Essays

Essays
Ronaldo L. Dorado
PhD Student
Good afternoon!
Essays
Ronaldo L. Dorado
PhD Student
Essays
Ronaldo L. Dorado
PhD Student
What is an essay?
A short non-fiction, non-imaginary work about a subject.
It may be classified by tone and style as formal or
informal. It has many purposes depending on what the
writer wants to write about and how he/she wants to
affect the readers.
In the broadest sense, the term essay may refer to just
about any short piece of nonfiction: an editorial, a
feature story, a critical study, even an excerpt from a
book.
What is an essay?
Essays are often found in newspapers and
magazines. The purpose of an essay might be
to share an opinion, explain, express personal
feelings, try to entertain or persuade, or simply
describe a topic or incident that has special
meaning for the writer.
What is an essay?
Alternative essay definitions:
According to Frederick Crews, professor of English at the University of

California at Berkeley, an essay is “a fairly brief piece of nonfiction that
tries to make a point in an interesting way.”
Aldous Huxley, a famous essayist, notes that “the essay is a literary device
for saying almost everything about almost anything” and divides essays
into personal-biographical, objectively-factual, and abstract-universal.
The Oxford Dictionary defines it as “a short piece of writing on a particular
subject.”
Types of Essay
Narrative Essay
Narration means you’re telling a story from a certain viewpoint, and there is
usually a reason for the telling. All narrative essays have characters, setting, a
climax, and most importantly, a plot. The plot is the focus of the story and is
usually revealed chronologically, but there are sometimes flash-forwards and
flashbacks.
When writing a narrative essay, remember to:

1. Include sensory and emotional details, so the reader will experience the story,
not just read about it.
2. Allow the story to support the point you’re making, and make reference to
that point in the first sentence.
3. Write in the first or third person.
Types of Essay
Narrative Essay
This is an example of a famous narrative written by John Updike,
Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu.
"The afternoon grew so glowering that in the sixth inning the arc lights
were turned on--always a wan sight in the daytime, like the burning
headlights of a funeral procession. Aided by the gloom, Fisher was
slicing through the Sox rookies, and Williams did not come to bat in the
seventh. He was second up in the eighth. This was almost certainly his
last time to come to the plate in Fenway Park, and instead of merely
cheering, as we had at his three previous appearances, we stood, all of
us, and applauded."
Types of Essay
Descriptive Essay
Descriptive essays describe the traits and
characteristics of people, objects, events, and
feelings in intricate detail. What’s being
described will be thoroughly examined.
Moreover, it involves the reader’s senses and
emotions.
Types of Essay
Descriptive Essay
A student managed to spice up a first visit to a diner. Watch how descriptive
things get.
"When entering the door at Lou's, two things are immediately noticeable: the
place is rarely empty and seems to consist of a maze of rooms. The first room,
through the door, is the main part of the restaurant. There is another, rarely used,
dining room off to the right. It was added during the oil well boom of the
seventies. Through the main dining room is yet another room; it guards the door
leading into the kitchen. This room contains the most coveted table in the place.
The highest tribute Lou can bestow on anyone is to allow them access to seats at
this table. This table is the family table; it is reserved for Lou's, and her daughter
Karen's, immediate family and treasured friends."
Types of Essay
Expository Essay
Expository essays compare, explore, and discuss problems. While
there’s a bit of a storytelling element to them, their purpose is
greater than that. It’s always to explain some integral concept to the
reader. As such, they inform, describe, and explain.
When writing an expository essay, the text needs to:
1. Be concise and easy to understand.
2. Offer different views on a subject.
3. Report on a situation or event.
4. Explain something that may be difficult to understand.
Types of Essay
Expository Essay
This sample expository essay from Thoughtful Learning relies heavily
on facts and statistics to explain the important concept of cheating.
"Did you know that 7 out of 10 students have cheated at least once in
the past year? Did you know that 50 percent of those students have
cheated more than twice? These shocking statistics are from a survey
of 9,000 U.S. high school students. Incredibly, teachers may even be
encouraging their students to cheat! Last year at a school in Detroit,
teachers allegedly provided their students with answers to statewide
standard tests."
Types of Essay
Argumentative Essay
In an argumentative essay, the writer is trying to convince
the reader of something. He or she will demonstrate the
validity or falsity of a topic. The writer's position will be
backed up with evidence, including statistics or the opinion
of experts. In these essays, the writer isn’t merely offering
an opinion, but making an argument for or against
something, and supporting that argument with data. To
write an argumentative essay, it’s important to research
and back up what you say in the text.
