The Essay's Unlimited Possibilities
"The essay is, and has been, all over the map. There's nothing you cannot do with it; no subject matter is forbidden, no structure is proscribed. You get to make up your own structure every time, a structure that arises from the materials and best contains them. The material is the world itself, which, so far, keeps on keeping on. The thinking mind will analyze, and the creative imagination will link instances, and time itself will churn out scenes - scenes unnoticed and lost, or scenes remembered, written, and saved."
(Atwan 30)- Annie Dillard
The quote that caught my attention was from the last entry. Annie Dillard's "The Essay's Unlimited Possiblities," began by stating, "The essay is, and has been, all over the map. There's nothing you cannot do with it." I think that this quote efficently describes the essay. Since there is no agreeable definition, writers must make a large generalization for all to be satisfied with. Dillard's view is one that I agree with. In only 15 or so pages of this reading assignment, the essay was described in probably as many ways. With this kind of variety, I think that an all-encompassing view of the essay is the best view for all writers. However, some writers (teachers mostly, I would think) will disagree with this generalization because they have a certain viewpoint that is a narrower one. The five paragraph, five hundred word essay is "just right" in some people's minds.
This quote by Dillard also agrees with me because this is the way that I am most comfortable writing. Although I sometimes need a little bit of guidance, giving me a writing assignment that can cover anything is the type of writing I enjoy the most. I had two different English teachers in high school; one of which was the standardized 5-paragraph teacher, while the other was one that would not assign a length (although she never failed to say "It needs to be long enough." Given that I have had two completely different styles of essay-writing experience, I must say that the style that Dillard suggests is the one I am most supportive of.
