Link to Completed worksheet
I was very excited about this particular assignment. The idea of analyzing the tone of some of the messages I get on a daily basis got my head swimming with ideas. Some of the recent messages I have gotten are so negative and abrupt one can't help being offended. I began sorting through my mailbox to find the perfect message to analyze. With each new message I pulled up it became more and more apparent that posting any of them on the Internet would be a very poor decision. I would be risking my own job by potentially breaking the non-disclosure agreement through accidentally leaking something they felt was proprietary, while simultaneously outing one of my co-workers. One thing I know for certain, an angry co-worker does NOT get nicer once they have been outed. So I went with my gut on this one and decided to go with something a little less interesting.
Delta Airlines was very excited about the following message.
"For a limited time, take advantage of American Cellars Wine Club's new customer offer. Enjoy great tasting wines delivered right to your front door — you'll earn 2,500 miles, and the wines are only $6.99 a bottle. Get a free 6-piece Cellar Master Wine Tote (a $37.95 value) and free shipping on your first order just for signing up today!"
As this is a sales pitch the tone is positive as expected. "Enjoy great tasting wines delivered right to your door" implies that I will be happy about what they have to offer. It will benefit me and be convenient. Of course they go on to tell you about additional perks to get you excited. One thing that caught my eye was the exclamation mark at the end of the message. To me an exclamation mark can either be interpreted as aggressive or excited. In the context of this message it conveys an excited tone. I can almost see the perky blond flight attendant tilt their head grinning from ear to ear with a sparkle in their eye, "ting!" The message also conveys a strong sense of urgency. Catch phrases like "limited time" and "signing up today" make the reader think that they have to act quickly to "take advantage" of this offer.
Although I would have much rather analyzed an e-mail from a co-worker, I suppose the Delta Airlines sales offer provides a better option, at least where job security is concerned.
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I find it somewhat surprising that your co-workers would send you such ammunition against them via email. My own experiences in the Navy had emails from co-workers which were very neutral. The only really nasty ones came from people above me.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I think you forgot the sparkle on the perfectly white teeth of said flight attendant.
I think it is terrible you have many nasty emails from coworkers. It was probably a good idea not to include any of those emails in this assignment.
ReplyDeleteSo, did you buy any wine?
Your right David - I did forget the sparkle on the perfectly white teeth. Nice Touch.
ReplyDeleteBengal - I agree it is terrible I get so many nasty e-mails. I got a real evil one yesterday, just about ruined my whole day. lol. no I did not buy any wine.