1) Rewrite the following sentences to reflect your audience’s viewpoint:

a. Your email order cannot be processed; we request that you use the order form on our website instead.

b. We insist that you always bring your credit card to the store

.c. I am applying for the position of bookkeeper in your office. I feel my grades prove that I am bright and capable

.d. Regarding your email message from September 28 regarding the slow payment of your invoice, it’s important for you to realize that we’ve just undergone a massive upgrade of our accounts payable system and payments have been delayed for everybody, not just you.

2) Revise the following sentences to be positive rather than negative

:a. To avoid damage to your credit rating, please remit payment within 10 days

.b. Because we are temporarily out of Baby Cry dolls, we won’t be able to ship your order for 10 days.

c. You should have realized that waterbeds will freeze in unheated houses during winter. Therefore, our guarantee does not cover the valve damage. You must pay the $22.50 valve-replacement fee (plus postage).

3) Suppose that end-of-term frustrations have produced this email message to Professor Anne Brewer from a student who believes they should have received a B in his accounting class. If this message were recast into three or four clear sentences, the teacher might be more receptive to the student’s argument. Rewrite the message to show how you would improve it:I think that I was unfairly awarded a C in your accounting class this term, and I am asking you to change the grade to a B. It was a difficult term. I don’t get any money from home, and I have to work mornings at the Pancake House (as a cook), so I had to rush to make your class, and those two times that I missed class were because they wouldn’t let me off work because of special events at the Pancake House (unlike some other students who just take off when they choose). On the exam, I originally got a 75 percent, but you said in class that there were two different ways to answer the third question and that you would change the grades of students who used the “optimal cost” method and had been counted off 6 points for doing this. I don’t think that you took this into account, because I got 80 percent on the final, which is clearly a B. Anyway, whatever you decide, I just want to tell you that I really enjoyed this class, and I thank you for making accounting so interesting.