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The Art of the Personal Essay

The Art of the Personal Essay. • Purpose & Function. Why the Personal Essay?. Supposition: unity to human experience Author shares dialogue he’s having w/ himself Departure from formal genres Language: casual, everyday, direct. Frankness in the Personal Essay.

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The Art of the Personal Essay

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  1. The Art of the Personal Essay • Purpose & Function

  2. Why the Personal Essay? • Supposition: unity to human experience • Author shares dialogue he’s having w/ himself • Departure from formal genres • Language: casual, everyday, direct

  3. Frankness in the Personal Essay • Author’s honesty crucial to author’s credibility • Reader’s sympathy awakened when author bears soul • Essayist exposes own betrayals, uncertainties, & self-mistrust

  4. Investigation of the Self • Limitations, ignorance • Small aspects loom large • Borders, limits, defects, disabilities

  5. Essayists’ Contradictions • Intentionally go against the grain • Make author/reader connection prickly • Fear staleness and cliché • Avoid self-righteousness • Conscious self-examination of prejudices

  6. Criticism of the Personal Essay • Egotism • Tongue-in-cheek comments • Irony • Loafer/Idler figure • Distorted viewpoint

  7. Selection of Detail • Retrospective • Local • Melancholic • Flexible & adaptable • Open to digression • Storytelling • Exploration of various threads

  8. Flow of Ideas • Digression as a structural & comic function • Movement from individual to universal • Inclusion of quotable culture • Mode of being free in an uncertain world

  9. Final Word on the Personal Essay IS NOT: • A rigorous lab experiment • A proven hypothesis IS: • A mode of inquiry • Another way of getting at the truth

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