Analysis of the Writing Artifacts

Max Melin
Academic Writing, Fall 2015
I am analyzing three artifacts from an insurance company
named Protective Life Insurance Company. Their headquarters are in
Birmingham, Alabama, but they have an office here in Santa
Barbara. The artifacts I have chosen to analyze are a premium
payment receipt, a cover note, and a page of notes. I decided to start
with the premium payment receipt, where a client of theirs had
exceeded the total of their annually premium payment, which lead to
a refund for the client. The documents tone is very formal
considering the words chosen, but also when analyzing the font. The
font is most definitely Times New Roman, size 12. At first glance, you
immediately comprehend the seriousness of the matter, which is true
since it is regarding life insurances. Furthermore, the document is
very organized and structures in the sense that it explains everything
step by step for the receiver/audience in this case their client.
However, it also contains a fine print in cursive at the bottom of the
document, in introduction in bold stating that it is a narrative
summary of the premium payment refund, and that the content is
only an illustration. In addition, the purpose of this document is as I
mentioned earlier to formally and professionally describe the
clients refund and how it would not affect their life insurance policy
in whole. The exigence of this artifact is therefore explained already
as I have analyzed the purpose of this document, and described the
audience it is written to. So when analyzing the tone, style, audience,

and purpose you as an artifact analyst can distinguish if the

conventions of the premium refund receipt are consistent, which I
believe they are. If I ever receive a premium refund receipt from an
insurance company, the document could very well be structured and
written like the document I just analyzed. Additionally, since the
genre is often related with the conventions, the genre of this
document is typical to its kind.
My second artifact is an inforce illustration cover letter. This
artifact is similar to the first one I analyzed due to its formality,
seriousness, and structure. The document starts with all the
necessary information such as PO box number, address, and sender
the receiver needs in order to know where it is from and what it is
regarding. The date is then stated and directly after is the agent that
is responsible for the case. So, the actual purpose for this
documents existence is that Protective Life Insurance Company felt
the urge to illustrate two examples on how the life insurance policy
will progress within the years, and what to keep in consideration as a
client. What is also stated in this document which works as a
summary for the whole policy is where to find the annual statement
on the proceeding pages and how to contact them if they have
questions or need assistance. By first defining the structure, tone,
audience, and purpose, it is somewhat self-evident that what is left is
the documents genre and conventions. However, when comparing
the first document with this one, I believe we will reach the same
conclusion regarding its genre and conventions. It is because the

documents similarities are many and therefore the genre is a

bureaucratic professional business document regarding serious
matters in this case life insurance. With its great organization,
authoritarian tone, and thoughtful exigence the document
summarizes (on request) the clients policy, as its role in the series of
documents is a cover note with illustrations. In addition, the
conventions are originally with nothing towards the unnatural.
Lastly, I decided to analyze an artifact that is not similar to the
other two documents, which makes this analysis of writing artifacts
more interesting. The last document to be analyzed is a page full of
notes. I decided to analyze something that strives against the other
two documents I have just examined. This page of notes is
compared to the receipt and the cover note with illustrations not
written on a computer, and its also an internal document. Internal
documents often differ from external documents in features, since it
stays within the company. To being with, the documents tone is
much more relaxed because the audience is not a client anymore. It
is the writer itself that is also the reader. Furthermore, its structure
is not thoughtful or organized and the style is not professional. If this
would have been an external document I believe it would have
caused a lot of confusion with all the shortages and such. Another
feature that distinguishes this document from the other documents is
its purpose. The purpose of these notes is to help the person in
question to memorize what do to for the coming week, which I
believe, is very essential in order to professionally keep everything in

order. So, the document is in its right environment, with steadfast

conventions such as shortages, dates, no organization, and variety in
font and color. It is typical for its genre, I would say.
In conclusion, the artifacts that I chose to analyze do have its
differences in features, even though two of them were similar.
However, it does have one thing in common which is to inform the
reader. The cover note with illustrations had its purpose to inform
the client on the life insurance policy, which he/she had requested.
The receipt of the premium payment refund intended to inform the
reason behind the refund and how it would not affect the policy of
the insurance. Lastly, the notes purpose was to inform the weeks
agenda. This demonstrates how writing can differ in style, form, and
tone, but is still be able to reach the same purpose. After all, writing
have the ability to differ in shape and form, but remain coincided in
its intention.