ESSAY | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
Keener political awareness in the 18th century, the age of , made the essay an all-important vehicle for the of society and religion. Because of its flexibility, its , and its potential both for and for to current events and conditions, it was an ideal tool for philosophical reformers. in and the tracts of the French Revolutionaries are among the countless examples of attempts during this period to improve the human condition through the essay.
The also became the favoured tool of traditionalists of the 18th and 19th centuries, such as and , who looked to the short, provocative essay as the most potent means of educating the masses. Essays such as long series of Shelburne Essays (published between 1904 and 1935), ’s After Strange Gods (1934) and Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948), and others that attempted to reinterpret and redefine , established the as the most fitting to express the genteel tradition at odds with the of the new world.
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own , but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a , a , an , a , and a . Essays have been sub-classified as formal and informal: formal essays are characterized by "serious purpose, dignity, logical organization, length," whereas the informal essay is characterized by "the personal element (self-revelation, individual tastes and experiences, confidential manner), humor, graceful style, rambling structure, unconventionality or novelty of theme," etc.
Essay | Definition, Types, Examples, & Facts - Britannica
While this distinction might seem clear-cut on the surface, there exists a great deal of historical overlap between essay and assay. The two words derive from the same root—the Middle French essai, which ultimately derives from a Late Latin noun, exagium, meaning "act of weighing."
At one time, assay and essay were synonyms, sharing the meaning "try" or "attempt." In the 17th century, an essay was an effort to test or prove something:
Essays are commonly used as , political , learned , observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. Almost all modern essays are written in , but works in have been dubbed essays (e.g., 's and ). While brevity usually defines an essay, voluminous works like 's and 's are counterexamples.
At the beginning of the 17th century, social manners, the cultivation of politeness, and the training of an accomplished gentleman became the theme of many essayists. This theme was first exploited by the Italian in his Il libro del cortegiano (1528; ). The influence of the essay and of allied to it, such as maxims, portraits, and sketches, proved second to none in molding the behavior of the classes, first in Italy, then in France, and, through French influence, in most of Europe in the 17th century. Among those who pursued this theme was the 17th-century Spanish Jesuit in his essays on the art of worldly wisdom.
essay, v. meanings, etymology and more | Oxford English Dictionary
For the modern noun use of essay to mean "a written exploration of a topic," we can almost certainly thank Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), a French writer noted for working in the form. Borrowing a word that emphasized their identity as literary "attempts," Montaigne devised Essais as a title for the vignette-typed pieces that he began publishing in 1580 and spanned over a thousand pages, covering subjects as varied and wide-ranging as solitude, cannibalism, and drunkenness.
Essay - definition of essay by The Free Dictionary
Trump’s campaign was expert in how it took advantage of what Nathan Heller describes in his excellent New Yorker essay as the “ambient information” environment.
essay | definition for kids - Wordsmyth Kids
The word derives from the French infinitive , "to try" or "to attempt". In English first meant "a trial" or "an attempt", and this is still an alternative meaning. The Frenchman (1533–1592) was the first author to describe his work as essays; he used the term to characterize these as "attempts" to put his thoughts into writing.
essay noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes
Subsequently, has been defined in a variety of ways. One definition is a "prose composition with a focused subject of discussion" or a "long, systematic discourse".It is difficult to define the genre into which essays fall. , a leading essayist, gives guidance on the subject. He notes that "the essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything", and adds that "by tradition, almost by definition, the essay is a short piece". Furthermore, Huxley argues that "essays belong to a literary species whose extreme variability can be studied most effectively within a three-poled frame of reference".These three poles (or worlds in which the essay may exist) are:
Essay in Literature: Definition & Examples | SuperSummary
Montaigne's "attempts" grew out of his . Inspired in particular by the works of , a translation of whose () into French had just been published by , Montaigne began to compose his essays in 1572; the first edition, entitled , was published in two volumes in 1580. For the rest of his life, he continued revising previously published essays and composing new ones. A third volume was published posthumously; together, their over 100 examples are widely regarded as the predecessor of the modern essay.