Types of Essay
Argumentative Essay
When it’s time to stand your ground and make a strong case, allow this excerpt
to help get you started.
"Gun control has been a controversial issue for years. A vast majority of citizens
believe that if gun control is strictly enforced, it would quickly reduce the threat of
crime. Many innocent people feel they have the right to bear arms for protection,
or even for the pleasure of hunting. These people are penalized for protecting their
lives, or even for enjoying a common, innocent sport. To enforce gun control
throughout the nation means violating a person’s Constitutional rights. Although
some people feel that the issue of gun control will limit crime, the issue should not
exist due to the fact that guns are necessary for self defense against crime, and
enforcing gun control is violating a citizen's second amendment right to bear
arms."
Types of Essay
Persuasive Essay
A persuasive essay is one which is used to convince the audience of a
particular viewpoint or opinion on a specific topic.
1. The most important point when it comes to writing a good
persuasive essay is to choose your stance. Choose your point of
view carefully and be sure that you can deliver a convincing
take on this.
2. Put in a good amount of research time in order to find statistics
and data that can back up your argument.
3. Consider the audience that you are writing for and how they
are likely to respond to the essay.
Types of Essay
Persuasive Essay
Our Unhealthy Obsession With Sickness Written By Frank Furedi
“The government today will do two things to which I object. First of all, they will
encourage introspection, they will tell you that unless man examines his testicles,
or keeps a check on his cholesterol levels then he is not a responsible citizen. He is
letting himself down, his wife, his children, everyone. We’re encouraged to worry
about health and as a consequence of this public health initiative’s are becoming a
threat to the health of the public, or so it seems.
Second of all, the government promotes a value of seeking health. With us always
expected to be seeking health for a variety of conditions. The main effect this
brings, I believe, is that it makes us feel more ill than we actually are.”
Elements of an Essay
Audience- It refers to whom the essay is intended for.
Purpose- It refers to the intention or goal in writing the
essay.
Subject- It is the topic discussed in the essay.
Point of view- It is the how the ideas are told to the reader.
Theme- It refers to the lesson or message of the essay.
Mood- It refers to the feeling which the writer would like the
reader to experience or get from the literary work.
Tone- It is the attitude of the writer towards his/her subject.
Components of a Good Essay
Introduction
1. Must contain an attention grabber for the reader or at least make
the essay sound interesting, may begin with a quote about the
particular topic
2. Ensure that the intro moves from the general to the specific in
regards to the topic
3. Provides the reader with a “road map” of the essay in a logical
order
4. At the end there should be what is called a thesis statement,
arguably the most important component of the introduction
5. The thesis statement states the aim of the paper and may give
insight into the author’s examples and evidence
Body
1. Includes the evidence and support of the paper in addition to the author’s ideas
2. Paragraphs must include a topic sentence which relates the discussion back to the thesis
statement
3. Logical ordering of ideas: 3 types of order
a. Chronological order---order of time, good for narratives
b. Spatial order-good for descriptions of locations; top to bottom, e.g.
c. Emphatic order-least important to most important; most common for college writing
4. Ensure that transition sentences are present to create a good flow to the essay
5. Include substantial examples and evidence to support your argument and remember to
cite, cite, cite!
6. Make sure each example is relevant to your particular topic
Conclusion
1. This section should wrap all of your arguments and
points
2. Should restate the main arguments in a simplified
manner
3. Ensure that the reader is left with something to
think about, particularly if it is an argumentative
essay
Characteristics of a Good Essay
Brevity
As an academic assignment, essays are usually concise and
range from 200 to 500 words.
A narrowed-down topic
Because of the word count limit, your topic cannot be
extensive and should focus on one aspect of the subject.
Choose a more specific topic to cover. Ask yourself “Who?
What? Where? When? Why? and How?” questions about the
subject matter. That strategy will allow you to limit the
number of choices and pick something you like.
Well-structured body paragraph
In a nutshell, an essay’s body can be described as a series of
paragraphs. But, they all have a uniform structure that you
must maintain in the paper. It consists of three parts namely
introduction, body and conclusion.
