Overview
By now we’ve not only carefully researched the contentious issue that impacts our local community, but we’ve also shared our knowledge about and stance on it through an editorial we’ve written in a local paper–informing and guiding those around us. For our second essay, we’re going to be writing a petition letter to our local government, arguing what we think should, ought to, or must happen in our community regarding our issue.
A petition letter is a formal genre with a very direct purpose: to persuade those in a position of power to do something specific–to take a particular course of action that the writer believes will improve conditions for relevant stakeholders. A petition letter, then, acknowledges that there is a particular problem in a given community, and it proposes a solution for that problem. In doing so, however, it acknowledges the complexity of the problem itself. Indeed, if there were an easy solution to the problem–one that appeased all stakeholders–the problem likely wouldn’t persist and there would be no need to write a petition letter at all. One big element, then, of a petition letter is to highlight how one key group of stakeholders would be better served if the proposed solution were adopted, and to acknowledge how the proposed solution might not resolve things for all stakeholders but that the stakeholders who the proposed solution will resolve things for are an important group. To put it another way, the solution we’re offering in our petition letter will likely only resolve one piece of the larger issue we’re discussing, but that we believe it is the best approach to take in this situation.
Another important element of a petition letter is that the writer must be economical, purposeful and respectful with all elements of their message: both what they are proposing and the language they are using to propose it. Indeed, the writer of a petition letter will want to be clear with their message, largely polite in their tone, and mindful of their reader’s time and attention.
Petition Letter to Local Government(Project #2)
Assignment Guidelines
For your second major project, you’ll be writing a petition letter to your local government, in which you argue what you think should, ought to, or must happen regarding the issue you’re researching and writing about.
Your petition letter will need to meet the following criteria:
▪ Word Count: Your petition letter should be a minimum of 1000-1300 words.
▪ Citations: The in-text citations and References page should consistently follow APA guidelines. For assistance with this, consult the APA links here and on Canvas.
▪ References: Include a References page. You must also reference and cite at least 5 of your sources throughout the body of your letter. Referencing and citing more than 5 of your sources will help build credibility with your reader.
▪ Format:
▪ Your work should be double-spaced, 10-12 pt. clear/readable font, 1” margins
▪ You do not need to follow APA guidelines for document formatting. (no title page, no running header, etc.) Instead, number your pages and include a header in the upper left-hand corner of page 1 with your name, the course, the assignment, my name, and date.
▪ Greeting and Signature:
▪ Your work should be formatted as a formal letter, so you’ll want to open with an address line in which you acknowledge your audience (e.g. “Dear Members of Glassboro City Council,” “To Whom It May Concern,” etc.)
▪ Your work should end with a closing and a signature (e.g. “Sincerely, _______”; etc.)
Genre, Audience, Purpose
● Your Genre: You’ll be writing a petition letter to your local government. Petition Letters are formal letters written to those in a position of authority. They address an ongoing problem in a given community and argue what the writer believes should, ought to, or must happen regarding that problem. Petition letters acknowledge the complexity of the problem they are addressing and argue that the solution they are proposing is necessary to improve conditions for the key group of stakeholders they are writing about. Petition letters are a way that members of a given community can enact change by speaking to those in a position of authority.
● Your Purpose: Your purpose in your petition letter is to quickly outline the problem you are seeing in your community by showing your reader what this problem is, who it’s impacting, and how it’s impacting them. Then, your letter will argue what you think should, ought to, or must happen to improve things for those who are impacted by this issue.
● Your Audience: Your audience will be those in local government within your community–so those who are in a position to enact change for those in the community. When writing to your audience, you’ll want to be clear with your message, largely polite in your tone, and mindful of your reader’s time and attention.
Composing Your Work
Your petition letter will draw on the research you’ve done through your annotated bibliography, and it will build on the issue you wrote about for your first project (The Editorial in a Local Newspaper). Your Petition Letter should include the following sections in this order:
#1.) Introduce the Issue: After addressing your letter to the appropriate audience, outline what the issue is that is occurring in your local community. Help your reader understand what the problem is, roughly when it began (unless it’s an ongoing, persistent issue), and what the dimensions of the problem are. Point to and cite any relevant research here to not only build credibility with your reader, but to also help them understand the details of this issue. For example, you will likely wish to cite the source(s) you gathered from local journalism in this section, to show that it is a big enough of an issue that it is being reported on. You may also wish to reference the interview you conducted with a stakeholder from the community to help your reader see how this issue is directly impacting people. Equally, if you wish to, you may want to include your research from national or international journalism to help your reader see the wide-reaching implications of this issue.
● Your Main Purpose in This Section: Help your reader understand the issue that is impacting your local community.
● Length of Section: Roughly one to two (1-2) paragraphs
#2.) Outline Who the Issue is Impacting and How It’s Impacting Them: Here you will build on the previous two paragraphs by outlining who this issue is impacting and helping your reader see how, exactly, it is impacting them. Your goal here is to guide your reader through a discussion of how, exactly this issue is impacting key stakeholders in your community. Here you may wish to draw on your sources from local journalism to provide evidence about who is being impacted by this issue.
● Your Main Purpose in This Section: Help your reader understand who is being impacted by this issue and how they are being impacted.
● Length of Section: Roughly one to two (1-2) paragraphs
#3.) Address Divergent Perspectives on the Issue: Here is where you will acknowledge that there are differing perspectives on this issue and note that improving things for one group of stakeholders will not inherently improve things for all stakeholders–but that, you believe, your eventual solution is still the best one. One function of this section is to build credibility with your reader by helping them see that you’ve thought through this situation from a variety of perspectives and attempted to mitigate your own inherent biases. Here you will likely want to include the research you did to find and present divergent perspectives.
● Your Main Purpose in This Section: Show your reader that you’ve carefully considered a variety of perspectives and that you’ve sought to check your biases by factoring in multiple points of view.
● Length of Section: At least one (1) paragraph
#4.) State Clearly What You Believe Should Happen and How it Would Improve Things: Here is where you will clearly, unambiguously state what you believe should happen and how it should happen. You’ll want your reader have a very clear understanding of what you are proposing they should do after having read this section. You may even wish to split this section up into a series of bullet points in which you outline what steps you believe should be taken and in what order.
● Your Main Purpose in This Section: Clearly state what, exactly, you think should, ought to, or must happen.
● Length of Section: At least two (2) paragraphs
#5.) Concede That Your Solution Might Not Improve Conditions for All, But Argue It Will Improve Things For Key Stakeholders: You will want to end your letter by conceding that you solution likely won’t improve conditions for all stakeholders in all ways but that your solution will improve things–even incrementally–for the key group of stakeholders that you’re focusing on. You can, then, end your letter with a farewell and a signature.
● Your Main Purpose in This Section: Acknowledge that your solution is not perfect for all stakeholders but that it will improve things for the key group of stakeholders you’re focusing on, who, you’re arguing, are very important.
● Length of Section: At least one (1) paragraph