The document discusses why letter writing can elicit emotion. It notes that letters engage multiple senses like touch and sight through the physical act of writing. The psychology of letter writing is also explored, as one study found that having more time to write a letter allows for deeper reflection and more emotion. Common literary elements in letters, like repetition and exaggeration, help recreate the feeling of conversation. Additionally, the standard format of letters with salutations and closings promotes a respectful tone that has made letters an effective means of communication and protest throughout history.
2. Structure of a Letter
Definition:
Physical and Psychological Properties
Common Literary Elements
General Format
3. Physical Properties
Letters use 4 of the 5 senses:
Touch
Hear
See
Smell
Article by Nina Sankovitch, “Love Letters”:
Letters offer proof and legacy of what is most important in
life: love and connection
4. Handwriting
Handwriting conveys infinitely more emotion when
compared to a computer.
Fact: Companies are building machines to handwrite
letters
Birthday Cards
Thank you notes
Advertisements
Marketing research suggests that people are more
likely to open handwritten letters
5. Psychology of a letter
Health Professional Anita Green conducted experiment:
Found: : Letter writing is powerful because of its ability to pose
deep questions without the burden of having to answer in a
certain time limit
More time = more emotion
Psychologists and Therapists use letter writing for
treatment
6. Literary Elements
Repetition
WW II letters: “I” statements
Chief John Ross: “We” statements
Tendency to exaggerate, magnify situation
A writer attempting to recreate feeling having real-life conversation
Exaggeration = intonation
7. Format
Respectful form of communication
African Americans protested congress on working conditions
Congress responded
Why?
Paul Tallon, a social historian – The common format was the reason
why:
Dear _______
“Sincerely”
8. Reasons for emotion
Physical and Psychological Properties
Common literary elements
General format
Hi, my name is Charlie Gan. I’m a student at Georgia Tech and today I’m going to be talking about what causes the emotional aspect of a letter. You might be wondering, “Why study this?” It’s interesting how I decided to research this topic. As a student going to a university far from home, I have the need to communicate with friends back at home and family all across the world. Because of this need, I’ve tried many ways of communication. Facebook, texting calling, and letter writing are just a few examples. Out of all of these I found letter writing to be the impactful to both me and the people I’m writing to. I wanted to explore why this was true.
After doing some research, I decided that the inherent structure of a letter was to blame for this phenomenon. When I say structure, I mean…
In terms of physical properties,
Pertaining to the physical parts of letter writing, I want to address handwriting. Handwriting is a main component when we talk about the amount of emotion in a letter… Handwriting is like fingerprint of a person. And I believe that is what makes letter infinitely more emotional than computer generated font. The uniqueness singles out a person and makes a letter that much more special.
The second structural piece that contributes to emotion is
The third structural piece that contributes to emotion is the usage of literary devices
Both these literary devices appeal to the pathos of the audience and that causes for a strong feeling of emotion
The fourth structural piece is the format of the letter
From what I’ve told you, I hope that you can conclude that letter writing is emotional because of the inherent structure of the act. The physical and psychological properties, the common literary elements, and general format are all valid reasons why letters are so impactful to both you and receiver of your letters.
