Letters About Literature Assignment

Ladies!

It's gotten back to me that some of you feel confused / uninformed about the Letters About Literature assignment that I went over with you in Reading Workshop in the week of September 27th. See the email I sent to your SGS account for the attachments, etc. and I'll give you a brief tutorial here so that you can be ready with your rough draft of this letter at the beginning of Reading Workshop next week. You might also want to check out the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) part of the Letters About Literature website at http://www.lettersaboutliterature.org in order to have a fuller understanding of what works and what doesn't.

Just briefly, here are my guidelines for this assignment:

• Word process AND double space your letter
• Remember that your letter is to be between 300-600 words (that's NOT very long, so make sure you don't ramble!)
• Have your rough draft of your letter printed out and ready to exchange with a peer editor at the beginning of Reading Workshop next week (Tuesday for Core A / Thursday for Core B)

Here are the guidelines included on the LAL entry form:

Select a fiction or nonfiction book, a short story, poem, essay or speech (sorry, no song lyrics) you have read and about which you have strong feelings. Explore those feelings and why you reacted the way you did during or after reading the author’s work. Consider one or more of these questions when writing your letter:

• Did the characters, conflict or setting mirror your life in some way? If so, how? If not, why not?
•What strengths or flaws do you share with a character or characters in the book?
•What did the book show you about your world that you never noticed before?
•What surprised you about yourself while you were reading this book? Why was this work meaningful to you?
Your letter need not answer all of these questions, of course. These are just starting points to spark ideas.

When writing your letter, be sure to avoid the temptation to write a "fan letter."

Write honestly and in your own voice, as if you were having a conversation with the author. Those are the best letters to read and the most fun to write! Keep in mind these two tips:
•Correspond, don’t compliment! Your letter should inform rather than flatter the author.
•Do not summarize the book’s plot! The author wrote the book and knows what happened. What the author doesn’t know is how the book affected you.

In the aforementioned email I also re-attached the winning letters from this past year that I shared with you in class (and then sent you in an email) so you can get an idea of what the judges seem to go for!

I have the feeling that we just might win this year...but then, that's up to you!!!

Have fun with this!

PS Here is an overview of the deadlines with regards to this project so you can effectively plan ahead:

Week of October 25: rough draft due at the beginning of your Reading Workshop session (peer editors will be assigned at this time)

Week of November 1: Edited responses due at the beginning of your Reading Workshop session

Tuesday, November 9: ALL Revised Rough Drafts of Letter due to Sally

Week of November 29: You'll receive Sally's edit/comments on your letters

Monday, December 6: All Final Drafts due to Sally along with a completed entry form

Letters will be mailed on Thursday, December 9th!!!