Dear Missy..

This text is a reminder from a veterinary clinic aimed at is customers whose pets are due for their vaccination. Its dual function in both informing the customer of the necessity of the vaccination as well as the comical and rapport building elements of the text function to persuade the customer to pay for their services.

In addressing the letter to the dog rather than the human customer “Dear Missy” the text achieves a comedic element. This humour stems from the common, pragmatic knowledge insinuated by the author and inferred by the reader that dogs cannot actually read.

The text couches its modality and caters to the reader's negative face needs by continuing to refer to the dog rather than the customer and using less obligatory and indirect language such as “please” “your records indicate” and “ask”. Furthermore, other politeness strategies within the text cater to the reader's positive face needs “we know that your owners love you very much”.

In addition to the entertaining nature of the text, the intimate nature of the language further contributes to its relatively informal register. Utilising relatively casual and personal modes of address such as “you”, “your friends” and “us” rather than “the patient” and “the veterinarian” lessens the social distance between the medical experts and the consumer and thus generates a sense of rapport between them, making them more likely to take part in what the clinic is asking of them. The friendly nature of the opening and closing statements of the text “Gosh, doesn't time fly” and “looking forward to seeing you soon” have a similar function in rendering the text more conversational and less formal.

Notions of social distance are lessened further in the sign off to the text, where in conjunction with listing the various doctor's names, their dogs have also been listed. This facilitates rapport based on common knowledge and common interests between the author and the reader.

In conjunction with the humorous and rapport building elements of the text, the crucial component is formatted to appear distinguished from the rest “The vaccination and due date is;”. This aids textual coherence in directing the reader's attention to the crux of the text.