Subject: Essay Writing

Report: History of the Essay, How to Study the Essay

Discussant: Christian M. Valle

Instructor: Ms. Jules B. Mapanao

CHAPTER 1. HISTORY OF THE ESSAY

 Early writing in many cultures shows that much ancient prose in the form of dialogues,
sayings, letters, orations, or expository narratives have certain similarities with the
modern essay.
 There is also leisureliness in some ancient prose that we see in the modern familiar way.

CHINA

 6th century – “Saying” by Lao Tzu , 551 – 478 B. C. by Confucius

 4th B.C. – “Discourses of Property” byLieh Tzu
 371- 288 B.C. – “Benevolence” by Mencius

JAPAN

 946 A.D – “ Japanese Poetry” by Kino Tsurayaki

 1288 – “ Pageantry of the Seasons” by Yoshida Kenko

SANSKRIST

 5th Century – “ In the house of Death “ by Katha Upanishad

 1st Century – “ Thought “ by Dhamapada

ARABIA

 956 C.A – “ Al Mansur and the Poets “ by Mas’ udi

 1332-1405 – “ Observations on History “ by Ibu Khaldun

PERSIA

 1184-1291 – “ Preface “ from The Gulistan by Sa’di

HEBREW

 10st Centuries – “Ecclesiastes ” from the old testament

GREECE

 427-347 B.C – “ The Symposium “ by Plato

  384-322 B.C – “ The Golden Mean “ by Aristotle
 Second-third Centuries – “ What is Love?” by Longus

LATIN

 106-43B.C – “ Of Death and Old Age “ by Marcus Tullius Cicero

 CA.155-CA.222 – “ Philosophers and Christians “ by Tertullian
 1380-1471 – “ Of love of Silence “ and “ To Be Alone “ by Thomas a Kempis

ITALY

 1265-1321 – “ The New Life “ by Dante Alighieri

 1254-1324 - “ The Gobi Dessert” by Marco Polo
 1469-1519 – “ Note on Human Life “ by Leonardo da Vinci

FRANCE

 1469-1533 – “ The Education of Gargantua “ by Francois Rabelais

GERMANY

 1483-1546 – “ Table Talk “ by Martin Luther

 Literary tradition credits the invention of the essay as we know it today to Michael
Montaigne. This perhaps a case of European chauvinism, but is a useful jump off point in
a survey of the essay as a literary form.

MODERN DEVELOPMENT

In England

 Michel de Montaigne is considered by most commentators to be the first essayist,

introducing the form in 1580 when he published “Essais”, a collection of brief, informal
prose pieces.

 Montaigne's title, which means "attempts," suggested the searching, sometimes

rambling nature of his prose, which, although stylistically polished, was intended to
present the author's discursive thought process as he investigated a variety of topics.
Most of the characteristics that remain intrinsic to the modern essay derive from
 Montaigne's example: subjective point of view, informal tone, unstructured form, brevity,
and an accomplished prose style.

 The essay has traditionally been a forum for writers to investigate and present their
opinions, concerns, and interests from a personal point of view using a variety of forms,
including letters, reviews, criticism, memoirs, nature and travel writing, philosophical and
ethical meditations, and newspaper and magazine columns.

 In 1910, Georg Lukacs vigorously defended the essay as a unique and creative form of
literature in the introduction to his Soul and Form. The last half of the twentieth century
has seen a return of the personal element in the modern essay, with the emergence of
New Journalists such as Joan Didion, Norman Mailer, and Tom Wolfe, authors whose
writing moves beyond reportage to provide personal perspectives and interpretations of
issues and events.

In France

 In France it is not totally develop essay, but since after Montaigne, it grew up in time.

 17th Century it was known as Golden Age in French Literature, and Francois de
Rochefoucauld wrote prose of maxims which came to be the type of essay in which the
French generally excelled.

