Comparing a Formal Cover Letter and Samples Admission Paper Using Rhetorical Move

Rhetorical Analysis
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Introduction
Genre analysis is essential for the more in-depth understanding of the different kinds of text and discourse. Without a critical view of the underlying meaning and rhetoric behind every piece of work, everyone could be persuaded easily without having a second thought. In order to further understand what genre analysis is, this article compares two different kinds of texts, based on their purpose, meaning, and structure among others. On the one hand, the first example is a ‘formal (cover) letter’ written by a teacher who is applying for a fellowship position. The author in this sample has written a letter for application to the school’s directress. On the other hand, the second example is a ‘statement paper’ (or a sample admission paper) most likely written by a student for a humanities class. This example is more of a subjective paper that is required by a professor to gauge and train the student’s writing ability. Nonetheless, in conducting a genre analysis, the author believes that by comparing these texts critically, readers would be able to understand it fully, while also being equipped with the right knowledge of how to react towards these texts.
In terms of purpose, the main difference between the two papers is that while the cover letter is intended for a job application, the primary purpose of the sample statement is to determine the student’s creativity. Particularly, since the first text is a cover letter written by an applicant teacher to a school directress, then it is expected for this letter to have a level of formality and professionalism. In contrast to this, the statement letter is most likely written as a requirement for a class. Since the primary objective of a teacher for requiring the student to write such texts is to measure the student’s creativity and writing skills as well as look for avenues of improvement, the text is not required to be formal and perfect. This difference goes the same for the overall tone of each letter, with one being severe and the other formal, respectively.
Due to their differences in purpose, both of the letters also differ structurally. In terms of organisation, the formal letter follows the same format which is expected of most business letters. As evident in the top-left portions of the field, the contact details, address, and salutations are included. Mainly, the reason why most cov...