EngLit

cristina

Hi there!
You asked us to write something about the advantages and disadvantages of the epistolary form.I will start with the definition of the epistolary novel and than I'll try to give some advantages and also disadvantages of this form.
The word epistolary comes from the Latin word ''epistola'' which means letter.
The epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of document(usually letters, although ''diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used''). The letters are written by one ore more characters.
Some epistolary novels: Pamela; Clarissa by Samuel Richardson, Shamela by Fielding, Eloisa and Abelard by Alexander Pope, etc..

ADVANTAGES:

- the epistolary novel evokes a sense of reality and immediacy, therfore adds greater realism and verisimilitude to a story;
- "approximates more closely than the omniscient the conditions of real life'' while it also offers "a ready-made unifying element, since all details of the story are the experience of one person" (Perrine, Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense)
- it is able to demonstrate different points of view without recourse to the device of an omniscient narrator;
- there is no second voice(of the author), the characters tells everything, analyzes the facts, feels, presents the whole story through his/her eyes;express everything with his/her own words;
-the reader feels more close to the character;
- convey events with dramatic immediacy;
- the author presents the characters' thoughts without interference;
- gives credibility, makes the reader think that the facts are real;
- first person narration is internalized, and becomes interior monologue, which is "a technique for presenting the stream of consciousness of a character" and "it assumes the unrestricted and uncensored portrayal of the totality of interior experience(Harmon, A Handbook to Literature)

DISADVANTAGES:

- it restricts the field of vision;
- the author relinquishes the opportunity for direct interpretation;
- the author is not free to step out of the story and comment on the characters or their actions;
- "there is constant danger that the narrator may be made to transcend his sensitivity, his knowledge, or his powers of language in telling the story" (Perrine, Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense)
- many of the main characters of this kind of novel are women(i'm not saying that women are stupid or something like that, but we must admit that women have a different opinion about life, see things in a different way than men do)
For the moment that all...
P.S. i took some ideas from the internet and i don't know if it's necessary to put down the source(because this is not an academic essay), but just in case i put some quotation marks.....and here you have some sites:

1)http://www.moonstar.com/~acpjr/Blackboard/Common/Glossary/PointView.html
2) http://books.google.ro/books?id=j1MmNkI_fn4C&pg=PA452&lpg=PA452&dq=advantages+and+disadvantages+of+the+epistolary+form&source=bl&ots=FLNTA0kqD9&sig=FuX05xevPlM3XnisqqTxLB8ofO0&hl=ro&ei=UawqSq-kC5HGsgapp4SaBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2
3)http://everything2.com/title/epistolary
4)http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Epistolary_novel
5)http://books.google.ro/books?id=Ca5mxpJbLYMC&pg=PA296&lpg=PA296&dq=advantages+and+disadvantages+of+the+epistolary+form&source=bl&ots=bbBS_ZiVfx&sig=LaqyB86g_5uRD3pQluIWa96nonM&hl=ro&ei=UawqSq-kC5HGsgapp4SaBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8
_________________
cris merci

Teacher · Administrator Data inscrierii: 26/Mar/2008 Mesaje: 471

Thank you Crisitna! Here's a good example of helping your colleagues get a better understanding of a seminar topic by using the resources available on the internet.

I appreciate your honesty of mentioning your sources. Yes, that's the way to go, even if, as you noted, "this is not an academic essay". But these links will help your colleagues dig deeper into the matter and, maybe, develop autentic ideas...

Thanks again!

Teacher · Administrator Data inscrierii: 26/Mar/2008 Mesaje: 471

P.S.

I have created a new sub-forum here. Please do not write in the other, ar that one is an ARCHIVE of discussions held last year.

Chimsac Ocsana · Dunker Data inscrierii: 18/Noi/2008 Mesaje: 18

I agree with Cristina's words ,but we cannot forget that epistolary novel like a diaries contributed at development of the literature.Diaries,epistolary,journalism represent the sources of the novel.
An good example of an epistolary novel is Pamela.Pamela is an epistolary novel written as a serious of letters.
She writes 2 kinds of letters.At the beginning,while she is deciding how log to stay on at Mr's B after the death of his mother,she writes letters to her parents relating her various moral dilemmas and asking their advice.
After MrB imprisons her in his countryhouse,she continues to write letters to her parents,but because she is insure that her parents will ever receive them,i think that they are to be considered letters and diary.In Pamela we the readers receive only the thoughts and letters of Pamela ,we do not have access to the other characters,i think that this are the big disadvantage of epistolary novel,we see only pamela,s perception of them.

Chimsac Ocsana · Dunker Data inscrierii: 18/Noi/2008 Mesaje: 18

OCSANA:I was impresionated by Pamela,s attitude in mentaining her virtue ,she would rather die than give it up to anyone and shame her poor parents.It is a good example nowadays for us.I asked my self if is Pamela affected by her social class?She wants to marry in order to make her living conditions more confortable?
I think she knows the value of social and economic class,she is able to understand a lot of things and she doesn't want to gain a higher social station.What is your opinion Irina bucurici?
IRINA BUCURICI:i agree with your opinions,you're right.PAMELA can be an example for us,,,,,and also for teenagers from nowadays.Her virtue was more important than everything,,,,,for her money had no importance.She always listened to her parents,,,,she was a devoted daughter and she was rewarded by all her kindness and works.Even if she was poor she kept to her morality and was very proud of her.
OCSANA:MR.B was obviously attracted to Pamela more when he saw her in the clothing,and Pamela seemed as if she was trying to convince him that she was serious about her virtue.Do you think she was playing with him?
IRINA:Yes,she was playing with him because she can prove that she can keep her virtue,but also playing with him.She has a strong personality,she never give up and never let others to trick her.This demonstrate that she is a strong woman and confident in her own powers.