Jamison Jensen
February 24, 2017
Introduction to Nonfiction
On Why Originality and the Essay are Still Friends
Abstract: Some have made the claim that originality is long gone and the essay is becoming more redundant by the minute. In a world where most essays written are done so in school and for other forms of academia, I can see how that would be said. However, essays don’t need to revolve around structure as we are taught in school nor do we have to use quotations as information to back up our argument. The essay should be in the author’s style and not confined to the structure that is the generic five-paragraph essay. In this essay I will further explain my views on originality, quoting, and the essay as well as give the reader a glimpse into the freedom that is writing in one’s own style.
On Why Originality and the Essay are Still Friends
No two essays are alike. Even if a teacher requires his/her class to use the same passages or book to back up or begin an argument; the essays are still going to be different. The idea that originality is dead and the essay is redundant—to me—is absolutely untrue. The likelihood that someone will make their point in the same way that I will make mine is slim to none. I agree that there are many ways two essays written on the same topic can be similar but not the same. There are a multitude of ways to make one argument stand out from another.
For instance, quotations and structure are two good ways of standing out from the rest. Good strong quotations provide the reader with a counterargument or ground for your own argument. Quoting is—in many instances—imperative for a good essay. If the author is trying to prove a point or convince his/her readers to agree, the author needs something to back it up. (Of course the reader doesn’t have to agree with everything that the writer argues but in order to have a strong argument quotations are needed.) That is normally where quoting another’s work comes in, but Reality Hunger by David Shields seems to take that idea and turn it on its head. In the back of the book he says:
“This book contains hundreds of quotations that go unacknowledged in the body of the text. I’m trying to regain a freedom that writers from Montaigne to Burroughs took for granted and that we have lost. Your uncertainty about whose words you’ve just read is not a bug but a feature.”
How are we to believe him now if all of what we have read is not his? That was the first question that came into mind as I read this. Now, I understand that quoting is not absolutely essential when it comes to writing a good essay (although it depends on the topic/content/expectations of the essay), but for him to say that he is trying to “regain a freedom” that was lost is odd to me. Writing is—and of itself—a freeing process. In some ways an author’s freedom must be within the limit and/or guidelines set but that doesn’t make it any less freeing. That is where the importance of the writer’s voice and style become imperative to an essay.
Originality in topic isn’t always easy but as long as the writer is using his/her own voice to express the argument, the essay will remain original. I know that voice is important when writing an essay. In the past, I have written many personal essays that required my voice as writer to be front and center. When writing a personal essay readers expect the author to acknowledge themselves in the essay (i.e. “I”, “me”) that isn’t expected in the academic essay. In fact, over the years we have been told in school not to use personal pronouns, and instead act as though the writing wrote itself. I had teacher who told us that we didn’t need to mention ourselves in our essays because “I” was implied in everything that was said. But that’s why I believe it is important for the writer to really express themselves in their writing. Every writer has a voice and a style that is unlike any other’s that is not something that can be implied or should be hidden. That is where the originality in the essay lies. It lives within the author and thrives because the author acknowledges their own voice rather than shutting it down, expecting the unclaimed words to do all of the work in the piece. By using my voice in my writing, I am claiming the words that I write and acknowledging that my voice is important to how these words are perceived.
Structure is another way to show the writer’s style and voice in an essay, and gives the writer freedom to break away from the rest. In school when we first learn about the essay, structure is pounded into our heads over and over again. But now, we that know what the structure is we are allowed to break and bend the rules. You might have noticed in this essay that I have decided to give the authors’ credit in my own way rather than worry with proper MLA citation. I find citations to be hard to remember especially when I am writing papers in two different fields with two different types of citations. I believe that citation is important because as I’ve said in this essay: every author has their own voice and I will not take their words without giving credit when it is due.
How Shields thinks that by taking others’ works and not giving credit when credit is due is somehow “freedom”—that completely confuses me. I don’t see it as taking a stand or ‘regaining’ anything because I don’t believe that “freedom” he talks about was ever lost. As I say all of this, I have to come back to what Shields has done with his book. He has every right to feel the way that he does but I can’t agree. Writing is a personal experience–no matter the topic. That freedom that comes with it never dies unless the writer falls into the trap of writing what is expected rather than what is in his/her mind.
It is true to say that a lot has been said but that doesn’t necessarily mean that everything has been said in the way that you might say it. Originality is tough in a world where so many people are able to express their own viewpoints and opinions but that doesn’t make it impossible. There is always room to rephrase or paraphrase. Also, taking what Emerson says in “Self-Reliance,”
“Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side. Else, to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.”
He is urging his readers to write what is urgent in them and not allow what others have said to cloud what they want to say. He believes that it is important to say what you want to say in your own words rather than allowing someone else to say them for you. It seems that in today’s society, we allow others to speak for us rather than doing our own critical thinking. We agree rather than disagree for the fear of being told that we are wrong. In this Emerson is encouraging his reader to not feel as though everything that can be said has been said. He wants the reader to explore their own mind, to give more and have a conversation with what they are reading rather than agreeing and going on to other things.
Emerson challenges his reader to engage with the work rather than allowing the work to say it all. In saying all of this, I must acknowledge that some of you reading the essay will not agree with what I have said on the topic of originality and the essay. I understand that those of you that disagree may believe that originality is not the same as it once was when..let’s say Emerson or Montaigne were writing. I can go along with that. I will even agree (on a much smaller scale) with Shields who says that a “freedom” has been lost. Yes, in some ways we have lost a certain freedom that comes with being the first people to really taken on a topic or the first to start a conversation with their writing. The “freedom” that I believe he references is the freedom to write without having to reference someone else because you both had the same idea but they said first. I understand that originality is not what it was but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Original work is different than it was because we have more people to use as counterarguments. In truth, it is harder to write an original statement or essay but, for me, the key to originality lies in the author’s writing style. How is “freedom” lost if I embrace my voice as my freedom rather than topic?
“I pledge my word of honor that I have abided by the Washington College Honor Code while completing this assignment.”
Works Cited
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “”Self-Reliance”.” Wreading Parlor. Sean Meehan, 30 Jan. 2016. Web. 7 Feb. 2017.
Shields, David. Reality Hunger: A Manifesto. New-York: Vintage, 2011. Print
Timeless English 