digital college propaganda, or people who don't have AIM. I noticed, that aside from thank you notes for presents, which I'll never write again, I never send any letters, let alone handwrite them. Part of this reason is that my penmanship is poor, because I view typing as a more efficient means of communcation. </p>
<p>I've noticed that a typical greeting for a letter (or E-mail) is "Dear (intended message recipiant)," or "To whom it may concern,". Now, most would view this as a difference between a formal or informal letter. But what if one is attempting to compose a formal letter, but would like to address it to a particular person, they often use the Dear version. Now, consider for a moment what this is saying. Do you (the composer of this letter/E-mail) truly find this person Dear to you? If you are writing to a member of the same sex, could this, if taken literally, be misconstrued as homosexual? If you truly care about this person, why are you bothering to compose a letter, when there are more valiant forms of communication, i.e. Phone Call, face-to-face conversation, even, an instant message (although one is unable to identify sarcasm) is still more personable than an E-mail/letter. </p>
<p>Then there comes the awarkward way of addressing the intended message recipent, because there are alternate titles that one can bestowe upon the person. If a male, one often erroneously refers to the person as a Mister, or Mr. This is only true if the person is married. The correct way to refer to a male bachelor is Master _____, as C-3PO would commonly refer to Luke Skywalker as "Master Luke", for he was not married (and wanted to aviod that whole incest garbage that is analogous to the Bible, as is most of star wars, but this is entirely beside the point). However, this has recently fallen out of favor. I can only recall addressing letters to bachelors as Master in Brookside school, sometime between kindergarten and first grade. I suspect this is used less because of the civil rights movement, as the term Master to be referred to as a Male, can be misconstrued as 1) a slave holder, and 2) anti-feministic. So the more common term, Mister is used. People like it more than master, because there is no superiority connotation, as in the Billy Madison phrase "What are you doing Mister, Stop it Mister." Though, it is still incorrect. In order to rectify this problem, I suggest that bachelors shall have all titles omitted, unless of course you are writing to a medical doctor (MD), lawyer (esq.), Professor (Prof, or PhD) or some other holder of an occupation that has some sort of importance or educational requirement. </p>
<p>Now on to the funny business that is addressing a female. Mrs. or Ms. thats pretty much it. Ms. is odd, because you can use it to address someone if they are married or not. Now, if you do decide that you have the audacity to address someone as Mrs. as opposed to or in addition to and of the previous titles or educational requirements that were mentioned in the previous paragraph, you better be sure that a marriage, not civil union (that's right you memebers of the supreme court of New Jersey) has occured. If you assume, you are libel to make an ass out of yourself, as I have done with a certian doctor who went to Rice University. Then again, is it not pretentious to write ones title and even moreso, their educational degree in the intial subject of your letter/E-mail? I'd say it depends on the situation. </p>
<p>So we have gotten passed all of the body, or I like to call, the meat, of the letter, and shall now proceed to the closing. Now how does one typically end thier letter? Well, certainly it would not seem fair just to blantantly sign your name and not have anything leading up to it, now would it? People often explain to the message recipent who is writing this letter, but this is often redundant. As one usually knows the address/E-mail Address of the sender, OR this has been mentioned in the first line, if one is writing a letter/E-mail under a new address. One further example of this redundancy is the signing of the letter (not E-mail) when the composer of the letter is clearly labeled on the return address on the front of the envelope. </p>
<p>But how to begin the end? One popular response is "Love," commonly used in love letters, whereby Dear ____, is appropriate. Also, the word love can generally lose the impact of its meaning due to overuse. If one says, I love ya, often, it would not mean as much as if a serious relationship had been previously occuring and then I love you is said. This action of saying those three word that are said too much but not enough can change the dynamics of the relationship. However, if one is using Love when they don't 1)physically and or emotionally love the person or 2) are exhibiting unconditional love as a family member or close blood relative, this is being used incorrectly and the integrity of the aforementioned "meat" may be spoiled. </p>
<p>Now a nice, neutral way to end a letter is "From,". This leads to redundancy if the previously mentioned ideas are said, but may be helpful if the author of the message is not apparent i.e. Your Secret Admirer. Though, this may disrupt the tone of the message as you are spewing out all this information and/or questions that you would like the receiver to respond to and then blandly say, o yeah, I wrote this. I'm taking credit for this commostion! ME! ME! ME!</p>
<p>Often times I see "Sincerely," when I view a letter/Electionic mail. This makes me suspicious. I have to ask myself, why is this person saying this? Are they afraid I don't and/or won't believe them? If I really was dear to them, maybe they would know that I am a trusting person, and then this would seem rather redundant? This is often spelled incorrectly also, because people like me haven't bothered to check or learn the spelling of such an incosequential word. Just looking at the word makes me think of SIN. Telling a lie is a sin, so why should I believe anything you claim to have mentioned in this letter? Should I truly beleive that you are in fact the author of this letter, or could you be using a psedonym? This is supossedly the formal way to begin a closing, but I have some reservations for using it. </p>
<p>More creatively, one can be like Charlotte Bronte and end thier letters with "(Adverb of choice) Yours," which adds new information, but somehow gives the connotation that you are property of another, so unless you are content with having someone as your master, you probably should steer clear like a stampeed of bovine in the dust bowl of this closing. </p>
<p>I often choose to disregard all of that ******** and just omit any form of a closing and just give a signature/Electronic signature. I often find it amusing when observing legal documents, the signature is printed twice. Once typed, and one in script, either handwritten or by ink or a stamp of somekind. I view this as an odd gesture, as one is assuming that the author of the letter is taking the curtousy to affirm everything previously written by thier own signature, which can be used for identification purposes, but also assumes that the way that the signature is written, it is illegible for the recipent to read. </p>
<p>Now this is often the correct place to write your title and educational degree if nessecary, but in doing so, may have you be percieved as pretentious. Personally, I give my home address on E-mails, as I figure, it gives a sense of where the person writing this letter is coming from. </p>
<p>I hope you begin to consider the underlying meanings of commonly used expressions.</p>