In each of these essays, the authors talked about problems
they had faced, and then how their spiritual life allowed them to grapple with
those problems. The problems were all problems of solitude, and the difficulty
of being an individual among the masses, and the solutions were all hopeful—if the
authors didn’t learn some new nugget of knowledge, then at least they ended the
essay with the hope that they could
learn something. These characteristics, solitude and wisdom, imbued each of the
essays with a hermetic pragmatism, although I think such would be true of any
essay by an American young adult. It is an inheritance of Wordsworth and
Montaigne more than it is of the Mormon tradition. In writing my essay, I might
enjoy breaking from this tradition, though as yet I don’t have a clue how I
would do so.
Four of the five essays I read used a linear narrative to
tell their stories, usually following the Freitag triangle: exposition, rising
action, climax, and resolution. However, “L.A. Lost and Found,” by Elijah
Broadbent, used an inventive spin in its composition: his essay was a series of
vignettes which illustrated glimpses of Broadbent’s mission. In writing my
essay I would like to try something non-linear, perhaps with a reverse or
reorganized linearity, to give the essay some gravity and intrigue.
I like your ideas about what to incorporate in your essay and how you would do things differently than what you read. Reading other essays can give great ideas to mirror but also perhaps ideas you dont want to copy.
ReplyDeleteCool concept in attempting to break from tradition. I think it could work well as long as it seems purposeful like "L.A. Lost and Found." I also like how you mentioned that at least all the essays leaned towards learning something, or the hope that something can be learned because that's what it is all about. Self-reflecting till you come away a more developed individual.
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