Good Essays

So there is a new mysterious definition of essay lurking out there, making us uncomfortable with the structured essays we were taught to write. After reading Encountering the Essay and Essayists on the Essay I realized that an essay has a little more to it than at first glance. The readings essentially said the same thing and that an essay doesn't have precise definition or a structure. An essay is, however, a casual, personal, audience-aware, and thoughtful piece of writing. In the readings an extremely interesting idea was brought to my attention: that the essay should read like the thoughts of the author. Namely, the essay should read as if the author is thinking through his ideas in the essay (coming to conclusions, struggling to understand ideas, or progressing through paths of logic). Also, a good essay needs to include the voice of the author in the writing; the essay is a conversation between the author and the reader. That means that the author needs to make sure to consider what the audience may know, or may not know, in order converse with the reader without confusing him. The essay is highly based on opinion and the observations that the author makes and the conclusions he draws from them.

In order to make the essay that I'm writing about the Special Olympics a good essay, I need to create a conversation with the reader by including my voice--this can be achieved by including personal experiences that the reader can relate to or by simply including the first-person perspective to the essay. I think that this would be a huge step towards making my essay "good". Also, since an essay needs to consider the audience, I decided that I would further specify the purpose and audience of my essay. I am going relate my experiences as an athlete to the athletes of the Special Olympics, and try to convince other athletes to contribute their efforts to the Special Olympics organization. In order to write this essay I need to make it informative, relatable, and most importantly persuasive. I will try to inform people of the different ways that they can get involved as well as reveal what others have said about the organization.

An essay doesn't have a specific structure; it can be written in thousands of ways. A good essay can be pinned down to an essay that portrays and personal viewpoint that includes the authors voice, considers the audience, and has a clear purpose.