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ZuccsFinalAnalogy

Page history last edited by PBworks 18 years, 4 months ago

Have you ever received a letter in the mail or an email on the computer? Which do you prefer? They are alike in the sense that they both serve the same purpose: to relay a message from one to another. Everyone knows that messages have been around for a long time, all the way back to Egyptian times and even earlier, when they could would send a messenger to relay a message miles and miles away. In the past, letters were written on parchment and with quills and an ink canister. It then progressed to just regular paper and pen or pencil, and then updated once more with a type writer. There was one problem with a typewriter. You had to be extra careful to strike the keys correctly. Through the advancement of technology, the computer was developed, along with the “word processor.” This allowed you to correct your problems before transferring them to paper. Today, the email is taking the place of a handwritten letter.

 

There are many similarities between letters and emails. For instance they usually both contain a greeting, the actual message, and a farewell or a conclusion. They both are sent to another person. A written letter is usually handled and sent by the postal service, and as for an email, you would send it electronically through whichever internet provider you have.

 

Major differences between the two are time and cost. Handwritten letters can take a couple days through a regular mailbox, and the fastest you can get a letter sent is overnight, which will usually cost extra. An email, however, can be sent and received in a matter of seconds and virtually costs you nothing, considering when you buy the internet you don't just use it for email. You do pay a monthly charge but it also has benefits for many other things. In the long run, when you factor in the cost of stamps, envelopes, and other packaging requirements, it is cheaper and time-saving.

 

One major difference of a handwritten letter and an email is that a letter is much more personal and emotional. When writing a letter you are concentrating on the exact words to explain your feelings. You could say the same for an email, but just by taking the time to write a letter and mail it seems much more personal and unique. Also if you are writing an email, you have the option to send it to many people at once; if you're writing a letter, it's more one-on-one with the recipient. I actually just received a letter today from my ex-girlfriend; she is back at home in Philadelphia. We recently broke up towards the end of the summer because I knew the distance from University Park and Philadelphia is too hard for me to handle as a seventeen year old. Now back home we were seeing each other for about a year and it was pretty serious, but I knew the distance would cripple the relationship. She sent me a letter telling me that she still misses me and she feels the same way about me now as she did when we were going out. Now just the fact that she took the time to write this down on paper and send it through the mail is much more emotional and special. If I received an email saying how she felt, I'd think she didn't really take the time doing this, and that she just typed it quickly, spell-checked it, and pressed send. But by addressing it “My Darling Michael” and ending it with a handwritten “Love Always, Lisa” means so much more.

 

A letter is a physical thing. It can be in your hand; you can take it with you wherever you go. An email is a much more informal way of sending a letter, through one "box" to another. You could say that you can print out the email onto paper, but it isn't the same because you're taking the time to do what the sender should have done.

 

Although letters contain a sentimental value, they are less common than emails. People send and receive emails every hour. It is not everyday that you receive a letter via mail that is handwritten and personally addressed to you. When you begin to miss home, it seems rather cold to send an email, but a letter makes you remember that someone loves you back at home.

 

In our world today, the email is steadily taking the place of handwritten letter, but should it? There are so many positive about a handwritten letter, I don’t think there should ever be a time where the handwritten letter is completely extinct. The time it takes to send the letter and the cost of the whole process is definitely worth it, because the recipient knows you mean more than a four minute email.

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