Letter to Russ

Dear Ms. Russ,

I would like to first express that I am a big fan of your work but more specifically your personality and style of writing. Frankly, I also sense a lot of anger and frustration in your letters and papers. I am a science major at the University of Oregon, so most (if almost not all) of papers I read are very objective and emotion-free. Most authors write short but precise description of what their work and results are, so reading some of your papers takes me by surprise. I am not used to this style of writing at all, but I love it. “Finally! Someone has emotion and passion about what she is writing,” I thought.

Why do you think it is a good idea to involve your emotions in your writing about contemporary issues? Don’t you think that objective writing and showing facts or evidence will be more convincing? The reason I express this concern is because facts and evidence are a bit easier to be compelling than emotion. I do believe that emotions sometimes make your audience a bit skeptical because they will just think that you are too angry to think straight. Once again, I study science, so it is a little challenging for me to change the way I read and think when it comes to literature versus science writing. However, I am still a big fan of yours and so glad I can write you a letter to express my admiration.

All the best,

Kim Ta.