[Question: How to write a letter in English? (the heading; the salutation; the body of the letter; the close) ]

A person’s letters often tell the reader a lot about his or her character. Read the following two letters and see if you can find anything about the different characters of the husband and his wife.

April 14, 1980

Hotel Diplomat

London, England

Lee Simmons

President, Cowboy Jeans, Inc.

329 River Plaza

Atlanta, Georgia

U.S.A.

Dear Lee,

    London is great, Lee, it’s just great. Rome and Paris were fine places, but I knew as soon as we landed in London that this is the finest of the three. Nobody wears blue jeans here! Lee, I think London will prove to be a very big market for Cowboy Jeans. I’m sure of it!

    It sure is nice to be in London. It’s also nice to hear English again. When you speak a foreign language you can only say what you can say. But when you speak your own language, you can say what you want to. That’s why I like the English restaurants. When I order a piece of meat, I know just what I’ll be getting.

    Let me get back to business. I think you were very smart to pick Mr. Needle as our sales representative here. I didn’t like him very much at first. Why, I kept wondering, does he wear suits instead of blue jeans? But I’ve changed my mind about him. He knows the clothes business from top to bottom. Yesterday he proved it.

     While Jessica went shopping, Mr. Needle and I toured all the big department stores. You once told me that you should know your buyers not just as buyers, but as people. Well. Henry Needle knows them all. He talked for almost half an hour with one buyer about his wife’s health. Then with another he talked for almost as long. You will see the results in my sales report, which I plan to write tomorrow. We got two very big orders as a result of all that talking.

    At one in the afternoon, Mr. Needle took me to his club for lunch. We ate with a few other men around a large table. I was very interested in what kind of business these men were in. But nobody talked business! What a waste of time! We Americans do a lot of business over lunch. But people are different here, I suppose. They prefer to tell stories and talk about the news.

    The man who sat next to me was a complete fool. First he told me a long story about a conversation he had almost twenty years ago with, as he put it, “that American of yours, Ernest Hemingway.” When he finished he asked me what I thought of Hemingway.

    Well, I wanted to laugh in his face. I don’t know anyone by this name. Why would this man think I did?

    So I told the Englishman that our country is very big, and that I don’t know everyone in it. But, I added, someday I may meet this man. Is he also in the blue jeans business, I asked?

    Well, I think the Englishman felt a little foolish. He just said no, and then got up and left the table!

    Right now I’m sitting in our hotel room. Jessica should return soon. Yesterday she didn’t buy anything, but I think she will today. She’s been out shopping for almost eight hours. I hope she doesn’t buy up the town.

    Mr. Needle says hello. He said he still remembers the night he took you to the theater. He invited us to come to the theater with him tonight, but I told him we couldn’t. Jessica will be too tired, I’m sure. But also, I want to get a good night’s sleep. I want to spend all day tomorrow writing my report.

    I can’t wait to get back to Atlanta!

Sincerely yours,

Bob Gill

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[Question: What kind of person is Bob? (Bob is a good salesman but quite ignorant in some areas.) ]

Dear Cynthia,

    Oh, to be in London

    Now that April’s there,

    Robert Browning, that great English poet, knew what he was talking about! London in the spring is really very beautiful, Cynthia. The trees are in bloom and the sky is sunny. Of course in Atlanta the trees are also in bloom and the sun shines brightly. But Atlanta doesn’t have London’s museums, or its theaters, or its two thousand year history.

    There are only two small things which I don’t like about London. First of all, everyone speaks English here. I had so much fun in Rome and in Paris. There I could speak in foreign languages. In restaurants and museums I often asked people the meaning of words. I made a lot of friends that way. But here everybody can understand me. I don’t have any reason to start up a conversation with a stranger. And speaking of restaurants — that’s the other problem with London. The food here is no good at all! I haven’t had one good meal in the three days we’ve been here.

    Since you asked me to write to you about everything I learn on this trip, here is what I’ve learned about London.

    London’s population of eleven million makes it the second largest city in the world. It is bigger than New York but not as big as Tokyo. London is twice the size of New York. It has an area of 620 square miles!

     The Thames River runs right through the center of the city. Someone once called the Thames “liquid history.” It’s a very good name. Dozens of armies have crossed it over the past few thousand years. One of the first was the army of Julius Caesar two thousand years ago. After it came the armies of the Angles, the Jutes, the Saxons, the Danes, the Vikings, and the French. And most recently — Mr. And Mrs. Gill!

    So far I have had time to visit only one neighborhood. It is called Bloomsbury. You wouldn’t believe how many famous writers and poets have lived in Bloomsbury. In fact there is a group of writers known as the Bloomsbury Group. It got its name because so many of them lived here. Virginia Woolf was one of them. I know how much you like her novels.

    Another writer who lived in Bloomsbury was our own American poet, T.S. Eliot. Have you ever wondered why Eliot left America to live in London? When you come to Bloomsbury, you will understand.

    Bloomsbury is more than just the home of great artists. It is also the home of great art. Both the National Gallery and the British Museum are here. The National Gallery has many rooms filled with great paintings of the Italian Renaissance. The painting I like the most is the Birth of Christ by Piero della Francesca. At the British Museum I stood for a full hour looking at the Rosetta Stone.

    Baker Street is also part of Bloomsbury. Do you remember who once lived on Baker Street? (When I asked Bob this question, he answered, “A man who baked bread, right?”) Sherlock Holmes, of course. I won’t have time to find his address. Maybe you will when you come!

    Bob has been working very hard, but tomorrow I am going to take him on a tour of the city. Since it will be Sunday, I think we’ll start at Hyde Park Corner. You know what happens there, don’t you? That’s where people can get up and say anything they want. I’m told it’s fun to go there, at least once.

    In fact, I hope that Bob has finished the work he had to do. I also hope that he will have Monday free. Then I can take him to a few of the museums. We have so little time here. I don’t think I will even get near a store! But, as Sam Johnson said, “When you tire of London, you tire of life!”

    Well, I should mail this letter and go upstairs to our hotel room. I still haven’t told Bob all the plans I have for tonight and tomorrow. I’m sure he will agree to everything. He has already told me that he loves London.

    Stay well, Cynthia. I’ll write to you again before I come home. Don’t forget to water my garden!

Love,

Jessica

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[Question: What kind of person is Jessica? ( Jessica is knowledgeable. She loves art and literature.)

    What kind of letters are these two, business letters or personal letters? (Personal letters.)

    What is the tone and style of these two letters? (The tone is casual and the style is direct and clear.) ]

From Travel, ed., Theodore Gross, New York, 1981.

Approximately 1430 words.