Clear thesis statement
A thesis is the main idea of your paper. It’s usually one
sentence that shows the reader what your essay is about. The
challenging part is to squeeze the purpose of your writing into
one sentence and in such a way that would make the reader
want to debate it.
Personal motivation
This one seems quite simple, but you won’t always find the answer to the
“Why do I want to write about this topic” question easily. Even if the
subject feels like the last thing you’d be interested in, there’s always
something that can motivate you to write.
The reader will notice if you had zero motivation while writing the essay.
There’s no trick — just start writing. Once you are working on it,
brainstorm all the ideas related to the subject. If you find it challenging to
organize your thoughts right away, try freewriting — start writing
everything that comes to your mind. Yes, there will be a lot of ideas not
connected with one another, you can choose the ones making sense and
work with them further.
Evidence and examples support claims
Each of your topic sentences in body paragraphs should be
supported. You can:
1. Explain what you meant by defining the main terms or phenomena
2. Provide more details about the topic sentence
3. Illustrate with examples, facts, or statistics
4. Cite field experts that support your opinion
5. Share your relevant experience, if any
Use the method you believe is the most appropriate in your case.
Evidence is analyzed
Just facts, statistics, or quotations are not enough.
You must analyze the proof and show how you can
compare data and establish causal links.
Note: Remember to use cohesive devices like transition

words and conjunctions to hold your essay together as
one unit.
No grammar mistakes
Proofreading matters. After the first draft is done, make sure
to double-check it for all possible mistakes: grammar,
punctuation, word usage, logic flow, etc.
1. Read it out loud.

2. Ask your friend or family member to give their opinion.
3. Put it away for some time to proofread it later.
The structure is consistent
Ensure your paper follows the structure described before. Check if your
conclusion and introduction are about the same — the same applies to the body
paragraphs.
It iis coherent
Another criterion they use to grade your essay is its coherence (unity). To check
this point, ask yourself:
1. Are all ideas related to the essay’s topic and thesis statement?
2. Are all my evidence, arguments, and conclusions connected to my thesis
statement?
3. Are all ideas arranged in a logical order?
4. Are there enough linking words? Or is it too many of them?
5. Are there enough pronouns and synonyms so that the essay isn’t repetitive?
How to Teach an Essay
As teachers our task is to tell our students how to write an essay and be able to
express their thoughts clearly. Here are some tips concerning the most
important essay aspects to tell your students about. Step by step, you will make
it much easier for them to understand the principles of essay writing and their
importance for their future practice.
Basic Principles of an Essay
1. TOPIC
It is obvious, that the very first thing your students should think of before
writing an essay is its topic. An essay is not only about writing skills, but it
demonstrates the ability of your students to research as well. So, your task is to
teach them to research.
2. PURPOSE
Informative and well-styles essays are impossible to write without a purpose. Make
your students decide upon the purpose of an essay.
When a student perfectly understands what he writes an essay for, it will be much
easier for him to draw the outline and start writing.
3. EXAMPLES
The process of teaching is impossible without examples. Use samples to tell students
about each element their essays should include.
4. OUTLINE
The last thing to do before starting to write an essay is to make its outline. Choose
some topic and make a list of points your students would need to mention if they wrote
an essay on it. Such a technique will give them a better understanding of what and
essay is, and how it should be written.
5. INTRODUCTION
Finally, it is time to start writing an essay. It is clear, that an essay will not be good
without a proper and attractive beginning, so, your task is to explain this moment to
your students. Tell them, that no one will continue reading their essays if they do not
make it eye-catchy and clear for a potential reader. Moreover, an essay introduction
should be intriguing a bit.
6. CONCLUSION
We have already mentioned the outline of an essay, that will help your students write
the body of their essay right. It is a real art to finish your writing in a way your reader
would feel good and satisfied with everything he has read.
Tell your students how to conclude their essays appropriately. Explain, that it is not
good to abrupt a piece of writing. And do not forget to mention, that a conclusion of
their essay should contain a summary if all points they discussed in the body!
Historical Development of the English Essay
It is generally believed that Montaigne (a Frenchman) was
the first writer who wrote what may technically be called
essays. But the roots of his writing lie far back in literary
history. He owed a great part of his inspiration to the
Roman writer Cicero, who in his turn was indebted to Plato.
Bacon was the first English writer who transplanted the
essay into England, although he followed a different line
from Montaigne. The aim of Montaigne was self-revelation,
and he was the father of the subjective or the personal
essay. Bacon gave it an objective or impersonal turn and
made his essay the detached musings of a philosopher.
