Reading Response - 4
After reading Chapter 1 in the Thomson Handbook on Writing and Rhetoric in Context, I understand that it is important to write in a manner that expresses your ideas and words in a way that will impact the reader. When writing a letter to a specific audience such as jetBlue Airways passengers, it is essential to make sure that the readers know that you understand their perspective and want to answer any concerns they may have in the letter. Chapter 1 also explained the importance of linking the knowledge, experience, and feelings to both the reader and the writer. Being able to relate the reader is especially important in order to
The YouTube video that I found is called jetBlue Runway Fiasco which documents a group of friends and their struggle with the crisis. It documents their days and explains the hassle and frustrations that have endured due to the crisis. The group of friends spent endless hours in airports trying to get to their destination. The friends ended up getting spilt up and set to different airports. The video also documents the process of getting a refund or voucher back from jetBlue. The lines were very long, and the friends made the observation that the process to get a refund or voucher would be very long.
The first thing that I plan on doing in my letter to apologize for all the issues associated with the jetBlue crisis in February. The letter will take all the blame for the problems and thoroughly explain the reasoning of why things were not planned out better beforehand by the company. I will clearly explain how the procedures have changed since the incident and how all the mistakes will be handled differently from now on. The context of the letter will be understanding and sympathetic to the public by acknowledging the mistakes made and to prevent such chaos again.
The JetBlue customer video response from YouTube is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOo-tG9q2h0
Comments
Reader's Perspective
I agree when you say that when writing a letter to a specific audience it is essential to make sure that the readers know that you understand their perspective. When communicating with someone else and there is a problem in between (you can relate this as there was a problem between JetBlue and their customers) the only way you can get them to hear and accept your apology is if they know for sure that you know the situation they have gone through. If you just say you're sorry for this and that and the other person does not know that you understand them, then they will not fully accept the apology. In my opinion apologies, either in writing or verbally, is a really delicate subject. For instance, if JetBlue made their press release and only stated that they were sorry, the company would have lost most of their customers and they would have stated that the company does not know a thing about how to handle a crisis and that they are liars. But, since they connected with the customers showing them how understanding they are, customers did take the apology seriously and this did not damage the customer relations image JetBlue is all about.
Response
I also felt same thing after reading Chapter 1 in the Thomson Handbook about writing and rhetoric in context. It is important to write in the manner that express writer’s idea and words in a way that can give impact to the readers. In order to do so I think knowing well about the audiences or I would more likely say analyzing the audiences should be done before writer start writing. Because I think the whole structure and content can be different depend on who you are willing to tell. I liked you saying that apologize for passengers will be the first thing you plan to do. I agree that being in apologetic manner is the key point of writing our business letter. It would be also effective including the procedures of being responsible for this crisis like you said.
Reply
JetBlue or when we are writing for JetBlue have to be very care in rhetoric content. Customers are their most important aspect of their company especially after a crisis or situation like the one that happened in February. JetBlue has to define or know their specific audience writes all of their documents such as press releases and business letter to be tailed for the specific audience and customers. They have to make the reader feel like they know how they feel and know their concerns about the matter or situation. Rhetoric content is very important and I plan on really putting it into use when I write my business letter to make the customer feel like I know their concerns and how they feel.
I like how you plan to write
I like how you plan to write your letter. In my opinion it is best to take all the blame and then explain corrective actions that have been taken. I think that you should also mention how important each customer is to JetBlue and that you look forward to seeing them again. It will be important when writing this letter to remember how the people in the videos felt. I think the video you watched gave a great example of what the people experienced. It would be best to watch for their emotions and complaints and try to answer each of these.