Essays

The readings about essays seemed to state that essays have no set form, as there are so many different kinds. What I thought was a little humorous about the writings was that the collection of quotations was so broad, about all they could agree on was that essays are not uniform. One thing I thought was interesting though, was in Encountering the Essay when he talks about the word root. Basically, "attempt, trial, or experiment." These all suggest that socially the role of the essay is to get a reaction or convince of a point. Or at least, that's what I take it to mean.

In my essay I attempt to persuade people to join my community. Shameless, I know. But in writing my essay and reading our assignments, I have drawn a new conclusion about essays. There are many, they are not long, and they express one or several points. They can be vauge, digressive, and meandering, or they can be consice, quick, and immediate. The content also may change from a simple presentation of facts or view-points to very personally oriented arguments.

For this class I think a more human essay is what is called for, as it seems the robotic presentation of facts is dull and makes poor subject matter. In this case, I'll need to paint better mental pictures and appeal more to the emotions of the reader instead of just stating facts and hoping they figure out the rest for themselves. So, yeah, I'll give that a shot then.