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Dive into the purpose and function of personal essays, exploring unity to human experience, frankness, contradictions, and self-investigation. Critics dissect egotism, selection of detail, flow of ideas, and the essence of personal essay writing.
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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 • Author’s honesty crucial to author’s credibility • Reader’s sympathy awakened when author bears soul • Essayist exposes own betrayals, uncertainties, & self-mistrust
Investigation of the Self • Limitations, ignorance • Small aspects loom large • Borders, limits, defects, disabilities
Essayists’ Contradictions • Intentionally go against the grain • Make author/reader connection prickly • Fear staleness and cliché • Avoid self-righteousness • Conscious self-examination of prejudices
Criticism of the Personal Essay • Egotism • Tongue-in-cheek comments • Irony • Loafer/Idler figure • Distorted viewpoint
Selection of Detail • Retrospective • Local • Melancholic • Flexible & adaptable • Open to digression • Storytelling • Exploration of various threads
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
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