Lesson Overview - Unit 2
Epistolary Poems and Stories
We use the adjective "epistolary" to describe poems, stories and novels that are written as letters. This term comes from the word "epistle" which means "letter."
In this unit, you will study how writers have used correspondence to create literature. You will start by learning what the various parts of a letter are called. With this knowledge, you will create a postcard to be sent from some exotic place.
Once your short assignment has been handed in, you will go on to reading a few epistles. You will start with a very short note presented as a poem. Soon, you will read letters presented as song, poem, and essay.
This will set you up to read the epistolary novel Griffin and Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence, by BC-based author Nick Bantock.
You will complete this unit by writing your own epistolary narrative, complete with graphics. You will also write a quiz after you have finished the readings.
Time Management for Unit 2
| Task | Time needed |
| short assignment - Postcard from a distant land | 1 hour |
| Reading content (with most of that needed for Griffin and Sabine) | 3 hours |
| Epistolary Narrative Project | 15 hours |
| Unit Quiz | 1/2 hour |
As you can see, most of your time should be spent on the main project.
Key Terms
Form - the external appearance of a literary work. A letter is a form, as is a haiku, sonnet or short story.
Purpose - the reason that a writer has to create a work. Purpose may be to inform, entertain or persuade.
Audience - Simply put, audience is who will be reading the work, such as children, scientists, or students learning English. Yet, this term also describes the assumptions that a writer makes about what the audience's reading level and what the audience will know.
Impact - when a work achieves its desired effect
Genre - a category of literary works. Epic poems and romance novels belong to different genres of literature.
Now, on to that first assignment.