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Whatls an Essay
, b o u t . c o mG u i d e
B y R i c h a r df \ o r d q u i s t A
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Question: What Is an Essay?
"One damned thing after another" is how Aldous Huxley
described the essay: "a literary device for saying almost
everything about almost anything."
As definitions go, Huxley's is no more or less exact than
FrancisBacon's "dispersedmeditations,"SamuelJohnsaob
"loosesally of the mind," or EdwardHoagland's"greasedpig."
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Since Montaigne
adopted the term
"essay"in the 16th
century to describe
his "attempts"at
self-portrayal, this
slippery form has
resisted any sort of
precise, universal
definition. But that
won't stop us from
making our own
attempt in this brief
article.
Grammar Ads
Fcq.:v
Writinaan Egsay
Hs-Lls,lvrile,ao'Es
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Persuasive
Essav
Samptg
Answer:
In its broadestsense,"essay"may referto just aboutany short
pieceof nonfiction:an editorial,a featurestory,a critical
h t t p :/ / g r a m m a r . a b o u t . c o mo/d / q a a b o u t r h e t o r i c / ff/a q w h a t i s e s s a y . h t m
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8|72|707.52PM
study,evenan excerptfrom a book.
However,a literarydefinitionof "essay"is usuallya bit fussier,
betweehan "article,"whichis read
drawingdistinctions
primarilyfor the informationit contains,and an "essay,"in
over the
whichthe pleasureof readingtakesprecedence
informationin the text.
Thoughhandy,this loosedivisionpointschieflyto kindsof
readingratherthan to kinds of texfs. So let's considersome
otherwaysthat the essaymightbe defined.
Structure
Standarddefinitionsoften stressthe loosestructureor
of the essay.SamuelJohnson,for
apparentshapelessness
piece,not a
example,calledthe essay"an irregular,indigested
regularand orderlyperformance."
True,the writingsof severalwell-knownessayists(Williann
Hazlittand Balsb
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instance,after the
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Montaigne)
can be
recognizedby the
casualnatureof
Essav $amples
for Essay
Find more sources/options
their explorations-Samoles
. "u t
o r " r a m b l i n g sB
that's not to say
that anythinggoes.
of
Eachof theseessayistsfollowscertainorganizingprinciples
h i so w n .
of design
Criticshaven'tpaidmuch attentionto the principles
principles
These
are
essayists.
actuallyemployedby successful
(that is, the "modesof
rarelyformal patternsof oraan.izjilion
textbooks).Instead,
found in many composition
exposition"
they might be describedas pafternsof thought--progressions
of a mind workingout an idea.
In any case,structure(or its apparentabsence)doesn'tseem
to be takingus very far. So let'swork on our definitionfrom yet
a n o t h e ra n g l e .
Types
the customarydivisionsof the essayinto
Unfortunately,
opposingtypes--formal and informal, impersonal and familiar-neatdividing
Considerthis suspiciously
are alsotroublesome.
Richman:
l i n ed r a w nb v M i c h e l e
h t t p :/ / g r a m m a r . a b o u t . c o m
/ o d/ q a a b o u t r h e t o r i c / f / f a q w h a t i s e s s a y . h t m
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'
S l 1 2 l l O 7 : 5 2P M
Post-Montaigne,
the essaysplit into two distinct
modalities:one remainedinformal,personal,intimate,
and often humorous;the other,
relaxed,conversational,
and expository.
systematic,
dogmatic,impersonal,
(Forewordto lhe BarthesEffect,by RedaBensmaia,
1987)
as a
The terms usedhere to qualify"essay"are convenient
kind of criticalshorthand.But they'reimpreciseat bestand
potentiallycontradictory.Informal may describeeither the
shapeor the tone of the work--or both. Personalrefersto the
to the languageof the
stanceof the essayist,conversational
piece,and expositoryto its contentand aim. When the writings
"distinct
are studiedcarefully,Richman's
of particularessayists
vague,
modalities"grow increasingly
But as fuzzyas theseterms may be, the qualitiesof shapeand
personality,
form and voice,are clearlyintegralto an
of the essayas an artful literarykind.So let's
understanding
pursuethis thought.
Voice
the essay--personal,
Manyof the terms usedto characterize
familiar, intimate, subjective, friendly, conversational- representeffortsto identifythe cenre'smost poweful
organizingforce: the rhetoricalvg,$gor projectedcharacter(or
persona)of the essayist.
