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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