The following is a list in response to a request for suggestions of “an essay, accessible to undergrads, defining the literary essay (not academic or comp/rhetoric).” Thanks to Dinty W. Moore and so many others who took part in this Facebook thread. If you have other suggestions, please leave a note, and I’ll add it to this list. (Of course, we were pretty excited to see suggestions from our pages, too!) Where possible I include a link to the piece.
Atwan, Robert. “Notes Towards the Definition of an Essay.”
Didion, Joan. “On Keeping a Notebook.”
Jessica Handler’s “Favorite Essay to Teach” about assigning Didion’s “On Keeping a Notebook” might be useful. Find it here.
Hampl, Patricia Hampl. “The Dark Art of Description.” (Indirectly defines the literary essay.)
–. “Memory and Imagination.”
Harvey, Steven and Ana Maria Spagna. “The Essay in Parts.”
Hoagland, Edward. “What I Think, What I Am.”
Lott, Brett Lott. “Toward a Definition.”
Ozick, Cynthia. “She: Portrait of the Essay as a Warm Body.”
Sanders, Scott Russell. “The Singular First Person.”
Stuckey-French, Ned. “Our Queer Little Hybrid Thing.” (Lots of suggestions to use this for undergrads and grad students. Some report greater success using this with higher-level undergrads & grad students.)
We’d love to see more essays that define the essay. Consider submitting one to Assay!
Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies 