This document discusses the genre of open letters, which have two levels of audience - an explicit audience addressed in the letter and an implicit audience that the letter aims to persuade. Open letters maintain the fiction of addressing the explicit audience while also making an argument to the implicit audience. A key example is Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail", which is explicitly addressed to clergymen but implicitly aims to persuade white moderates. The document provides tips for writing an effective open letter, such as deciding the audiences, identifying the purpose, and choosing an appropriate tone.

1. WRITING

2. OPEN LETTER: a genre that uses two levels of audience as a
literary device.

3. • IMPLICIT AUDIENCE
(the group of people you’re actually trying to
persuade).
Two levels of audience in open letters
• EXPLICIT AUDIENCE
(the person/ group/ thing/ event/ phenomenon/
concept to whom the letter is actually addressed.

4. Because of the complicated audience, open letters have
a slightly more complicated persuasive situation. They
must maintain the fiction of writing to their explicit
audience, while also making a broader argument to their
implicit audience.

5. Reading an open letter is like eavesdropping on a conversation – you learn
things, but since it (ostensibly) doesn’t directly affect you, you’re less likely
to feel defensive or argumentative.
RHETORICAL
EFFECTS

6. Often, open letters use traditional genre
conventions for letter writing to indicate the explicit
audience (they also sometimes do this through the
title: “An Open Letter to X.”)
Dear X,

7. EXAMPLE
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is
addressed to “My Fellow Clergymen”; however, several
things in the letter suggest that his real (implicit)
audience is white moderates. explicit audience
implicit audience

8. Invention Work for Open Letters
1. Decide on your audiences: your implicit audience and your explicit audience. What can
you say directly to the one that you want the other to overhear?
2. Focus on what, specifically, you'll use as the basis for your response (the prompt will
be given you somehow by your explicit audience).
3. Identify your purpose: what exactly do you want your (implicit) audience to know, feel,
or do as a result of your letter?
4. Provide appropriate reasons and support for your argument.
5. Consider the ethos and tone that would best accomplish what you want. Is it too
snarky? Too ingratiating? Too knowing?