ABC of Fiction and Essay

Fiction

What are the 4 main categories of literary fiction?

Works of literature fall into 4 main categories: fictional prose, nonfictional prose, poetry, and
drama.
Fictional prose which features a complex plotline and characters and uses advanced stylistic
techniques is known as literary fiction. Works of literary fiction may fall into genres such as
fantasy, science fiction, adventure, historical, romance, and mystery. However, literary fiction
works differ from genre fiction because of their advanced style and message.
What is a example of fiction?
Some of the most famous works of literary fiction in the English language include:

 Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (1847)

 F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925)
 Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958)
 Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)
 Alice Walker's The Color Purple (1982)

Prominent works of genre fiction include:

 The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (1997-2007)

 The Da Vinci Code (2003) by Dan Brown
 The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins (2008-2010)
 The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and the Millennium series by Stieg Larsson (2005-
2019)

What does fiction really mean?

Fiction describes something that is imaginary or invented. The term fiction is generally used in
reference to creative works written in prose, or ordinary language which does not follow a meter,
as in poetry. Fiction can refer to written works, plays, and cinema, but is most strongly
associated with written creative works.
What Is Fiction?
Fiction describes something imaginary or invented; the term is generally used regarding creative
works written in prose or ordinary language which does not follow a meter, as in poetry. The
term nonfiction, on the other hand, describes works that are based on actual events, people, and
facts. While fiction can refer to written works, plays, and cinema, this lesson will focus on
written works.
The modern fiction meaning stems from various terms throughout history. For instance,
Latin's fictionem refers to something devised or feigned, while in the 13th century Old
French, ficcion referred to something invented or fabricated. Starting in the 1590s, "fiction"
began to be used to describe works of prose created in the writer's imagination, which led to the
fiction definition most are familiar with today.

What Is a Fiction Book?

What is fiction writing? Fiction writing is writing that is created in the author's imagination. The
author of a fictional work invents the characters, plotline, dialogue, and sometimes the story's
setting. So, what is a fiction book? A fiction book, usually called a novel, is just one of the many
forms of fiction writing. Works of fiction do not claim that a story is true. Nevertheless, these
works can significantly impact their audience and, more broadly, society.
On the individual level, fiction can give readers an escape by inspiring and intriguing and
helping them see the world in a new way. These works can whisk readers away to unknown
places and introduce them to people, cultures, and societies they would never have encountered
otherwise. Reading fiction can be a gratifying pastime and a way of challenging one's beliefs and
understandings.
Fiction can have a broader impact on society by communicating a social message or amplifying
the voice of a community not as prominent in mainstream society. These types of works can
draw attention to issues like poverty, racism, women's rights, and human rights by giving a
human voice to those affected by these issues. Some of the most impactful novels of this type in
20th century America include:

 Uncle Tom's Cabin, an anti-slavery book by Harriet Beecher Stowe

 The Jungle, a novel by Upton Sinclair, uncovering the inhumane conditions of factory
workers

More contemporary examples include:

 Toni Morrison's Beloved (1987)

 Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex (2002)
 Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007)

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Types of Fiction
There are three main types of fiction, also known as forms: short story, novella, and novel.
The form of a fictional work is determined primarily by the work's length.

Short Story
A short story is a fictional work containing 1,000 to 20,000 words and measures no longer than
25 to 30 pages in length. Edgar Allan Poe, one of the most well-known short story writers in the
English literary tradition, famously claimed that a short story should be read in a single sitting of
under two hours. Short stories tend to include few characters and concentrate on a single plotline
because of their brevity. Some of the most famous short story authors in the English literary
tradition are:

 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

 Kate Chopin (1850-1904)
 Langston Hughes (1967)

Many well-known novelists also dabbled in short story writing, such as Charlotte Perkins
Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" (1892), James Joyce's "Araby" (1914), and F. Scott
Fitzgerald's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (1922). Short stories are often published in
collections, such as James Joyce's Dubliners (1914), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's That Thing
Around Your Neck (2009), and Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies (2000).
What is fiction?
Fiction is a type of writing that comes from an author's own
imagination and tells a story. Authors publish fiction across a range
of mediums, and fiction stories can be any length—like novels and
novellas or short stories. There are many types of fiction within the
genre of fiction itself, but all types of fiction include basic elements:

 Plot: All stories contain a plotline, which has a clearly defined

beginning, middle and end of story.
 Characters: There are many characters portrayed in fiction
stories, but the narrative generally focuses on a protagonist and
an antagonist. The protagonist is the hero of the story who the
reader hopes to see succeed, and the antagonist is the villain.
 Dialogue: Direct back-and-forth conversations between
characters happen throughout the story to help progress the plot.
 Conflict: There may be many instances of conflict throughout
the story, but there is usually one major conflict that needs to be
solved by the story's end.
 Setting: Every type of fiction has a setting that explains where
and when the story takes place.
Related: 22 Degrees in Writing
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Different types of fiction