Essay before Francis Bacon
The foundation of the essay can be traced to ancient Greece
and Rome, though it did not flourish there. The French
writer, Montaigne, has been given the honour of being the
first man to write essays. His prose compositions were
written under the name of ‘essais.’ Montaigne’s essays are
an attempt to weave out his personal thoughts with an
artistic thread. In his essays he describes his personal
feelings and experiences Addison aptly remarks: “The most
eminent egoist that ever appeared in the world was
Montaigne”. His essays are highly subjective and charming.
Essay before Francis Bacon
The essay in its beginning developed on three different lines the character-writers of
the seventeenth century, the critical prose and the controversial writings.
The character-writers were highly influenced by Theophrastus. These writers depicted
with sharpness, humour and satiric touches various types of humanity.
In criticism Caxton’s prefaces may be regarded as early essays in the art. Wilson’s Art of
Rhetoric does not come within the limits of essays due to its length and elaboration.
Gascoigne’s Note of instruction Concerning the Making of Verse consists of essays.
In the field of polemics Gosson’s School of Abuse which provoked Sidney’s famous
Apology for Poetry, is the first document. It is violent and one-sided. Thomas Lodge
refuted it in a pamphlet which is not valuable as a critical work. Philip Sidney’s Apology
for poetry is “the only critical piece of the sixteenth century which may still be read
with pleasure by that vague personage, ‘The general reader.’ (Hugh Walker). Sir George
Harrington and George Chapman in their prefaces developed the critical essay. Thomas
Nash was a noted controversialist of the period.
Development of the English Essay
1. Francis Bacon
Bacon’s position in the history of English essay is unique. To him belongs the credit of having written essays first
of all in the English language. He speaks of his essays as dispersed meditations’. They are really the outcome of a
philosopher’s or thinker’s mind and experience. according to him, essay was a god-send. He wrote his essays in
an aphoristic style.
Bacon considered these great essays merely recreation in comparison with his more serious studies. But he was
conscious of their popularity. On account of their popularity they were translated into French, Latin and Italian
languages.
Bacon’s essays are not personal in tone; they are not the confidential chat of a great philosopher. These essays
are stately and profound. His essays are not an attempt to communicate a soul like Montaigne’s. Those critics,
who acknowledge that the true essay is essentially personal, point out his inferiority in that respect. He lacks true
personal touch and the intimate confidence of Charles Lamb – the innocent type. Bacon’s maxims are judicious,
condensed and weighty. He seems to be looking down with absolute dispassionateness from the pulpit, and
determining what course of conduct pays best. John Freeman points out that Bacon is not an intimate but
reserved figure, not a talker but a writer, not a babbler but a rhetorician, not a companion but a teacher, not a
friend but a great chancellor, not a familiar friend forgetting his dignity but a supple states man asserting it;
preferring to suppress, equivocate, and dissemble, and to justify every obliquity- anything rather than candidly
pour himself out and leave the justification to the reader.”
Development of the English Essay
2. Ben Johnson
Like Montaigne, Ben Jonson’s self-dominates in his writings which imparts a
peculiar charm to his essays. Jonson’s style combines lucidity, crispness and
force in a degree rivalling Bacon’s.
3. Abraham Cowley
Cowley cultivated a form of the essay more intimate and confidential, though
less profound, weighty and philosophical, than the Baconian. The charm of his
essays is largely due to their simple and sincere revelation of self. They are the
friendly chat of a thoughtful and reflective spectator of life. Edmund Gosse has
described Cowley as the pure essayist, as contra-distinguished from the heavy,
condensed and incoherent didacticism of Bacon.
Essay in The Restoration Age (1660-1700)
Dryden introduced a new variety, called the Critical Essay. Among the earliest of
Dryden’s essays was the Essay of Dramatic Poesy (1668), which is still the best
known, and contains the most elaborate exposition of his critical principles,
though it is surpassed in interest by the admirable Preface to the Fables. These
critical essays entitled Dryden to the honour of being not only the father of
English criticism” but also “the first master of a prose which is adapted to the
everyday needs of expression, and yet has dignity enough to raise to any point
of the topmost peaks of eloquence.” Dryden’s style is remarkably free from
mannerisms of any kind and its characteristics are lucidity and easy grace. He
gave up the long-winded, cumbrous sentences of the earlier prose writers. He
used a simple, straightforward, vigorous mode of expressing his meaning.
