8/14/2019 Essay on Essays

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Jeremy Keeshin

Essay on Essays

Here is what I know now: The essay starts with a great idea, one that needs to be written,

and maybe you have the chance to say it like no one has said it before.

I think I wrote this essay one day after Metaphysical Club during some epiphanywhere I realized that my struggle to find absolute answers in English class was somehow

very interrelated to my math homework. I knew what I wanted to say: One thing is like

this, one thing is like that, but they really go together. Now how should I write it?

Here is what I know now: The writing process occurs in steps, and although you knowwhat you want to say, you might not say it right the first time.

That is it. This is the answer to my revision. But then I continue to read my essay,

and now I am amidst my tenth reading and I have noticed something else. It doesn’t

sound right. I might have an awkward wording phrase or the idea might appear to be

something it is not. I might read a line and think of a new idea that is better than before. Now I have it.

Here is what I know now: The writing process occurs in steps, but the idea can be

cultivated. You can bring it into a new direction to explore ideas that were barely even suggested in earlier versions.

On my second reading I realized that I liked this part more. Initially, this part was

only a trivial phrase in the whole of the piece, but on re-reading it appeared to be more

significant. This sentence can be rephrased and explore a completely new and uniqueidea. I can make this sentence say everything I want it to say, and I have that renewed

 privilege with every sentence. I don’t need wasted words, but I do need those that expressmy tone and perspective.

Here is what I know now: The essay is the ideal format for concise, yet profound views. It is a very open-ended format and the structure is of the most importance.

I wanted to replicate the type of structure used in “The Last of the Metrozoids” by

Gopnik, where he elegantly intertwines three distinct disciplines to create a larger 

meaning. I wanted to talk about Math, English, and Metaphysical Club, three separateendeavors in my life that to others may seem distant, but to me seem inevitably linked. I

wanted to portray Math as concrete, English as abstract, and Metaphysical Club as the

compromise where opposites come together. I could have used any structure: listing,threads, narrative, reflection, argument, but the essay allows the one that is best suited to

the purpose. This is the versatility of the essay.

Here is what I know now: The essay, being a versatile genre, allows infinite room to

excel, but also just as much to err.

8/14/2019 Essay on Essays

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