Guidelines for Stress Letters, & sharing project plans

Some guidelines for beginning to write your letters:
(A reminder: you're not required to write a letter. If you are proposing your own fourth quarter project, you can use this time to brainstorm, plan, take notes, etc. for that project. Share your project plan at the link at the bottom of this post.)

• Consider the goals you set out for yourself and the tone you're trying to strike as you craft your letter. Contemplate what structure, level of formality or casualness, and kinds of details will help you achieve both.
• Your aim should be to write a letter of about two single-spaced pages, so have that in mind as you begin to write. Your letter can be developed and expanded later on, or pared down, but you should have a sense of what kind of a letter you're going for. It should be in-depth but not exhaustive.
• Give concrete examples, but do not name names. You may have particular teachers or classmates in mind as you describe the things that contribute to your stress, but use your prose skills to illustrate the situation vividly rather than calling out individual people. Because Uni is a small school, this may mean speaking of things on one level of generality beyond what you have in mind (e.g. "my English class that semester" rather than "Nonfiction Writing"). At the same time, don't feel the need to be vague to shield individuals completely (for example, it's fine to say "we had four essays due that semester" even if some people will realize that this refers to a particular class).
• Consider examples from your peers as well as from your own experience, and think about how stress affects your social circles and friendships as well as how it affects you individually.
• Feel free to use humor to keep things light. But also be sure your letter acknowledges the weight and seriousness of this issue in your life. 
• Don't feel the need to overstate the seriousness of the issue. Tell it like it is in your own life and share your individual perspective.
• Remember to keep a balanced perspective and consider "other side" of whatever problems/issues you're illustrating. (E.g. Keep in mind that stress is part of life and there's such a thing as healthy stress, that people who increase your stress may have at least partly caring motives, etc.) You're not required to incorporate this kind of "it's complicated" perspective in your letter, but it may help you write a more nuanced and persuasive letter if you at least remain aware of it as you write.

We'll have more time in class to discuss and shape these letters. In the mean time, let me know whether you plan to make a Letter Regarding Stress your fourth quarter project or, if not, what your plan is for your project. Fourth period students can share their plans here, and fifth period can share here.