Home › Glossary › Letter E

Epistolary narrative

Form
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A story told through letters or written messages in verse form; it adopts the intimacy, immediacy, and character voice of epistolary prose while incorporating the compression and musicality of poetry.

Detailed Definition
A narrative poem told through epistolary structure, with story unfolding through letters, messages, or written correspondence. Allows multiple voices and perspectives through different writers while maintaining verse form. Related to verse epistles and letter ballads but emphasizes sustained narrative development rather than single letter or brief ballad plot. Horace's verse epistles influenced this tradition combining poetic form with letter-writing conventions. The epistolary frame provides intimate voice and direct address while allowing narrative progression through correspondence between characters or single correspondent's sequential letters.
Example
Example in poetry:
Ballads told through exchange of letters; Story-poems using epistolary framework; Narratives unfolding through written messages; Tales structured as correspondence
Additional Notes
A story told through letters, messages, or correspondence in verse. Allows multiple voices and perspectives through different writers. Can reveal character through writing style and content. Related to epistolary novel but in poetic form. Horace's verse epistles influenced this tradition.
Also Known As
epistolary tale letter story correspondence narrative verse epistle narrative Epistolary ballad Written message story correspondence story
Skip to main content