Rhetoric of professional correspondence: origins of contemporary practice

Abstract

<p>In conjunction with the increased interest in rhetorical studies, and as a result of recent research surveys which cite the centrality of letter writing in professional communication, letter writing has been receiving increased scholarly attention. A significant portion of this attention consists of complaints about the current state of textbook instruction in business correspondence. For example, Sam Dragga argues that the traditional attention to classification of letters and teaching the characteristics of those classifications allows writers to avoid addressing the "complexity of specific rhetorical situations".</p>