There were two other writers in the Restoration Age- Sir William Temple and
Lord Halifax, who were at once politicians and men of letters and contributed
greatly to the development of the English essay.
Essay in the Eighteenth Century
1. The Periodical Essay
The early years of the eighteenth century saw the rise of journalism and the essay began to
appear in the periodicals Daniel Defoe’s paper, the Review, first published in 1704, established
the periodical essay. “The journalistic essay,” remarks T. G. Williams, “is loose-knit, easy-paced
and discursive. Addressed to citizens of the world, it attempts a synthesis of experience, and
allows of digression into whatever bypaths seem to answer the writer’s mood.”
The real vogue of the periodical essay, however, began with the publication of The Tatler (1709)
and The Spectator (1711). With these two periodicals are inextricably associated the names of
Richard Steele and Joseph Addison, acknowledged masters of the periodical essay. Steele
started The Tatler with the declared object of exposing “the false arts of life, of pulling off the
disguises of cunning, vanity and affectation, and of recommending a general simplicity in dress,
discourse and behaviour.” It stopped publication after two years, and was replaced by The
Spectator in March, 1711. Over 550 issues of the Spectator appeared before it ceased publication
in December, 1712. In this enterprise Steele was associated with Addison. Addison’s aim was to
“enliven morality with wit and to temper wit with morality.” He was the master of pleasant
humour, delicate irony and satire. His style is the model of the middle style-never loose, or
obscure or unmusical.
Among other contributors to the periodicals in the age of Queen Anne may be mentioned Pope
(1688-1774) and Swift (1667-1745). Pope’s prose writings are often excellent and he possessed
many of the qualities of a periodical essayist. Swift was, however, by nature and temperament
unfitted for the work of an essayist. He was a misanthrope and did not possess that breadth of
vision which is the essential characteristic of a good essayist. His humour was too grim and
sardonic and his intellect too massive for the essay.
Henry Fielding, Dr. Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith followed Addison and Steele’s way. Fielding
contributed his essays to The Champion and The Covent Garden Journal. The introductory
chapters to the books of his great novel Tom Jones are fine pieces of prose. The earliest works
of Dr. Johnson appeared in The Gentleman’s Magazine. He himself launched the Rambler and
the Idler. His style is bombastic, antithetical and is marked with Latinism. But now-a-days his
essays would be read rather as a duty than for pleasure, because he lectures us, whereas with
Steele and Addison we feel that we are on equal terms with two friendly men of the world.
Oliver Goldsmith is one of the greatest essayists of the eighteenth century.
Many of his essays in The Bee and The Citizen of the World are remarkable for
their extraordinary power, boldness and originality. They are written in a style
whose wonderful charm has never failed to impress the reader. There is in them
an imitable vein of humour which constitutes one of the secrets of his charm.
Essay in the Nineteenth Century
After Goldsmith the periodical essay of the literary type was in
decline. In the beginning of the nineteenth century the periodical
newspaper gave place to the critical journal, commonly called the
Review, It had little concern with social and personal topics; its main
purpose was political. In them ample space was devoted to the
literary criticism. The most important of these reviews were The
Gentlemen’s Magazine, The Edinburgh Review, The Quarterly
Review, Blackwood’s Magazine and The London Magazine. They are
of special importance in the history of the essay, because, while they
have been used for many other purposes, they have been pre-
eminently the medium of the essay.
1. Charles Lamb
Charles Lamb (1775-1834) endeared himself to generations of Englishmen by his Essays of Elia
(1832) and Last Essays of Elia (1833). Lamb belongs to the intimate and self-revealing essayists,
of whom Montaigne is the original, and Cowley the first exponent in England. He has been
rightly called ‘the Prince of English Essayists’ because there are essayists like Bacon of more
massive greatness, and others like Sir Thomas Browne, who have attained the heights of
rhythmic eloquence, but there is no other essayist who has in an equal degree the power to
charm. Lamb takes the reader into his confidence and conceals nothing from him. His essays are
a living testimony to his sweetness of disposition and gentleness of heart. In his essays humour
and pathos are inseparable from each other, they are different facts of his predecessors; they
are conversational, lack both restraint and formality and are frequently rhetorical. They are yet
nonetheless delightful. They are amusing, paradoxical, ingenious, touching, poetic and eloquent.
