FROM ROBERT DIYANNI’S TWENTY-FIVE GREAT ESSAYS

AN INTRODUCTION TO AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ESSAYTHE ESSAY

PLUTARCH PLUTARCH

• 46-120 from Greece• Parallel Lives,

influenced biography• Moralia, essays

SENECASENECA

• Roman writer, orator, philosopher, and dramatist.• common topics • “Asthma”• “Noise”

SEI SHONAGON

• Japanese court lady• Wrote The Pillow

Book• Collection of poems,

advice, etc.

• Wrote in 10th century

KENKO (1283-1350)

• Poet and Buddhist monk• Brief fragmented

essays• Compared to

brushstrokes of Zen painting

MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE

• French essayist• father of the

modern essay• named the genre

“essais” meaning attempts• personal tone,

reveal himself• his mind in the act

of thinking

FRANCES BACON

• English statesman, scientist, and essayist• father of the English

essay• essays were short,

more impersonal than Montaigne• advice on how to live

THOMAS PAINE AND BEN FRANKLIN

• Wrote political essays• The Crisis was his

periodical• a series of pamphlets

encouraging the Revolutionary War effort

• Famous for Common Sense

• Poor Richard’s Almanack• famous for his

aphorisms:• “Fish and visitors stink

after three days.”• “Haste makes waste.”• “A stitch in time saves

nine.”

SAMUEL JOHNSON AND ADDISON AND STEELE

• English essayist• Famous for his

satirical tone• Published in

periodicals: • The Rambler, • The Idler, and • The Adventurer.

• Teamed together to publish in periodicals• The Tatler and The

Spectator• These came out as

often as three times a week.

JONATHAN SWIFT

• British author of Gulliver’s Travels• wrote the most

famous literary satire, A Modest Proposal

WILLIAM HAZLITT

• felt essays should have “gusto”• stressed the

importance of feeling in writing• wrote “On the Pleasure

of Hating”

CHARLES LAMB

• The Essays of Elia• He was a lifelong

bachelor.• “A Bachelor’s

Complaint”• Essays were

playful, passionate, and highly opinionated.

FREDERICK DOUGLAS

• wrote about his struggle for literacy as a black slave.• “Learning to Read and

Write” is his famous essay about his master’s wife teaching him how to read.• 1818-1895

EMERSON AND THOREAU

• Writing focused on nature• Essays came from

public lectures• Aphoristic style• “Hitch your wagon

to a star.”• “Trust thyself.”• “Give all to love.”

• Wrote about nature• Most famous essay

was “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience”• Walden was his book

of essays.• “If a man cannot keep

pace with his companions, perhaps he hears the sound of a different drummer.”

GEORGE ORWELL (1903-1950)

• Animal Farm• 1984• “Shooting an

Elephant” most famous essay• Wrote about

imperialism

VIRGINIA WOOLF

• 1882-1942• Made stream of

consciousness style of writing popular• “Death of a Moth”

is her most famous essay.• Published essays in

“Common Reader”

E. B. WHITE (1899-1985)

• Wrote books for children: Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little

• Wrote columns for Harpers and The New Yorker.

• Most famous essay is “Once More to the Lake”

• The picture is of White and his dog Minnie on the beach.

JAMES BALDWIN AND JAMES THURBER

• 1924-1987• Wrote about race

relations in American and his place in society as a black man• Became an expatriate

and lived in Paris• “Notes from a Native

Son”: his essay about his father.

• Humorist• Drew satirical

cartoons• Famous for short

story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”• My Life and Hard

Times is his autobiography.• Is Sex Necessary: a

spoof.

CONTEMPORARY ESSAYISTS

• Joan Didion: • Social issues in the 60’s.• “Marrying Absurd”—Las

Vegas weddings

• Tom Wolfe: • One Life: Culture In the 60s.• The Right Stuff: astronauts• The Electric Kool-Aid Acid

Test• Judith Ortiz Cofer:• Dual culture and linguistic

identity

• Pico Iyer: • “ No Where Man” – living in

many places and not belonging to any social group

CONTEMPORARY ESSAYISTS

• Martin Luther King, Jr.• racial prejudice and

injustice• “Letter from Birmingham

jail”—famous essay

• Gretel Ehrlich • writes about cowboys

and life in the West.

• Maxine Hong Kingston• Power and place of

gender in traditional China.

• “No Name Woman”

• N. Scott Momaday• writes about Native

American tradition.• Uses his grandmother’s

point of view.• “The Way to Rainy Mt”

THE FIVE CLASSIC ESSAYS

• “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift• “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther

King, Jr• “Death of a Moth” by Virginia Woolf• “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell• “Once More to the Lake” by E.B. White

COMPARING ESSAY TO SHORT STORY

• Fact• Narratives • Explain• Personal essays

use I• Formal essays omit

first person• Analytical• Argumentative

• Fiction• Have settings,

characters, conflict, theme• Imply• May use different

points of view

• Aphorism –• A pithy (or witty) observation that contains a

truth

• Essaie – • French word; may be less formal; may inform

as well as persuade; essays explain, while stories imply.

Terms