Salutations!

So far, I’ve been thinking about rhetoric in the context of academic papers and certainly not letters. However, our anonymous writer of The Principles of Letter Writing brings up a good point: first impressions do matter. And in a letter, the “first impression” is the salutation, or, as Charlotte the spider says, a “fancy way of saying hello” (1:04 minutes).

 The anonymous letter-writer states, “It is necessary to reflect carefully at this point so that we may apply ourselves to preparing several such letter salutations as will be appropriate to the subject we are going to take up later in the letter” (501). The purpose of a letter’s “first impression” is to set up the reader’s expectations about what is to follow. For example: consider the history of “DearJohn” letters. During WWII, the men fighting overseas would receive letters from their wives or girlfriends that typically opened with terms of endearment: “Dearest Johnny,” “Darling,” etc. You know—all the pet names and mush you usually find in romantic relationships. Therefore, a curt, extremely formal-sounding “Dear John” would signal to the poor soldier that something was amiss.

Anonymous spends a lot of time devoted to the particulars of salutations and the specifics of various greetings according to different circumstances. I think he (or she) basically determines salutatory forms based on 1) authority and 2) purpose (which I mentioned in the paragraph above). If you are writing a letter to a superior, your language should denote that distinction. Let’s consider this in modern practical application: when writing a letter inquiring about an internship, you would usually address a businessperson with “Dear Dr. Stewart:” or “Dear Ms. Jenson:” or “Dear Mr. Jones:”, which denote a certain level of formality and respect. You wouldn’t begin that same letter with “Hey Tony!” or “Hi Sally,” or “Dear Carl,” which suggest an informality that might be found among peers and equals. If you did do this, you are giving a first impression that might not necessarily match the content in the rest of your letter. In this way, authority and purpose indicators in a salutation might be linked; when lines of authority are obscured, the sender’s purpose might appear confused. Salutations seem to carry more weight than “just saying hello”!