week 9, lesson 1 epistolary fiction - eckington school€¦ · week 9, lesson 1 epistolary fiction...

Week 9, Lesson 1

Epistolary fiction

By the end of the lesson:

ALL will be able to explain

the effect of epistolary

features and experiment with

using them;

MOST will explore different

interpretations of examples of

epistolary fiction and create a

clear voice through your own

examples;

SOME will evaluate the

effectiveness of different

types of epistolary feature

and apply new understanding

to your own work.

Starter: Look at the note below.

What inferences could you make

about the writer and the intended

recipient?

Epistolary fiction is a popular genre in which the

narrative is told via a series of documents. Some

works are told entirely using documents; many more

use epistolary features to develop the narrative (e.g.

letters and character statements in ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr

Hyde’).

What types of document could a writer use

to help push the narrative forward, develop

relationships between characters or reveal

information about situations?

Create a list of examples.

In each case, why might it be more effective for

a writer to use this than to use conventional

dialogue or narrative description?

ALL will be able to explain the effect of epistolary features and experiment with using them;

MOST will explore different interpretations of examples of epistolary fiction and create a clear voice through your own examples;

SOME will evaluate the effectiveness of different types of epistolary feature and apply new understanding to your own work.

Task: Read and annotate the extract from ‘Great Expectations’

to explore the effect of using epistolary features such as letters.

Stuck?

How does the letter reveal that Joe has

not learnt to read or write?

How does the letter reveal that Pip has not

really stayed in touch since moving to

London?

Up for a challenge?

How might Pip feel as he reads the letter?

Why?

Explore – and justify – a range of

possibilities.

How does Dickens use epistolary features to subtly reveal

information about his characters and their situations?


MOST will explore different interpretations of examples of epistolary fiction and create a clear voice through your own examples;

SOME will evaluate the effectiveness of different types of epistolary feature and apply new understanding to your own work.

This is an extract from the beginning of Chapter 27 of ‘Great Expectations’ by Charles Dickens.

The narrator of the novel, Pip, was brought up by his older sister and her husband (the blacksmith Joe Gargery, who cannot read or

write). Pip has gone from being a poor blacksmith’s apprentice to being a London gentleman. He receives this letter from Biddy, a

school friend of Pip’s who now helps to care for Mrs Gargery.

My dear Mr. Pip,

I write this by request of Mr. Gargery, for to let you know that he is

going to London tomorrow in company with Mr. Wopsle and would

be glad if agreeable to be allowed to see you. He would call at

Barnard’s Hotel Tuesday morning at nine o’clock, when if not

agreeable please leave word. Your poor sister is much the same

as when you left. We talk of you in the kitchen every night, and

wonder what you are saying and doing. If now considered in the

light of a liberty, excuse it for the love of poor old days. No more,

dear Mr. Pip, from

Your ever obliged, and affectionate servant,

Biddy.

P.S. He wishes me most particular to write what larks. He says

you will understand. I hope and do not doubt it will be agreeable to

see him even though a gentleman, for you had ever a good heart,

and he is a worthy worthy man. I have read him all excepting only

the last little sentence, and he wishes me most particular to write

again what larks.

Annotate the letter, considering the following:

• What do we learn about Biddy’s personality?

• What do we learn about Joe’s (Mr Gargery’s) personality?

• What do we learn about Pip?

• What do we learn about the relationships between these characters?

Task: Plan a very short story which

uses only text messages between

two characters.

When you’re ready, write your text

messages into the template.

Consider:

• Is the time relevant? You can add dates

and times here.

• Is it relevant that the time on the phone

is 10.47pm?

• Is it relevant that the battery is at 24%?

• Why are there two messages in a row

at the end?

• Will the sender be starting to type a

new message here? If so, what is it?

Ext: Annotate your story, explaining your

intended effect upon the reader.

Plenary: List three possible titles for your text message story.

Choose one and put it at the top of the story.

Explain why this is the best title for your story.


MOST will explore different interpretations of examples of epistolary fiction and create a clear

voice through your own examples;

SOME will evaluate the effectiveness of different types of epistolary feature and apply new

understanding to your own work.