His “whimwhams”, as he called them, found their best expression in quaint words and antique
phrases and sometimes far-fetched, yet never forced comparisons in which he abounds.
Few notable essays of Charles Lamb are- Dream Children: A Reverie, The Superannuated Man
etc.
2. William Hazlitt
William Hazlitt (1778-1830) is one of the best essayists of the nineteenth century. His essays
are divisible into two classes- essays on literary criticism and essays on miscellaneous
subjects. In both spheres he stands very high. His critical essays, although sometimes
marred by his extra-literary prejudices, entitle him to be placed in the foremost rank of
English critics. His miscellaneous essays are autobiographical, they frankly tell about his
temperament, his enthusiasm and his limitations. His style has no blemishes, and is
particularly free form mannerisms of all kinds. Like Addison and Dr. Johnson his language is
always dignified. Though his place in the history and growth of the English essay is
undoubtedly lower than Lamb’s; yet it is certainly higher than of the rest with the possible
exception of R. L. Stevenson. His important Essay includes On a Sun-Dial.
3. Thomas De Quincey
Like Lamb and Hazlitt, Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) was frankly personal and his best
essays are autobiographical. He wrote, however, on a great number of subjects and often
so discursively that he never far reached the subjects which he proposed. Though his
intellect was acute and subtle, he is at his best when he leaves the world of fact and leads
us into his dreams and visions. His greatest contribution to the English essay is his sonorous
prose. He brought to his task a magical control of long-drawn and musical cadences.
4. Leigh Hunt
Leigh Hunt (1784-1859) turned to the essayists of the age of Queen Anne for his model; for
the qualities he displays are much the same as theirs. But unlike them, he is confidential in
tone. It is this intimacy which gives charm to his essays like Coaches and their Horses,
Deaths of Little Children, A Visit in the Zoological Garden and Month of May. But Hunt
lacked one thing which was requisite to make him a great essayist – mass and weight of
thought. Moreover, his style is not a great style, although it is an easy and agreeable one.
The Essay in the Victorian Age
The Victorian age saw the birth of a new genre, the historical essay. Thomas Babington
Macaulay (1800-59) may be looked upon as the founder of this type. Among his essays
the best are those which he wrote on English history. He also wrote some biographical
essays for the Encyclopedia Britannica. He brought to the composition of his essays a
mind that was richly stored with detail, and perfectly clear in its conviction. This allowed
him to set forth his theme with a simplicity that avoided every compromise, and this
firm outline, once defined, he decorated with every embellishment of allusion and
picturesque detail. He has his faults also. He had strong perusal and political prejudices
and this often marred the quality of his work. He is often grandiloquent and rhetorical.
We also do not find in him the intimacy of personal confidence which is the
distinguishing feature of the essays of Elia. As a critic has pointed out: “In the hands of
Macaulay the essay ceases to be a confession or an autobiography: it is strictly
impersonal; it is literary, historical, or controversial; vigorous, trenchant, and full of
party prejudice.” He is merely the essayist-historian. But he was a competent and
distinguished reviewer and raised the standard of reviewing considerably.
1. Thomas Carlyle
In marked contrast with Macaulay is Thomas Carlyle, the prophet and the censor of the
Victorian era. He was a man of extreme honesty and sincerity, and his essays exposed and
denounced many of the vices of his age. He was deeply influenced by German philosophy.
His essays are critical, biographical, historical, social and political. His style is remarkable for
its strength and tempestuous force. He can sometimes command a beauty of expression
that deeply touches the heart, and can attain a piercing melody, wistful and moving that is
almost lyrical.
2. Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold tended to mould all his prose material into the form of essays. He is one of
the best critics in English literature. He is a critic of literature and a critic of society. As a
critic he advocated a high moral purpose for all forms of art, and insisted rather too
dogmatically, on very balanced and clear-cut expression. His own style in prose, however,
lacks precision, and is marred occasionally by unseemly repetitions. But his vocabulary is
always select and often he attains to a felicity of phrase not easily surpassed.
3. R. L. Stevenson
R. L. Stevenson recaptured the charm of the personal type of essay. He was a
born essayist. As Hugh Walker says: “Nature made him an essayist, and he
cooperated with nature, developing, and strengthening the gifts with which he
was endowed at birth”. He has often been compared with Lamb for his
sweetness of temper and his personal charm, constantly exercised by taking the
reader into his confidence. He is always moral without being didactic. He could
write a beautiful essay on almost any topic. He set out to cultivate a clear and
forcible style. He studied English sounds systematically and diligently, and used
them with harmony.