Here is a list of types of fiction based on unique characteristics and
examples of each fictional genre:

1. Science fiction

Science fiction stories often take place in the future and involve
fictional aspects of science and technology. Characteristics of
science fiction include:

 Space or time travel

 Futuristic setting or alternate history
  Advanced technology
 Exploration of societal issues within our current societal model
(Dystopian society)
Example: It's the year 2473, and Dell is an engineer on a spaceship
that's traveling to the distant planet of Moton. While en route to Moton,
he gets word that a meteor has decimated 80% of the population back
on Earth. It is now up to him and the rest of his crew to successfully
make it to the new planet in order to create a thriving settlement for
the remaining people on Earth to live.Related: How To Become a
Creative Writer in 9 Steps

2. Mystery

Mystery is a genre of fiction that focuses on solving crimes and

mysterious events. Ordinarily, the protagonist is a detective, and the
remaining characters are suspects until proven otherwise. Common
characteristics of the mystery genre include:

 A mysterious crime or death that needs to be solved

 Suspects that have motives that the detective must evaluate
 Clues left by the author that show the reader possible outcomes
about who the murderer might be
 Red herrings, or clues that lead the reader to false conclusions
about the murder
Example: Detective Miranda Lane is investigating a recent case. After
the police discover a woman's body behind a local Boston restaurant,
Detective Lane finds a strange note in her jacket pocket. Even more
startling is the note's contents: the place and name of the woman
Miranda was supposed to visit the night before her murder. Soon,
Detective Lane is rushing through a series of clues to find the killer
before they attack again.Related: How To Write a Storyline (With Tips)

3. Historical fiction

Historical fiction is a story that takes readers to a particular time and

place in the past, typically at least 50 years or more in order for it to
be considered historical fiction. Although the story takes place in the
past, the plot itself is one that didn't actually happen in
history.Common characteristics of historical fiction include:
  A combination of historical and fictional experiences
 A setting that exists in a historical time and place in the past
 Mostly fictionalized characters, but occasionally there is a
character that is based on a historical figure from that time
period
Example: The year is 1918, and the commander has sent Jacques to
the front lines of the war in Belgium. With no combat experience and a
terror of what comes next, this is the story of how Jacques conquers
his fears and overcomes the unthinkable in order to
survive.Related: 10 Popular History Degree Jobs

4. Thriller

The thriller genre generally has a fast-paced storyline and tension and
suspense from beginning to end. There are many sub-genres within the
thriller genre such as the psychological, political and spy variety to
name a few. Some characteristics of the thriller genre include:

 Suspense incorporated throughout the novel

 Plot twists to keep the readers guessing as they read
 Cliffhangers at the end of each chapter that leaves the plotline at
a climactic moment in the story
 Ending climax to answer the questions readers build up
throughout the story
Example: Shannon Holmes can't wait to marry the love of her life,
Sheldon. They have a date, and all the preparations are in place.
Everything is perfect until Shannon finds out that Sheldon has been
married for the past seven years and his wife lives in a town only an
hour away. She doesn't know what to think or how to feel. All she
knows is that she's going to play along in his twisted game in order to
find out the truth behind his lies.Related: What Is Third-Person Limited
Point of View?

5. Young adult

Writers create and market young adult fiction to readers between the
ages of 12 and 18. The plotline can be realistic or can contain magical
elements, but in most young adult fiction the protagonist faces
challenges and changes that are relatable to an adolescent. Common
elements in the young adult fiction genre include:

 A teenage protagonist
 A love triangle in which the protagonist must choose between
two potential love interests
 Conflicts in the story that are age-appropriate for the audience
such as trying to feel like they belong, succeeding in a sport or
having a romantic relationship
Example: Paige is your typical 16-year-old—she just wants to feel like
she belongs and to one day fall in love with a boy. When a new,
handsome student named Owen starts school in the middle of the
year, she thinks he might be everything she's been looking for. She
gets to know him, and they become fast friends. Paige believes they
could become more, but when her best friend Lily tells her she also
has feelings for Owen, Paige realizes she's in a difficult situation. She
must choose whether she is willing to risk her lifelong friendship for a
boy she just met.Related: How To Become a Book Reviewer

6. Realistic fiction

Realistic fiction is a type of fiction in which a story is told that could

easily happen in today's society. It contains believable characters and
events and takes place in an actual setting, but the storyline itself is
one that has never actually happened. Characteristics of realistic
fiction include:

 Conflicts that the reader could face in everyday life

 A setting that takes place in the present-day and is an actual
location or a fictional place that could be real
 Characters that seem like actual people you might encounter
 Conflicts that are solved realistically
Example: Bethany has a perfect life. She lives off the coast of
Monterrey in a beautiful home with a wonderful husband and two small
children whom she loves dearly. She has everything she's ever wanted
until one day she wakes up and has completely forgotten who she is.
With the help of a group of doctors and her husband, will she be able
to remember who she is and everything she holds dear?
Related: Types of Conflict in Literatures (With Tips on How To Write)
7. Romance

