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'Essay' in English derives from the French 'essai', meaning 'an attempt'
or 'an effort'. Latin word for essay is 'exagium'. An essay is actually a short
prose composition which discusses a matter, expresses a viewpoint, persuasive
to accept a thesis on any subject, or just entertains. The term "essays"
first applied to the self‐reflective
musings of Frenchman named Michel de Montaigne, and even today he has a
reputation as the father of this literary form. Montaigne's Essay volume was
published in 1580. Seventeen years later, Francis Bacon used the English
word' essay' to describe his brief philosophic discourses. With the development
of periodical, the essay became a popular form. Addison, Steel, Lamb,
Hazlitt and Pater made it their major concern.
According to Dr.Johnson “Essay is a loose sally of the
mind, an irregular, indigested piece, not a regular and ordinary performance.”
Genres related to the
essay may include:
- the memoir: telling the story of an author's life from the author's personal point of view
- the epistle: usually a formal, didactic, or elegant letter.
- the blog: an informal short rant about a particular topic or topics, usually opinion.
An
essay is a short piece writing, either formal or informal, which expresses the
author’s argument about a particular subject. A formal essay has a serious
purpose and highly structured organization, while an informal essay may contain
humor, personal recollections and anecdotes, and any sort of organization or
form which the author wants.
Characteristics
of Essays:
Essays are shorter than a thesis or dissertation,
and thus deal with the matter at hand in a limited way. Essays can deal with
many different themes, such as analysis of a text, political opinions,
scientific ideas, abstract concepts, fragments of autobiography, and so on.
It is a
prose composition of moderate length. It is incomplete and it is not
exhaustive. It considers only one subject which is significant. It is personal
in nature. It discusses, either formal or informal topics. It is unsystematic
and it lacks finish. According to Bacon 'a good essay must have a grain
of salt within it'. It should be attractive and charming. It should have a
touch of humour also. On the basis of its chief characteristics, the essay may
be of the following types:
Types of Essays
The
Personal Essay:
In the Personal Essay the personal element predominates. The
personal essay has loose structure and conversational tone. It is usually
written in the first person. The writer uses self-disclosure, honesty, and
truth. The writer can write about any subject, topic, or personal experience.
But the personal essay must have a universal theme and conclude with a major
point. Charles Lamb is known as the greatest writer of personal essay in
English Literature. There is no formal or logical development of thought in an
essay. The various points are mentioned in a hapzard manner. Its author likes
to enjoy the freedom of conversation. So, he is informal and often chatty. Hazlitt,
De Quincey and Charles Lamb brought the personal essay a level that has
remained unsurpassed. George Orwell, E.M. Forster, James Thruber, E.B. White,
R.L.Stevenson, Chesterton, Goldsmith, E.V. Lucas and A.G.Gardiner are
excellent model practitioners of the personal essay. Lamb wrote “Essays of
Elia”. They are autobiographical essays. E.V.Lucas, Hazlitt, and Thackeray are modern
subjective essayists.
The
Impersonal Essay:
In an impersonal essay the author is impersonal. He writes as an
authority on the subject and expounds it in an ordered and thorough fashion.
Bacon is called the best writer of impersonal essay. Unlike a personal
essayist, Bacon is always stately and magnificent. He is never like an informal
and chatty friend. The dry light of reason always envelopes his essays. In his
essays, there is no tenderness, no pathos, and no confidence of an intimate and
chatty friend. There we find cold reason, searching analysis and weighty
thoughts.
The
Aphoristic Essay:
The aphoristic essay is also an important type of essay.
Aphoristic essay is a short essay with brilliant exhibition of aphorism: an art
of speaking things on a subject with brevity of wit and precision of diction.
Sir Francis Bacon is its chief propagator in English literature. His style is
called aphoristic. His essays seem like a collection of short and pithy maxims
with tremendous compression. Each sentence can convey a deep and concentrated
meaning. Bacon considered this style suitable for the spirit of enquiry.
Aphoristic style of Bacon: An aphoristic style means a compact,
condensed and epigrammatic style of writing. Bacon’s writing has been admired
for various reasons. Some have admired them for dazzling rhetoric, others his
grace. In Bacon we find a style which is distinct and at the same time
characteristic of his age. His style
includes various qualities. Firstly, he remains the best aphoristic, so he
stands the most quotable writer. There is terseness of expression and
epigrammatic brevity, in the essays of Bacon. His sentences are brief and
rapid, but they are also forceful.
The
Critical Essay:
This is also an important type of essay. It is a kind of
academic writing that analyzes, interprets and/ or evaluates a text. This type
of essay is an attempt at literary criticism. It developed in the Restoration
period. The best-known names of this period are those of Locke, Temple,
Halifax and Dryden. Of these only Dryden is worth considering. He is the
forerunner of the critical essay. It came in full bloom with him. His
innumerable Prefaces, Dedications etc. are in the nature of critical essays.
The Characteristics of Critical essays are: has a freestyle, use a pleasant
language and can be written in the first person.
The Character
Essay:
This type of essay was popular during the first half of the
seventeenth century. The essayists sketched some particular human type in each
of the essay. The best-known essayists of this type of essay are Joseph
Hall, John Earle, and Thomas Overbury. Overbury is more concrete and vivid
than other essayists. His characters are short and pithy. They reveal
considerable knowledge and insight into human nature. These character writers
exercised a profound influence on the essays of Addison and Steele.
The
Periodical and Social Essay:
This kind of essay aimed at social reform. The early part of
eighteenth century was the heady of this type of essay. Addison and Steele were
pioneers in this field. Joseph Addison (1672-1719) and Richard Steele
(1672-1729) founded together the most influential literary periodical of the
18th century, called the Spectator. Addison was an English essayist,
playwright, poet and politician. Sir Richard Steele was an Irishman, a writer and politician of
excellent worth. Both the writers essayed to reach the common mass through
simple language of ordinary speech and lucid expression of our day to day businesses.
Jonathan Swift is known for his satirical essays Dr. Johnson’s essay exhibit
his manly good sense and command of majestic language.
The Tatler, The Spectator, The Examiner, The Guardian are very important periodicals. They contributed much to the field of essay.
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1 comments:
Kindly post semester 1full syllabus for BA English
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