The epistolary form is a brand new term for
me. When the term was first brought up in class, I had no idea what it meant, just like when I was growing up I had no idea that I was already pre-exposed to it. When I read books and papers that appeared to be a correspondence
between two or more people, either via letter or note, I thought nothing of it. To me it was simply communication. To a child it looks as if the author chose to show the readers a direct form of
communication, rather then telling them a story through a different perspective. Little did I know that I was being introduced to a form of
writing that later I would know so much about unconsciously. After reading Clarissa, and our class discussions it's clear to me what are different forms of epistolary writing. From social media sites, to blogs ans text messages, it's something that we all participate in to some complicity on a daily basis.
Compared to the time Clarissa was written, we can communicate a lot faster and a lot more efficient. Scrolling through different things on the internet, we can see people writing little notes in the moment all the time. Thanks to the media and the craze of social networking, sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr we see what people are doing and feeling in the moments that they are.
Instant messaging (i.e. Facebook Messenger, AIM and iMessage) are one of the biggest forms of epistolary writing. We all do it, think about it. Text messaging for example: if we are running late all we have to do is send a quick message explaining what is going on. Or, we can even have full conversations instead of a phone call or writing an actual letter. It's quick, it's easy and we do it very much in the here and now.
Even if I were to scroll through my text messages right now, I can see how my mini messages look like those from Clarissa. I explain to others what I am doing, why I am doing it and sometimes even where I am doing. If I'm just doing homework, my boyfriend knows what I'm doing and even how bored or frustrated I am while doing it.
Instant messaging to be is a perfect example of the epistolary form, and I believe that we can all relate to that and have our own examples of it.
Compared to the time Clarissa was written, we can communicate a lot faster and a lot more efficient. Scrolling through different things on the internet, we can see people writing little notes in the moment all the time. Thanks to the media and the craze of social networking, sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr we see what people are doing and feeling in the moments that they are.
Instant messaging (i.e. Facebook Messenger, AIM and iMessage) are one of the biggest forms of epistolary writing. We all do it, think about it. Text messaging for example: if we are running late all we have to do is send a quick message explaining what is going on. Or, we can even have full conversations instead of a phone call or writing an actual letter. It's quick, it's easy and we do it very much in the here and now.
Even if I were to scroll through my text messages right now, I can see how my mini messages look like those from Clarissa. I explain to others what I am doing, why I am doing it and sometimes even where I am doing. If I'm just doing homework, my boyfriend knows what I'm doing and even how bored or frustrated I am while doing it.
Instant messaging to be is a perfect example of the epistolary form, and I believe that we can all relate to that and have our own examples of it.
Epistolary Form is definitely new to me. It's so weird, because we grew up being exposed to many different forms of it not knowing what it was or how it worked. I think it's funny because we use it and see it in everyday life, rather it be through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Instant message, and so on and so forth.
ReplyDeleteEpistolary form is also a new concept for me. I don't recall ever reading a novel that is strictly written in letters. Agreeing with Kierra, it is ironic how often we encounter modern day epistolary forms in all aspects of social media and may have just recently realized that those are epistolary forms. A lot of times are changing because of technology and social media, but I'm sure people writing letters will still continue for a while. They may not be as long as Clarissa's letters since modern day times have made our writing more succinct, but I believe people will still write actual letters. But, I also believe that people will be writing letters at a continued decreasing rate due to social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
ReplyDeleteWhile the epistolary form is not new to me, "Dracula" being my first experience with it, the idea of thinking about modern day forms of communication as epistolary is. As Kierra said, I think one of the reasons we don't notice it is because we grew up with it constantly around us. Also, as Chris stated letter writing is definitely on the decline. The postal service always seems like they're desperately trying to find a way to modernize and stay relevant, when the truth is they're being totally outdone by these new forms of communication. I think this is kind of sad because I think letters carry with them a certain connotation. People tend to hold onto letter, while texts/IMs we tend to read and delete. I wonder if people thought about texts, etc. as little letters if they would try and keep some sort of record of them.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, we all know about and have experience with this stuff--we're just adding some useful categories and labels (like "epistolary") to help us analyze how narratives work. And Lynda, you point out that if you simply take the raw material of your daily interactions via text, you get a kind of epistolary narrative. This is striking because we wouldn't think that we're sitting around all day writing to each other in the way that the characters in Clarissa are--but that is exactly what we're doing (and when you're doing it in class, I see you. I see all of you texters, and shall have my vengeance). We are constantly using writing to process what we're doing, all of the time... much like Clarissa is!
ReplyDeleteBut Alex brings up a good point--because our epistolary writing is digital, we both treat it as ephemeral (we delete texts but save paper letters), but at the same time forget that there really could be a digital record of it forever.