An essay has been defined in a variety of ways. One definition is a "prose composition with a focused subject of discussion" or a "long, systematic discourse".[1] It is difficult to define the genre into which essays fall. Aldous Huxley, a leading essayist, gives guidance on the subject.[2] He notes that "the essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything", and adds that "by tradition, almost by definition, the essay is a short piece". Furthermore, Huxley argues that "essays belong to a literary species whose extreme variability can be studied most effectively within a three-poled frame of reference". These three poles (or worlds in which the essay may exist) are:
The personal and the autobiographical: The essayists that feel most comfortable in this pole "write fragments of reflective autobiography and look at the world through the keyhole of anecdote and description".
The objective, the factual, and the concrete-particular: The essayists that write from this pole "do not speak directly of themselves, but turn their attention outward to some literary or scientific or political theme. Their art consists on setting forth, passing judgement upon, and drawing general conclusions from the relevant data".
The abstract-universal: In this pole "we find those essayists who do their work in the world of high abstractions", who are never personal and who seldom mention the particular facts of experience.
Huxley adds that "the most richly satisfying essays are those which make the best not of one, not of two, but of all the three worlds in which it is possible for the essay to exist".
The word essay derives from the French infinitive essayer, "to try" or "to attempt". In English essay first meant "a trial" or "an attempt", and this is still an alternative meaning. The Frenchman Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) was the first author to describe his work as essays; he used the term to characterize these as "attempts" to put his thoughts into writing, and his essays grew out of his commonplacing.[3] Inspired in particular by the works of Plutarch, a translation of whose Oeuvres Morales (Moral works) into French had just been published by Jacques Amyot, Montaigne began to compose his essays in 1572; the first edition, entitled Essais, was published in two volumes in 1580. For the rest of his life he continued revising previously published essays and composing new ones. Francis Bacon's essays, published in book form in 1597, 1612, and 1625, were the first works in English that described themselves as essays. Ben Jonson first used the word essayist in English in 1609, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
An essay is generally a short piece of writing written from an author's personal point of view, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of an article, a pamphlet and a short story.…
- 457 Words
- 2 Pages
Powerful Essays -
The exploration of what it means to be human is heavily focused on in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. The story follows a nine-year-old boy whose father died in the 9/11 attacks as he struggles to find some reason behind it, wondering along the way about existence and, more importantly, human emotion. All humans experience a range of emotions, from happiness to anger and everything in between. One of the most prominent human experiences is loss and the grief that follows it. The grieving process presents itself in many ways, and it is different for everyone. Through examining the text via formalism, which focuses solely on the text itself and not on the author on any other element, it becomes clear that the varying ways of mourning and receiving closure are well represented. The setting, plot, and structure used in the text all tie together the examination of grief as part of what it means to be human—everyone deals with grief, but each person must find a way to do so.…
- 1365 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
The story begins after the tragedy and is narrated by a 9-year-old boy, Oscar Schell, whose father died in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Since his father’s death, Oskar struggles with insomnia, panic attacks, and depression. He refers to this feeling throughout the book as “heavy boots.” One day, while snooping through his father’s closet, he finds a key in a vase. The envelope with the key enclosed has the word “Black” written on it. After careful speculation, and help from the manager at a local supplies store, he concluded that “Black” had to be a last name. He sets out on a journey to contact everyone in New York City who has the name black- in alphabetical order. One of the first people Oskar meets is named Abby Black and instantly befriends her. Though she has no information regarding the key, he continues his search with “the renter”, who we later find out is Oskar’s grandfather. Eight months of searching go by until Oskar receives a voicemail from Abby confessing she was not entirely honest with him, and thinks she can put him in touch with someone who might be able to help; Her ex-husband, William Black. Oskar learns from William that the key had almost no significance to his father besides the fact that the vase was sold to him with the key accidently at the bottom. Furious, he destroys everything having to do with the search for the key. We find out later that Oskar’s mother called every person with the name “Black” in the area to warn them that Oskar would be knocking on their door. This explained why the “strangers” were always so friendly and welcoming. It also explained why his mom never questioned his…
- 1099 Words
- 5 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. Almost all modern essays are written in prose, but works in verse have been dubbed essays (e.g. Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man). While brevity usually defines an essay, voluminous works like John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Thomas Malthus's An Essay on the Principle of Population are counterexamples. In some countries (e.g., the United States and Canada), essays have become a major part of formal education. Secondary students are taught structured essay formats to improve their writing skills, and admission essays are often used by universities in selecting applicants and, in the humanities and social sciences, as a way of assessing the performance of students during final…
- 277 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer, explores the themes of loss, communication, and change throughout the entire novel. Each character has experienced some sort of loss, whether it is Oskar’s loss of his father or Mr. Black’s loss of his wife. Many characters also have issues with communication, such as Thomas’s inability to talk and Oskar’s communication issues. The story of the Sixth Borough, which Oskar’s father tells to him for a bedtime story, is inserted seemingly at random into the middle of the novel. However, at a closer look, many of the themes in the story connect back to ideas seen earlier in the book. The story is Oskar’s father’s way of trying to teach Oskar about these ideas. It also serves as a microcosm…
