The Power of the Letter

Questions To Start Today's Session:

• How can / have letters be used in everyday circumstances?
• How can letters appear in literature (e.g. novels, poems, etc.)? 
• Can you think of any examples of how letters have appeared in literature and/or other works of art (such as movies, TV shows, etc.)?
  

Writing Activities:

• Choose one of these two prompts: 1) Write a letter to an older version of yourself, or 2) Write a letter to a future generation.
• Take on someone else's voice. Write a letter using their writing style.
  Write a letter to someone who can affect your future.
  
• Imagine you are a leader in a futuristic society. Write a letter to someone in another kingdom / planet.
  

Letters To and From Writers and People in Other Professions:

• Carl Sagan’s letter to 17-year-old Neil deGrasse Tyson
• Excerpt of a Letter from Emily Dickinson to Her Editor

The Epistle in Nonfiction

• Excerpt from Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou

Epistolary Novels

• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
  

Epistles (Poems)

• "The Author to Her Book" by Anne Bradstreet
• "Letter” by Langston Hughes
  

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/journey/hughes-transcript.html