The Essay in the Twentieth Century
The twentieth century proved to be a fertile ground for the
development of the Essay. It yielded a rich and varied harvest. The
innumerable daily papers and weekly and monthly periodicals,
provide an unlimited scope for the essayist. In the modern age both
personal and objective essays have been written by various authors.
1. G. K. Chesterton
G K Chesterton deserves a high reputation as an essayist and critic of
literature and society. Among his volumes of essays are Tremendous
Trifles, A Shilling for My Thoughts, All Things Considered etc. His
style is remarkable for its ingenuity, a curious sort of humour and its
paradoxes and epigrams.
2. E. V. Lucas
E.V. Lucas is also a writer of the personal essay. He revived the
tradition of Lamb, and is also his editor and biographer “Less wistful
and touching than Lamb”, Lucas has something of his master’s gusto
and enthusiasm, even though the objects that inspire his feelings are
necessarily different”. Lucas has a much wider experience of life
than Lamb. He has an inexhaustible store of new subjects because
he has an observant, sympathetic eye that makes all life its peculiar
province Lucas is a regular contributor to the Punch: his humour is as
quick and graceful as his perfect style. Like Lamb, Lucas is also
attracted by the picturesqueness and gorgeousness of the city life of
London. His major essay includes The Town week.
3. A. G. Gardiner
A. G. Gardiner is perhaps the most delightful of the modern essayists. He wrote under
the pen name of ‘Alpha of the Plough’. His famous essays are collected in the volumes
Pebbles on the Shore, Leaves in the Wind and Many Furrows. He has a rare
understanding of men and affairs and wields a fluent and persuasive style enlivened by
the touches of quiet humour. His essays are full of amusing anecdotes and homely
illustrations drawn from everyday experience and they read like short stories.
4. Robert Lynd
In his style and outlook Robert Lynd cultivates the manner of R. L. Stevenson. His
essays display his Stevensonian humour, reflectiveness and sympathy. Like E.V. Lucas,
he builds his essays out of mere trifles and makes them the occasion of trenchant
criticism of life. He has the confidential manner of the personal essayist. His style is
simple and less elaborate, and therefore devoid of the mannerisms of R.L. Stevenson.
5. Hilaire Belloc
Hilaire Belloc occupies a very high place among the modern essayists
by virtue of the volumes of his essays like On Nothing, On Something
and On Everything. He has a clear incisive style in which humour,
never really removed from satire, plays an important part.
6. Other Essayists
There are many other essayists of the twentieth century who follow
the tradition of the personal essay. A few of them are – Max
Beerbohm, Alice Meynell, Maurice Baring, Philip Guedella, George
Bernard Shaw (Freedom) and Aldous Huxley.
Prominent Essayist
Prominent Essayist
Prominent Essayist
Prominent Essayist
Prominent Essayist
Prominent Essayist
Norman Mailer
Joyce Carol Oates
F. Scott Fitzgerald
E. M. Forster
Henry David Thoreau
Haruki Murakami
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Joseph Conrad
Jonathan Swift
Prominent Essayist
Zadie Smith
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh
Joseph Addison
Roland Barthes
Masaru Emoto
Michael Chabon
Arundhati Roy
Katherine Anne Porter
George Saunders
Edward Abbey
Sharing and
Reflections
Writing is easy. All you have
to do is cross out the wrong
words.
- Mark Twain
References:
https://www.slideshare.net/JohnPaulPalmes/the-teaching-of-an-essay
https://busyteacher.org/17162-how-to-teach-your-students-to-write-an-essay.
https://essayreply.com/what-is-an-essay/
https://smartenglishnotes.com/2020/07/09/essay-writing-types-components-
format-characteristics-and-samples/
https://www.evansville.edu/writingcenter/downloads/parts.pdf
https://examples.yourdictionary.com/essay-examples.html
https://www.eng-literature.com/2021/12/english-essay-origin-development.html
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/essayists.ph
https://www.slideshare.net/ceciliamanago/an-introduction-to-essay

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According to Frederick Crews, professor of English at the University of

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Note: Remember to use cohesive devices like transition

1. Read it out loud.

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