Week 9, Lesson 2

Constrained writing

By the end of the lesson:

ALL will be able to

experiment with a range of

writing constraints;

MOST will construct

different examples of

original writing using a

range of constraints;

SOME will develop

interesting, effective pieces

of writing using a range of

constraints.

Starter: Write a sentence in

which the first word has one

letter, the second word has two

letters, the third has three, and

so on.

What’s the longest sentence you

can write that still makes sense?

Stuck? Start with I am not…

Ext: Can you write a complex

sentence in which every word has

the same number of letters?

Writers often challenge themselves by using constrained

writing, working within a strict set of rules or parameters.

Consider some forms of poetry – in what ways is

a sonnet a form of constrained writing?

Lipogram

In a lipogram, one letter of the alphabet is intentionally avoided.

The novelist Ernest Vincent Wright wrote the novel ‘Gadsby’

without using the letter ‘e’ once.

Constrained writing task 1: Lipogram

Choose one vowel to eliminate from your

writing. Write a paragraph about your morning

(be as imaginative as you like!) without using

that vowel.

What would be the most difficult

aspect of this task?

Ext: Develop your writing by including some of the words on your

vocabulary list – but only if they don’t include your forbidden vowel!

ALL will be able to experiment with a range of writing constraints;

MOST will construct different examples of original writing using a range of constraints;

SOME will develop interesting, effective pieces of writing using a range of constraints.

Mandated vocabulary

Novelist Doug Nufer’s novel ‘Never Again’

doesn’t use any word more than once.






The first line of the novel is “When the

racetrack closed forever I had to get a

new job.”

In his first sentence, Nufer has used up:

• I

• the

• a

Imagine how tough it must

have been to write the rest

of the novel!

Mandated vocabulary

The 2008 novel ‘let me tell you’ uses only the 483 words spoken

by the character Ophelia in Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’.






Dr Seuss’ publisher said it

would be impossible to write a

story using no more than 50

different words. Dr Seuss won

the bet.

Fun fact! The

book ‘Green

Eggs and Ham’

was written in

response a bet.

Constrained writing task 2: Lipogram or mandated vocabulary

Choice A: No repeats

Write the first paragraph(s) of a

novel called ‘Thursday’. You

may not repeat any word

throughout your writing in this

task.

Extra challenge: Don’t use any

of the words you used in

Constrained Writing Task 1.

Choice B: Set vocabulary

Write the first paragraph(s) of a

novel called ‘Thursday’. You

may use only the words below.

Do you

recognise

these

words?

From

which

poem are

they

taken?

Ext A: Develop your writing by

including some of the words on your

vocabulary list – but only once!

Ext B: Can you include an

extended metaphor in your piece?

Pilish

Pilish is an extraordinary form of constrained writing that

straddles the boundary between language and mathematics: it is

written in such a way that the letters in each successive word

are equal to the successive decimal places of pi.

E.g. the first word has 3 letters; the second has 1; the third has

4…






Constrained writing task 3: Pilish

Write a 75-100 word story using Pilish. You have complete

freedom over the genre, subject and form (by all means make it

epistolary or use only dialogue if you prefer), but you must be

strict about the number of letters in each word.

I’ve separated pi out below, just so it’s easier to keep track of

where you are.

Ext: Develop your writing by editing in some of the words on your

vocabulary list – but make sure they have the right number of letters!

3.1415 92653 58979 32384

62643 38327 95028 84197

16939 93751 05820 97494

45923 07816 40628 62089

98628 03482 53421 17067


MOST will construct different examples of original writing using a range of

constraints;

SOME will develop interesting, effective pieces of writing using a range of

constraints.

Plenary:

Which of the writing constraints did you find the most

challenging? Why do you think this is the case for you?

Homework reminder: Do your third piece now!

• Lipogram

• Mandated vocabulary

• Pilish

week 9, lesson 1 epistolary fiction - eckington school€¦ · week 9, lesson 1 epistolary fiction...

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