Editing Epistolary novel (section)

==Types==
Epistolary novels can be categorized based on the number of people whose letters are included. This gives three types of epistolary novels: monophonic (giving the letters of only one character, like ''Letters of a Portuguese Nun'' and ''The Sorrows of Young Werther''), dialogic (giving the letters of two characters, like Mme [[Marie Jeanne Riccoboni]]'s ''Letters of Fanni Butler'' (1757), and polyphonic (with three or more letter-writing characters, such as in Bram Stoker's ''[[Dracula]]'').

A crucial element in polyphonic epistolary novels like ''Clarissa'' and ''Dangerous Liaisons'' is the dramatic device of 'discrepant awareness': the simultaneous but separate correspondences of the heroines and the villains creating dramatic tension. They can also be classified according to their type and quantity of use of non-letter documents, though this has obvious correlations with the number of voices – for example, newspaper clippings are unlikely to feature heavily in a monophonic epistolary and considerably more likely in a polyphonic one.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Taylor |first=Elizabeth Anne |date=May 2009 |title=Sincerely Yours: An Analysis of the Nature and Strengths of Epistolary Fiction |url=https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/2437/ |type=Honors (Bachelor's) |location=Oxford, Mississippi |publisher=Honors College ([[Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College]]), [[University of Mississippi]]}}</ref>