In his study of Charlesl=amb,FredRandelobservesthat the
"principaldeclaredallegiance"
of the essayis to "the
(The Worldof Elia, 1975).
voice"
experienceof the essayistic
this
Similarly,BritishauthorVifg.njaWoolfhas described
most
or voiceas "the essayist's
textualqualityof personality
properbut mostdangerousand delicatetool."
And at the beginningof Walden,HenryDavidThoreaureminds
us that "it is . . alwaysthe first personthat is speaking."
Whetherexpresseddirectlyor not, there'salwaysan "I" in the
a rolefor the
essay--avoiceshapingthe text and fashioning
reader.
Fictional Qualities
to
The terms voice and personaare often used interchangeably
page.
selfon the
suggestthe rhetoricalnatureof the essayist's
strikea poseor play a
At times an authormay consciously
role. He can, as [.8. Whiteconfirmsin his prefaceto Ihe
to his moodor his
Essays,"be any sort of person,according
subjectmatter"(1977).
h t t p :/ / g r a mm a r . ab o u t . c o m/ o d / q a a b o u t r h e t or i c/ f / f a q w h a t i s es s a y h. t m
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S l 1 2 l I O 7 : 5 2P M
In "WhatI Think,What I Am," essayistEdwardHoaglandpoints
out that "the artful 'I' of an essaycan be as chameleonas any
narralor in fiction" (The Tugman'sPassage,tg92). Similar
of voiceand oersonaleadCarlH. Klausto
considerations
fictive":
concludethat the essayis "profoundly
It seemsto conveythe senseof humanpresencethat is
relatedto its author'sdeepestsenseof self,
indisputably
but that is also a complexillusionof that self--an
enactmentof it as if it were both in the processof
thoughtand in the processof sharingthe outcomeof that
thoughtwith others.
(in Literary Nonfiction, 1979)
But to acknowledge
the fictionalqualitiesof the essayisn'tto
its
status
as nonfiction.
deny special
Reader's Role
betweena writer (or a
A basicaspectof the relationship
writer'spersona)and a reader(the imoliedaudieneg)is the
presumption
that what the essayistsaysis literallytrue. The
differencebetweena shortstory,say, and an autobiographical
essaymay lie lessin the narrativestructureor the natureof
the materialthan in the narrator'simpliedcontractwith the
readerabout the kind of truth beingoffered.
Underthe terms of this contract,the essayistpresents
experience
as it actuallyoccurred--asit occurred,that is, to
lhe versionof the essayiston the page.The narratorof an
essay,GeorgeDillonsays,"attemptsto convincethe reader
that its modelof experienceof the world is valid" (Constructing
Texts,1981).
In otherwords,the readerof an essayis calledon to join in the
makingof meaning.And it's up to the readerto decide
whetherto play along.Viewedin this way, the dramaof an
of self
essaymay lie in the conflictbetweenthe conceptions
and worldthat the readerbringsto a text and the conceptions
that the personatries to arouse.
At Last, a Definition--of Sorts
With thesethoughtsin mind,we mighttentativelydefinethe
essay as a short work of nonfiction, often artfully disordered
and highly polished,in which an authorial voice invites an
implied reader to accept as authentic a certain textual mode of
experience.
Sure.But it's stilla greasedpig.
h t t p :/ / 9 r a m m a r . a b o u t . c o m
/ o d / q a a b o u t r h e t o r i c / f f/ a q w h a t i s e s s a y . h t m
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8l12ll07:s2PM
See also; T€achleg the Essav
Classic American Essays
o "On the Decayoflhe,Al!-ef
ark Twai n
Lyi.no.l_..hy"..M
r " S e l f - R e l i a n c eb.v" R a l p h
Walds,E-aggan
o ".TheHaunledMind,"by
NalhameLllcvulb
Classic British Essays
o " G o i n qO u t f o r a W a l k . "b v
Max Beerbohm
r "GettinqUn on Cold
M o r n i n q s ,b"v L e i q hH u n t
o "Lauqhter,"bv Josenh.
Addison
Q&A About Rhetoric & Style
r W h a tI s i r o n v ?
o What Is a Metaohor?
.
What is Sprezzalqfq?
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