Introduction to Essays | UPSC Mains Essay Preparation PDF Download

Introduction

An essay is a written piece that typically presents the author's perspective and includes various components such as:

• Analysis of literature
• Political commentary
• Arguments
• Observations of everyday life
• Memories
• Reflections
• The precise definition of an essay is somewhat ambiguous, as it shares similarities with articles and short stories.
• While contemporary essays are typically written in prose, there are instances of verse essays, such as:
  • "An Essay on Criticism" by Alexander Pope
  • "An Essay on Man" by Alexander Pope
• Although essays are generally expected to be concise, there are notable exceptions, including:
  • "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" by John Locke
  • "An Essay on the Principle of Population" by Thomas Malthus
• Essays play a significant role in contemporary education, particularly in countries like the United States and Canada:
  • Secondary students are taught essay writing to enhance their writing abilities.
  • Universities often use admission essays as part of their selection process for applicants.
  • Essays are also employed in final examinations in humanities and social sciences to assess student performance.
• The notion of essays has evolved beyond traditional written forms to encompass various media:
  • A film essay utilizes documentary techniques to examine ideas or themes.
  • A photographic essay presents a sequence of related photographs, often accompanied by text or captions.

Understanding the Essay: Definition and Exploration

What is an Essay?

• An essay is a prose composition that focuses on a specific subject or can be seen as a long, systematic discourse.
• However, categorizing essays into a specific genre can be challenging.

Aldous Huxley on Essays

• Aldous Huxley, a famous essayist, believed that essays, like novels, are literary tools capable of exploring almost any topic.
• He noted that while essays are typically short, a collection of essays can cover a wide range of topics with nearly the same depth as a lengthy novel.

Huxley’s Three Poles of Essays

Huxley identified three poles within which essays can be understood:

• Personal and Autobiographical Essays: These essays are fragments of reflective autobiography, using anecdotes and descriptions to explore the world.
• Objective and Factual Essays: In these essays, authors focus on literary, scientific, or political themes without discussing themselves directly.
• Abstract-Universal Essays: These essays combine elements from all three worlds in which an essay can exist.

The Origin of the Word "Essay"

• The term "essay" comes from the French infinitive "essayer," which means "to try" or "to attempt." In English, an essay originally referred to "an attempt" or "a trial," and this meaning persists today.

Michel de Montaigne: The Father of Essays

• The first author to describe his work as essays was the Frenchman Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592).
• Montaigne used the term "attempts" to label his writings, which emerged from his practice of common-placing, inspired by the works of Plutarch.
• Jacques Amyot's Translation: Amyot's translation of Plutarch's Oeuvres Morales into French in the 16th century inspired Montaigne to start composing his essays in 1592.
• Publication of Essais: The first edition of Montaigne's essays, titled Essais, was published in two volumes in 1580.
• Revision and New Compositions: Throughout his life, Montaigne revised previously published essays and wrote new ones.
• Francis Bacon's Essays: Bacon's essays, published in 1597, 1612, and 1625, were the first works in English to refer to themselves as essays.

Historical Perspective

European Essayists:

• English essayists like Robert Burton (1577–1640) and Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682) made significant contributions to the genre.
• In Italy, Baldassare Castiglione wrote about courtly manners in his essay 'Il libro del cortegiano.'
• The Jesuit Baltasar Gracián, in the seventeenth century, explored the theme of wisdom in his writings.

Age of Enlightenment Polemicists:

• During the Enlightenment, figures like Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, and Samuel Johnson used essays as persuasive tools.
• Essays became an integral part of the thriving periodical literature of the time.
• Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries:
  • Edmund Burke and Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote essays targeting the general public.
  • In the early nineteenth century, essayists like Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, Leigh Hunt, and Thomas de Quincey produced a variety of essays on diverse topics.

Twentieth Century:

• Essayists such as T. S. Eliot in the twentieth century used essays to elucidate new movements in art and culture.
• Essays encompassed both assertive political themes and lighter subjects, with writers like Robert Louis Stevenson and Willa Cather.
• Literary criticism was offered by figures like Edmund Wilson, Virginia Woolf, and Charles du Bos.

Japanese Essays:

• Essays in Japan, known as zuihitsu, predate their development in Europe by centuries.
• This genre comprises loosely connected essays and fragmented ideas, with early examples like 'The Pillow Book' (c. 1000) by Sei Shônagon and 'Tsurezuregusa' (1330) by Yoshida Kenkô.
• While Japanese women traditionally wrote essays formally, notable female contributions also emerged in Chinese literature.

Essay Writing: An Educational Tool

• Role of Essays in Research Education: Essays play a crucial role in evaluating the understanding and mastery of materials by university research students. In countries like the United States, formal education heavily relies on essays for assessment.
• Teaching Structured Essays in Secondary Education: Secondary schools teach structured essay formats to enhance students' writing skills. Universities also use essays as a criterion for selecting applicants.
• Assessment in Secondary and Tertiary Education: Essays are utilized to assess students' comprehension and mastery of course content in both secondary and tertiary education. Students are assigned topics to write essays that discuss, explain, or evaluate the subject matter.
• Duration and Formality in University Essays: University courses may require students to work on essays over several weeks or months. Academic essays, particularly in the humanities and social sciences, are generally more formal than literary essays.
• Features of Academic Essays: Academic essays enable writers to present their arguments logically and factually, often discouraging the use of the first person. Longer academic essays, ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 words, may begin with a literature review.
• Referencing and Scholarly Principles: Academic institutions mandate references for facts, quotes, and other materials used in essays. This practice allows other scholars to assess the evidence supporting the argument and its quality.
• Testing Students' Abilities: Academic essay tests aim to measure students' ability to express their ideas and demonstrate their intellectual skills effectively.
• The distinction between Research and Discussion Papers: Research papers delve into a broad range of sources on a specific topic and are typically longer and more comprehensive. In contrast, discussion papers are shorter, more focused, and emphasize analytical and critical approaches.
• Challenges and Prevention of Plagiarism: Some students engage in academic dishonesty by submitting purchased essays from essay mills as their own work. Plagiarism is a global concern for universities, prompting many institutions to use internet plagiarism detection software to identify papers suspected of being sourced from essay mills.