The open letter has always been an interesting rhetorical strategy - a way of delivering a pointed message to a specific individual or group while also reaching a wide audience.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Most open letters undoubtedly come from a good place, rising out of genuine outrage or concern or care. There is, admittedly, also a smugness to most open letters: a sense that we, as the writers of such letters, know better than those to whom the letters are addressed. We will impart our opinions to you, with or without your consent.
The Internet is a fantastic, strange place where you can write an open letter and be reasonably assured that people are going to read it.
It would be easy to assume that the open letter is a symptom of the Internet age. Such is not the case. In 1774, Benjamin Franklin wrote an open letter to the prime minister of Great Britain, Lord North - a satirical call for the imposition of martial law in the colonies.
The stories are success stories. The letters from listeners often touch the heart and can be inspiring.
If the part isn't always there on the page, I've had good relationships with writers where there's an openness to bring more to the role.
That something extra, I believe, is a certain humanity that comes from upbeat and positive human interest letters and success stories. Advertisers like to be associated with those qualities.
In my experience an appreciative letter from a fellow writer means a lot.
Openness is something any teacher strives to instill in his or her students.
One of America's strengths has always been its openness to the new: both new ideas and new people.
An opening statement is like a guide or a road map. It's a very delicate thing.