Thinking about my final long-read project, I think I’d like to further explore love letters. Out of all the topics we’ve covered in class thus far, our conversations about love letters have intrigued me the most. I mentioned this in my World War Two paper and presentation, but I think there is a major difference between letters written out of love, and love letters. Love letters have a major undertone of longing which differentiates them from letters just written out of love, and I’d love to explore that further. I also think there is something really unique and lovely about the intimacy of expressing one’s feelings through hand written words, and I’d love to dive deeper into that.
Furthermore, last week’s ‘letters of note’ activity slightly changed my perspective on love letters. I chose to read the letter “What Did You Say? I Can’t Hear You” written by Katharine Hepburn to her late husband Spencer Tracy around 1985. This specific letter really intrigued me because though it was a love letter, it was a love letter written eighteen years after the recipient’s death. I thought this was such an interesting thing to do, and it made me realize how there isn’t just one type of love letter, and they most likely come in all different forms- from grieving partners, victims of unrequited love, crushes, etc. I’d love to explore different types of love letters, beyond what we have covered in class. I look forward to beginning this assignment.
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