After reading the two pieces on blackboard about essays, I think I may have grasped what an essay actually is. However, as described in Encountering the Essay there is "no satisfactory definition can be arrived at" on account of an essay. An essay is simply a reflection of ones ideas. It is comprised from a motivated author to convey their point. There is not an actual structure that someone must follow to ensure they have written an essay, but rather a reflection of ones own persona. The structure of each essay is unique and it is the authors job to create their own structue, formal or informal, to convey their ideas. An essay is created solely for the purpose of the author to express their opinions, and the reader must follow along. There are so many categories that an essay can cover so long as it is "personal, reflective, and leisurely.
Additionally, according to "Essayists on the Essay" the essay is simply nothing but opinion and observation. If you think about it this statement actually has a lot of truth in it. The writer goes out and observes something then thinks about a topic that relates to it that he/she can write about. They then develop an opinion on it and create a discussion. Essays are not judged on how well they are written, but rather how much passion about the subject the author has. With great passion comes great writing as an ideal essay is written by a person who "cares about what he or she's writing about".
After reading these two articles and going back and reading the blog a wrote about essays last week, I can say that my definition and outlook of an essay has completely changed. Before I wrote about the structure of an essay and its frivilous descriptions. However, now I realize that an actual essay doesn't need structure. It just needs a purpose, opinion, audience, and a truly passionate author.
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