Editors Letter –
Cleo magazine
The editor’s letter encapsulates the overall themes of the magazine: health, weight and attitudes towards physical appearance.
The magazine’s editor’s letter writes in a way that sounds like a person talking to a close friend. For instance in the magazine, when the editor says “For a magazine girl, I like to think I have a pretty balanced attitude towards diet and exercise,” she uses personal pronouns throughout the letter in order to engage the reader. In addition to this, the editor also uses direct address to engage the reader when she says “this month’s story on the fat acceptance movement is a reminder of the damage our words and actions can do, and the power that comes from embracing the way your look.” The words ‘our’ and ‘your’ directly addresses the reader. The combination of personal pronouns and direct address throughout the letter makes the text personal and more likely evoke an emotional response from the reader which in turn, helps the reader interact with the letter; this represents a comfortable relationship between the reader and the writer.
Additionally, at the end of the letter, the editor writes “Your friend, Sarah xx.” The obvious ‘your friend’ makes the reader learn that the editor refers to her readers as friends rather than just readers, along with the “xx” which helps build a close relationship between the reader and writer. The word “friend” makes the editor seem approachable, friendly and close - It also makes it feel as if the reader is on the same side and want the same things as the writer.
Moreover, in the begging of the letter, a rhetorical question is used (written in blue font at the top). The rhetorical question asks “Does your brain send an automatically generated negative response when you’re in front of the mirror?” this directly interacts the reader and encourages them to ask themselves the question; it entices the reader to keep reading in order to discover the answer. It gives the reader an insight of what the rest of the letter and magazine will be based upon; from this we can infer that the letter will involve the issues regarding negative attitudes towards physical appearance. Also at the end of the letter, the editor uses another rhetorical question: “what do you think? Anyone want to join me?” the rhetorical questions are effective in a way in which the writer is able to make her readers stop and think. Another essential point to make is the editor’s informal style of writing; the editor is writing in a relaxed, casual way, the way you would talk if you were having a conversation with a friend. She engages her readers in order to maintain a close relationship with them. The editor aims to make the reader view her as a friend rather than just an ordinary editor of the Cleo magazine.
The editor makes the reader feel more like a friend by putting them at ease through her use of colloquial language and humour. She says “I’m going completely cold turkey on complaining about my body.” Here she uses exaggeration to make a point that she is going to stop with her usual negative attitude towards her body and try to be positive for the first time. She aims to sway the reader over to her viewpoint and win them over so that they too will have a positive mind-set; she wants her readers to be able to relate in order to prevent any further insecurities. Essentially, the editor wants to prevent her readers from feeling insecure instead, she wants them to feel confident about their bodies; she speaks from her own personal experience.
The magazine’s editor’s letter writes in a way that sounds like a person talking to a close friend. For instance in the magazine, when the editor says “For a magazine girl, I like to think I have a pretty balanced attitude towards diet and exercise,” she uses personal pronouns throughout the letter in order to engage the reader. In addition to this, the editor also uses direct address to engage the reader when she says “this month’s story on the fat acceptance movement is a reminder of the damage our words and actions can do, and the power that comes from embracing the way your look.” The words ‘our’ and ‘your’ directly addresses the reader. The combination of personal pronouns and direct address throughout the letter makes the text personal and more likely evoke an emotional response from the reader which in turn, helps the reader interact with the letter; this represents a comfortable relationship between the reader and the writer.
Additionally, at the end of the letter, the editor writes “Your friend, Sarah xx.” The obvious ‘your friend’ makes the reader learn that the editor refers to her readers as friends rather than just readers, along with the “xx” which helps build a close relationship between the reader and writer. The word “friend” makes the editor seem approachable, friendly and close - It also makes it feel as if the reader is on the same side and want the same things as the writer.
Moreover, in the begging of the letter, a rhetorical question is used (written in blue font at the top). The rhetorical question asks “Does your brain send an automatically generated negative response when you’re in front of the mirror?” this directly interacts the reader and encourages them to ask themselves the question; it entices the reader to keep reading in order to discover the answer. It gives the reader an insight of what the rest of the letter and magazine will be based upon; from this we can infer that the letter will involve the issues regarding negative attitudes towards physical appearance. Also at the end of the letter, the editor uses another rhetorical question: “what do you think? Anyone want to join me?” the rhetorical questions are effective in a way in which the writer is able to make her readers stop and think. Another essential point to make is the editor’s informal style of writing; the editor is writing in a relaxed, casual way, the way you would talk if you were having a conversation with a friend. She engages her readers in order to maintain a close relationship with them. The editor aims to make the reader view her as a friend rather than just an ordinary editor of the Cleo magazine.
The editor makes the reader feel more like a friend by putting them at ease through her use of colloquial language and humour. She says “I’m going completely cold turkey on complaining about my body.” Here she uses exaggeration to make a point that she is going to stop with her usual negative attitude towards her body and try to be positive for the first time. She aims to sway the reader over to her viewpoint and win them over so that they too will have a positive mind-set; she wants her readers to be able to relate in order to prevent any further insecurities. Essentially, the editor wants to prevent her readers from feeling insecure instead, she wants them to feel confident about their bodies; she speaks from her own personal experience.
Editors letter – seventeen magazine
The editors letter gets to the point of what the whole text is about; natural beauty. The editor explains that most of the readers left comments about “photo-shopping or digitally enhancing photos.” A lot of the readers were concerned that the magazine company ‘seventeen’ had strayed from their promise to show real girls as they really are.
The editor’s use of informal language suggests that she is speaking on a personal level to her primary target audience of 18+. For example, when she says “I get so many tweets and FB messages asking what my job is like at seventeen” she uses an abbreviation for Facebook, ‘FB.’ Also, there is no capital when she writes “hi from ann.” And finally, when she uses slang such as “gig” as a replacement for a live performance. This informal style of writing is not usually used in formal and professional writing. However, the informal/colloquial language is effective due to the fact it sounds like the editor is talking to a friend; she uses language in a way in which her primary target audience will understand. Additionally, the appearance of the editor - shown within a small photo of her near the letter- shows that she is quite young and is of a similar age as her target audience. The editor uses a personal pronoun on the word ‘I’ to maintain a close relationship with her readers. In order to empathise with the readers comments, the editor aims to build a close relationship with them which is shown through her use of personal pronouns throughout the letter.
Furthermore, the editor welcomes the reader by introducing herself with “hi from ann.” From looking at this carefully, I have noticed that this short, three word introduction of herself does not contain a single capital letter which I personally find interesting seeing as she is an editor and is therefore expected to have some sort of written qualification including a good use of punctuation however, it did not take too long to figure that she had done this for a purpose. The editor deliberately wrote her name without a capital letters in order to convey that she does not want to give herself any sort of significance or priority over the reader; she wants to make herself seem ordinary along with the readers so that she can relate, empathise and build some sort of connection with them.
Ann (the editor) ends her letter with “XOXO-A” making the reader feel as if they have a bond with the editor; a friendship has been built seeing as friends often send x’s to each other within their texts/emails. The editors initial is used at the end of the letter due to the fact she had already stated her name in the very beginning of the letter; in the beginning the editor is an ordinary person called ‘ann’ however, by the end of the letter, the reader is now personal and close to the editor – it’s almost as if they’ve become friends through her clever writing techniques.
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