Current Issue Advocacy Letter

Your final assignment in Geography this year will be to write a formal letter advocating for a position related either to the issue you researched or to an issue presented by a classmate.

Your letter should follow the business letter format explained in The Write Source.

After you decide on the issue you will advocate on behalf of, you need to choose a recipient for your letter.  You may choose to write to someone in a position to act upon your issue or you may choose to write to someone in a position to bring awareness to your issue.  You may write to politicians, advocacy groups, media outlets, or individual activists.

Paragraph 1: Introduce yourself.  Explain who you are, your age, and where you attend school.  Then describe your Geography class and the nature of the Geography Project you have been working on for the last few months.  Finally, explain that you have been studying a particular world issue.

Paragraph 2: Explain what you know about the issue you are advocating on behalf of.  Use concrete detail in your explanation so that your explanation is complete and thorough.  Keep your explanation to one paragraph, however.  No need to go overboard with detail.

Paragraph 3: Explain what you think should be done regarding the issue.  Your ideas should be practical and possible.  Be clear and reasonable in your explanation.  You want to convey the serious nature of your advocacy.  

Here are some organizations which come to my mind to which you could address your advocacy letters: The Olympian, The New York Times, State Senator Karen Fraser (D-Olympia), Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), Secretary of State John Kerry, President Barack Obama, Amnesty International, Gates Foundation, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.  There might be an organization specific to your issue to wish you would like to write.  You will need to look up the address to which you write.

Due Thursday, May 30, 2013.