 VIII. Sincere enthusiasm is the only orator who always persuades. It is like an art
the rules of which never fail; the simplest man with enthusiasm persuades better
than the most eloquent with none.
 XIV. Men are not only subject to losing all recollection of kindnesses and injuries
done them, they even hate those to whom they are obliged and cease to hate
those who have harmed them. The effort of repaying the kindness and avenging
the evil seem to them a servitude to which they are unwilling to submit.
 XXX. If we had no faults, we would not take so much pleasure in noticing those of
others.
 th
19 century many French essayists have been exist , Anatole Jules Lemaitre, and
Ferdinand Brunetiere.
In the United States
 For two hundred years American writers have patterned their works after English models.
The essays In Washington Irving’s “Sketch Book”, published in 1819.
  Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote aphoristic essays of the kind Bacon first made famous in
England. Emerson’s best essays are still among the most distinguished examples of the
aphoristic essay such as, “Self reliance”, “ Friendship”, and “The American Scholar”.`
 “ The Atlantic Monthly” and Harper’s Magazine are two monthlies which have given much
to the writers of essays by providing a good market for their work and by stimulating all
writers in general with sound literary criticism-a form of the essay, although few writers
and poets like the critics, they nevertheless read what these have to say and then write
as well as they can to please them.
 Among todays scores of American publishing delightful essays are “ The Reader’s digest”
and “ The Saturday Review.
 Some of the most notable current or recent writers of the essay in the United States are
Max Eastman “ The Enjoyment of Literature “ Van Wyck Brooks , “ The Flowering of Bew
England “ , George Santayana “ The sense of Beauty “ , Paul Elmer More “ Shelburne
Essays” Stuart P. Sherman “ On Contemporary Literature “ , H. L. Mencken “ the
Prejudices series “ , Christopher Morley , Robert Benchley, Walter Lippmann, Alexander
Woolcott “ While Rome Burns “, Clifton Fadiman, Carl Van Doren, William Beebe, Edmund
Wilson “ Axel’s Castle “ , John Mason Brown, Henry Seidel Canby, James Thurber, E. B.
White, and others too many to name here.
In the Rest of the World
 Essayists in Latin America, Asia, Australia, and Africa used this literary form to record their
views and feelings, as first modeled after those in the western world but more in keeping
with their social milieus later.
 Jose Rizal wrote political and essays during the Spanish regime, such as “ The Indolence
of the Filipinos “, “the Philippines as a Century Hence” , and “letter to the Women of
Malolos.”
 Marcelo H. Del Pilar who edited and published “ La Solidaridad “, it is the lending figure
among the group of fiery revolutionary essayists, including Graciano Lopez-Jaena, Jose A.
Burgos, and Apolinario Mabini.
 University of the Philippines, is the first university in our country who made the first
appearance on the campus, “ The College Folio” and “ The Literary Apprentice” published.
 “ The Philippine Magazine, graphic The Philippines Free Press “ were the one who
publishing essays – Jorge Bocobo wrote political and I.V. Mallari wrote essays on
Literature, Filipino customs, and various other aspects of Philippine life.
 Books containing essays written by individuals :
 “ My Nipa Hut “ – by Salvador P. Lopez’s Literature and Society.
 “ The Birth of Discontent “ , “Calls of the Heights” and “ The Bamboo Flower” by Alfredo
Q. Gonzales
  “ Little Things “ by Godofredo Rivera

CHAPTER2. HOW TO STUDY THE ESSAY

Things to do :
 The student must know how to read.
 The simplest form of reading is knowing what one has read and being able to
correctly repeat, orally or in writing, what once has read, particularly details of
description, narration, argumentation, and exposition.
 Will learn how to appreciate fresh ideas, contemplate them, and express his/her
own feelings and views either orally or writing.
 A course in the essay thus affords excellent training for the serious student.
Failure : Errors in understanding what one reads lie in this all-too-common tendency to substitute
what one thinks the passage said for what the writer actually stated.

TASK :
1. Ascertain accurately what the writer of a sentence, a paragraph or the entire essay is
actually saying.
2. State the meaning of passage in the vernacular.
3. Make a summary of the passage either partly in the authors, partly in the reader or wholly
in the readers words.
 Summarize in a sentence or two the main idea of the essay as a whole
 Summarize the major ideas
 Summarize important supporting points
 If an essay is formal in nature and has been well written, it can be outline.
 It reveals the organization of the piece, its main divisions, and its supporting points.
 Communicates an important idea developed through a logical arrangement of the
materials developing the theme.
WRITERS
Since the essay is preoccupied with ideas, its treatment is generally serious, the writer
having a healthy respect for his own ideas and expecting his readers to share them. The
essayists purpose is to explain, to persuade, to instruct.
READERS
The reader must pay close attention to these ideas- the way they presented, the logic of
their presentation, the reflection they reveal in their objective of commenting or teaching
and the environment from proposition to conclusion.