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The Syntax of Persuasion: Two Business Letters of Request

University of Texas at Austin

To design persuasive letters of request, writers are advised to develop reader empathy and a mutual benefit theme before they ask a favor. This paper investigates what syntactic manifestations of such advice we find in effective request letters. Two late sixteenth century letters are selected for this investigation: one is a model request letter from Angel Day's English Secretary and the other, Richard Quiney's letter to William Shake speare requesting a loan.

A syntactic analysis of the letters reveals that the favor, which is their topic, is not the grammatical subject of any sentence in either letter. In both letters, the grammatical subjects of all the sentences alternate between I and you. Syntactically, the I (suitor) and the you (donor) or we (both parties) overshadow the it (request). These letters thus point to a tendency in persuasive discourse towards subordinating the request itself to the psychologically delicate interaction between the suitor and the donor. The syntax reinforces this need in persuasive business correspondence to build a mutually productive relationship.

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