A diary entry and a leave application

Unit 3 asks you to write two very different things: a diary entry (very private) and a leave application (very formal).

A diary entry is personal. It records your own day: your thoughts, feelings and opinions. Nobody else is meant to read it, so you can say anything!

How to write one:

• write the day, date and time
• start with Dear Diary,
• begin with a general line about your day or feelings
• give the details
• end with a final remark

Use the first person (I, me, my): it's yours.

The book's opening: "Friday, 15 July 20XX, 6:30 p.m. Dear Diary, It was quite humid today. On my way back from school, I wished it would rain. And it did!"

A leave application is the opposite: formal, addressed to someone particular, with a fixed layout:

• your address and the date
• below that, on the left: The Principal, school name, city, state
• a Subject line: "Subject: Request for leave for ... days"
• a formal greeting: "Dear Madam," or "Dear Sir,"

The body needs three things:

• how long: "I am writing to request ___ days' leave from ___ to ___"
• why: "in order to attend ___"
• a promise about school work: "I would like to assure you that I will ___"

Close with: "I would be grateful if you could grant me the leave." Then "Yours sincerely," and your name, class, section and roll number, so the Principal knows which of hundreds of pupils you are!