1st 6-Weeks Book Project: Literary Letters
Due: Wednesday, Sept. 27 at end of class
Dear Students,
To create a record of your reading, thinking, and learning, you will write a literary letter about a book you finished this six weeks. Your literary letter should be at least two pages long and written as a personal, critical response to one book -- in other words, not a series of paragraphs about a series of books, but a long look at one book.
Once you’ve decided which book you’ll write about, select at least one part that you think is significant, in terms of theme, conflict, character development, plot arc, or author’s style. In your letter, quote or paraphrase the part you chose, and write about what you think it shows about the book, the author, or life in general.
What else should you write about in a literary letter? Tell about your experience as a reader of the book. Describe what you noticed about how the author wrote. Tell what you think the themes might be. Tell what surprised you. Pose your wonderings -- your questions about the author, the characters, the structure, the voice, and yourself as a reader. If you need help getting started, try the sentence openers provided below to get you thinking and writing. Be aware that a good literary letter is one that teaches you something you didn’t realize about your book, or yourself as a reader, before you wrote it.
Date your letter in the upper right-hand corner, and use a conventional greeting (Dear Ms. Juettner,) and closing (Sincerely,). Cite the name of the author of the book and its title. Indicate the title by capitalizing and underlining it.
I’m excited to continue reading and thinking about literature with you this year. I can’t wait to read your letters and look forward to a year of learning from you, learning with you, and helping you learn more about the power and pleasure of literature.
Sincerely,
Ms. Juettner
Adapted from Nancie Atwell’s letter- essay in The Reading Zone (2007)
Optional Sentence Openers
- I was surprised when/angry about/satisfied with/moved by/incredulous about…
- I liked the way the author…
- I noticed how the author…
- I don’t get why the author…
- If I were the author I would have…
- I’d compare this author to…
- This book reminded me of…
- The main character…
- The character development…
- The climax of the plot…
- The resolution of the main character’s problem…
- The genre of this book…
- I’d say a theme of this book is…
- I wish that…
- I didn’t agree with…
- I understood…
- I couldn’t understand…
- Why did…
- I rated this one ____ because…
And always: I was struck by/interested in/intrigued by this passage: “...” It shows… about this author’s writing.
Format (Use the template provided!)
- At least 2 pages
- 12 point font
- Double spaced
- Date in top corner
- Includes greeting and closing
- Paragraphs are indented
Content
- Introduces book title, author, and genre
- Summarizes the main plot points from the story (don’t worry about spoilers)
- Includes a reflection about a significant part of the book
- Explores at least 2 additional topics (or sentence openers) in depth
- Written as a personal, critical response to one book
Clarity and Depth
- Writing is clear and easy-to-follow
- It is obvious that the student read the whole book and thought about it deeply
GRADE: ______
* The Literary letter is a major grade and will count 20% of your first six weeks average.