Essay: 16.

Gossip
Intro: Francine Prose is a talented and famous American teacher, essayist and novelist.
Her essay "Gossip" is an interesting, serious and 'thoughtful essay.

The Essay starts with ‘ once I met a woman who grew up in the small North
Carolina….’
1. The word gossip has been derived from an Anglo-Saxon term "godsibbe" and it
means god-parent or relative. Later during Renaissance, its meaning widened and it
came to mean friends, cronies. It also meant what one does with one's cronies. Now it
means connection or community.
2. Primary function of it is connection for community.
3. It is oral tradition and old literature.
4. Gossip can be defined as light hearted, time wasting and idle talk.
5. There is a great difference between gossip and information.
6. She gives her point of view with two sentences: If we say, "John got a new job" it is
information. But if we say "hey did you hear John got fired" in it we shall be introducing gossip.
7. Gossip has all the qualities of a good fiction.
8. Rumour mongering and slandering are negative things They aim at injuring the reputation
or fame of a person without reason. It is a negative and evil activity. Slander is a false
statement about someone. Its aim is to disgrace and defame others. It’s often the result of
enmity and jealousy.
9. There is a great difference between gossip and civilized conversation. The writer has defined
gossip as a light idle talk which is done only for enjoyment and killing time. But civilized
conversation, the writer means useful talk with a serious purpose.
10. Good gossip is free form ill-will, jealousy and revenge. It must be light-hearted, interesting
and amusing.
11. The writer loves gossip as well as civilized talk because it is the source of exchanging useful
information between members of a community in the light humorous manner.
12. It is strange that people consider gossip somewhat immoral.
At the same time people are afraid of gossip but even though gossip is unavoidable. It is a part
of human nature and human society.