Analysing Persuasive Language
Sample Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
I believe that anyone who is caught placing advertising material in letter boxes should be fined.
Last week, I collected 27 pieces of junk mail from my letterbox. I have a sign which asks for
official mail only; those advertisers ignored it completely. What can be done about this plague
of wasteful flyers?
The mail I received came from the local pizza shops, real estate agents, restaurants and
supermarkets. If people put up signs that say ‘No Junk Mail’ their wishes should be respected.
Junk mail is unsolicited mail: unwanted, uninvited, and totally unnecessary.
Not only does junk mail kill 2.6 million trees every year (Australian Conservation Foundation,
August 2022), it is also adding tremendously to the amount of litter that finds its way into our
stormwater drains. This litter ends up choking our irreplaceable rivers and bays. There is
absolutely no need for this! We can find out about products and services in our local
community by walking down the main street - or by using the internet. We are not total sloths;
we can find the energy to open an internet browser!
Junk mail has a truly terrible impact on our precious resources. Don’t these ignorant people
realise we have a climate emergency on our hands?
To combat the relentless invasion of our letter boxes, the mayor of Darwin recently suggested
that we gather all of the junk mail discarded on our streets, stuff it in a garbage bag and send it
back to the perpetrators - at a cost to them. What a brilliant idea!
We must act to eliminate junk mail now!
Concerned citizen,
Sample Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
I believe that anyone who is caught placing advertising material in letter boxes should be fined.
Last week, I collected 27 pieces of junk mail from my letterbox. I have a sign which asks for
official mail only; those advertisers ignored it completely. What can be done about this plague
of wasteful flyers?
The mail I received came from the local pizza shops, real estate agents, restaurants and
supermarkets. If people put up signs that say ‘No Junk Mail’ their wishes should be respected.
Junk mail is unsolicited mail: unwanted, uninvited, and totally unnecessary.
Not only does junk mail kill 2.6 million trees every year (Australian Conservation Foundation,
August 2022), it is also adding tremendously to the amount of litter that finds its way into our
stormwater drains. This litter ends up choking our irreplaceable rivers and bays. There is
absolutely no need for this! We can find out about products and services in our local
community by walking down the main street - or by using the internet. We are not total sloths;
we can find the energy to open an internet browser!
Junk mail has a truly terrible impact on our precious resources. Don’t these ignorant people
realise we have a climate emergency on our hands?
To combat the relentless invasion of our letter boxes, the mayor of Darwin recently suggested
that we gather all of the junk mail discarded on our streets, stuff it in a garbage bag and send it
back to the perpetrators - at a cost to them. What a brilliant idea!
We must act to eliminate junk mail now!
Concerned citizen,