- 982 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
An essay is generally a short piece of writing written from an author 's personal point of view, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of an article and a short story.…
- 4483 Words
- 18 Pages
Best Essays -
An essay is a piece of writing that methodically analyses and evaluates a topic or issue. Fundamentally, an essay is designed to get your academic opinion on a particular matter.…
- 1674 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
Loss is the feeling of grief when robbed of a loved one or someone or something of praise. In the novels Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer and The Submission by Amy Waldman, loss greatly affects the characters. Although the definition of loss does not change, every individual processes it in a different manner. Some become depressed and develop a vile state of mind and live their life as if it had no meaning. Others prevail over their grief with optimism, and move on through life, aware of the unfortunate time but important learning experience. Others try to find closure. While they try to move on from the tragedy, they still carry a piece of their loved one with them, and try to find that one thing that will finally…
- 955 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Each Black that he visits throughout the course of the book not only teaches Oskar something about people, but also mirrors his struggle.…
- 2191 Words
- 9 Pages
Good Essays -
Suffering and loss is a regular situation in the human life cycle, it is vital to learn how to deal with it so that it doesn’t affect the rest of our lives negatively. In Scott Russell Sanders’s Ten Reasons Why We’ll Always Need a Good Story he explains that one of the reasons is to help us deal and become aware of suffering, loss, and death. During our youth we often don’t consider the end of the life cycle. However, in life we will always encounter grieving from a loved one’s death. The first time we experience some sort of grieving it may be very hard to handle and may cause depression. Stories help us prepare for moments of suffering, loss, and death with fictional experiences which show us how to deal with these unfortunate events. In the three short stories we read at least one character in each story is forced to deal with suffering, loss, or death. In the short story Bluffing by Gail Helgason, Liam has an unfortunate accident and experiences physical pain as well as the emotional pain of his deteriorating relationship with Gabriella. In Two Words by Isabel Allende, Belisa Crepusculario is devastated by the death of her entire family due to their impoverished lifestyle and the love between her and the Colonel causes them to miss each other. In The Indisputable Weight of the Ocean by Darryl Berger, Edmund deals with not being able to see his father and deals with the suffering of moving to a suburban area.…
- 1481 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
Death is an inevitable event in the life of every organism. The death of a close one can have devastating effects on a person. Two novels, the Catcher in the Rye and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, illustrate the effects of death. The two main characters experienced lifestyle change, self-isolation, and depression. Although the two books are different, the aftereffects of death are similarly illustrated.…
- 1947 Words
- 8 Pages
Good Essays -
Oskar is known to himself and others as an inventor equipped with such a great world with imagination and knowledge. He is also an atheist, pacifist, explorer and scientist. He also makes a point to use the fact that he can speak French to his advantage. In the beginning, Oskar and his father Thomas Schell, show an inseparable union between father and son by the strong connection the two had between each other. Whether it be spell-checking the Sunday paper or playing their Reconnaissance Expeditions on Sundays, there were always activities planned. Nonetheless, the death of his father in the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11 has taken a large toll on him. Oskar has suddenly lost the second half of his well-being and cruises into a sad, depressed state of mind. Along with the social and mental disconnection from his mother (who will never fall in love again), it has been more of Oskar to start fending for himself in certain situations.…
- 1580 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. Almost all modern essays are written in prose, but works in verse have been dubbed essays (e.g. Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man). While brevity usually defines an essay, voluminous works like John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Thomas Malthus's An Essay on the Principle of Population are counterexamples. In some countries (e.g., the United States and Canada), essays have become a major part of formal education. Secondary students are…
- 473 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, a bestseller written by Jonathan Safran Foer, is a very unusual read while simultaneously being an impressive one, thus far. This book has mainly been a collection of nine-year old, Oskar Shell’s stream of consciousness, while also including reflections from his grandparents. Unlike “normal” novels, this one consists of diaries, memoirs, journals, pictures, and thoughts. It is filled with words above and beyond the words on the page. They written on walls, tattooed onto skin, invisible, unspoken, shouted, and whispered. Although this somewhat confusing collection of different individuals’ thoughts causes myself to have to really process what each individual is saying and who is saying it, I still thoroughly enjoy this book, because of the fact the Foer never seizes to place an emphasis on the individual lives and feelings of each character despite our vast world.…
- 695 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
On September 11, 2011 Oscar’s dad died in the Attack of the World Trade Center. His father did not work in the Twin Towers, but had a meeting there that morning. Because of this seemingly random act Oskar now looks at the world as a meaningless series of events. He states, “I thought about all of the things that everyone ever says to each other, and how everyone is going to die, whether it's in a millisecond or days, or months, or 76.5 years, if you were just born. Everything that's born has to die, which means our lives are like skyscrapers.…
- 1075 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays