Essay and the Imagination
"An esay is a thing of the imagination. If there is information in an essay, it is by-the-by, and if there is an opinion in it, you need not trust it for the long run. A genuine essay has no educational, polemical, or sociopolitical use; it is the moement of a free mind at play. Though it is written in prose, it is closer in kind to poetry than to any other form. Like a poem, a genuine essay is made out of language and character and mood and temperament and pluck and chance."
Skipping to the end of this quote, I can agree with Cynthia when she says that an "essay is made out of language and character and mood and temperament and pluck and chance." I have wrote a fair number of essays myself and would have to say all these characteristics apply. However, when she says that a genuine essay has no educational polemical, or sociopolitical use, she fails to say just what uses it does have. The idea that an essay "is the movement of a free mind at play," might just be the very use she didn't directly state. This idea means that the essay is a way of showing just how knowledgeable a person is about writing. A reader may follow this movement as he/she moves through the piece, enabling a more in depth understanding of not just the writing but also the writer. Like writing poetry, it can take a long time just to find the right words. One has to be careful, though, just how far to take such words for reasonslike audience, understanding, clearity, and persuasiveness. A reader can follow the writers opinion in an essay yet is still allowed to form his/her own opinion based on the piece; the reader can then expand his/her knowledge on the topic being addressed. This brings up the question, "Based off of that conclusion, can't an essay therefore be educational, even though Cynthia Ozick says it can't?" Good question! Who can really define just what an essay is? Cynthia Ozick attempts to do so and at first reading, what she says sounds great. However, when read over a couple of times, she seems to elude her own purpose of saying just what an essay is. Some of the quote can be debatable. It is more opinion that fact, and just as she says "if there is an opinion in it, you need not trust it for the long run."
For more on Cynthia Ozick click here!