The romance genre can take place during any time period and may
contain a realistic plot line or have magical elements, but the primary
element of a romance novel is that there is a central love story
throughout the novel. Other characteristics include:

 A hero or main protagonist with whom the other main character

falls in love
 Many conflicts throughout the story making it difficult for the
characters to be together
 An emotionally satisfying conclusion
Example: Carol is in her late 20s and single. One day, she sees her old
high school crush, Jack, walking down the street. After a few minutes
of talking, they realize how beneficial it would be for them to pretend
to be engaged. Her parents would stop bothering her about settling
down, and he could attend his ex-girlfriend's wedding with a fake
fiance at his side. Carol soon realizes she has feelings for Jake and
has to remind herself that this plan is just an arrangement, but she
begins to wonder if it could turn into something real.Related: FAQ:
How Much Do Authors Make?

8. Horror

The horror genre's purpose is to create feelings of terror and

excitement in the reader. Common characteristics include:

 Explorations into the darker aspects of humanity

 Main characters who readers can identify with and who often
have haunted pasts and emotional traumas
 Supernatural elements such as ghosts or demonic forces
 A goal to provoke terror in their readers
Example: Kenneth just got a job as a night nurse at Grace Gables
Mental Hospital. Although he's looking forward to starting his career,
he's worried his dark past will come back to haunt him, quite literally.
When he begins to see things that no one else can see—ghosts that
call to him in the night—he starts questioning his own sanity and
begins to lose track of what's real and what isn't.Related: 12 Tips for
Starting a Career as an Author
Fantasy

Fantasy is a type of fiction that focuses on magical and supernatural

elements that do not exist in the actual world. There can be elements
of romance, action and mystery in fantasy, and typically include the
following characteristics:

 Magical elements or characters of magic, like sorcerers, witches

or werewolves
 Conflict involving good versus evil
 Imaginary worlds, often similar to medieval settings
 Mythical characters or beings like elves, dragons or talking
animals
Example: Foxx is a lowly elf who lives in the land of Myrial. With no
powers of his own, and destined to work on the farms for the rest of
his life, he has accepted his fate. One day as he picks oranges in the
family orchard, a fairy named Ozlo appears and tells him that he's been
chosen to save the rest of his kingdom from Magda, the greatest evil
force the kingdom has ever seen. Although skeptical at first, Ozlo,
convinces him that he alone can save the kingdom of Myrial from this
evil.
Essay

5 main genres of literature

The following is a list of the five primary literary genres and their
subgenres:

1. Poetry

A poem is a piece of literature that makes use of rhythmic qualities of

language, such as phonesthetics, sound symbolism, and meter to
convey meaning. Phonesthetics examines the aesthetic appeal of the
sounds of certain words or parts of words. Sound symbolism refers to
the non-arbitrary relationship between the sounds of speech and their
meaning. A meter is the fundamental rhythmic structure of a poem or
lines of poetry.A poem's meter, rhythm, and its focus on the sounds of
syllables, words, and phrases distinguish it from other types of
literature. The purpose of poetry is to convey meaning through
imagery and metaphors rather than to provide complete,
grammatically accurate sentences. Depending on the style of the
poem, poems can range in length from a few lines to several pages.
There may be one author or several poets who contribute to a book of
poems. Here are a few subgenres of poetry:

 Epic: Epics are long-verse narratives retelling the heroic journey

of an individual or a group of individuals. An epic typically
features superhuman feats, extraordinary adventures, highly
 stylized language, and a combination of lyrical and dramatic
elements.
 Narrative: A narrative poem tells a story through poetic
techniques, such as rhyme, rhythm, similes, and metaphors.
Narrative poems are longer than other forms of poetry and
contain a complete story similar to a novel.
 Lyric: Lyric poems are short, highly musical verses that express
powerful emotions. A lyric poem is a personal expression of
emotion written by a single individual.
 Dramatic: Dramatic poetry is poetry that's written in verse for
public recitation or performance. The purpose of dramatic poetry
is often to express one's thoughts aloud to another actor,
oneself, or an audience.
Related: Examples of English Writing Tools (With Definition)

2. Fiction

There are several purposes for fiction, including entertaining,

inspiring, informing, and persuading the audience. Fiction writers
create stories using their imagination. Fiction writers use figurative
language to create stories of completely untrue events, characters,
and settings to stimulate the imaginations of their readers. Fictional
literature includes a variety of subgenres, such as mystery, romance,
or mythology. An author may choose to write in a single genre or mix
several subgenres into their story. As an example, a writer may
combine mystery genre elements with fantasy genre elements. The
following are some subgenres of fiction:

 Mystery: Mystery novels provide readers with plots that explore

mysteries from beginning to end. One of the main characters in a
mystery is typically a detective or a private investigator who
solves the mystery with the reader.
 Historical fiction: Historical fiction uses real-life events to
support its plots and key details. A work of historical fiction
engages readers by retelling a historical event in creative ways
that alter minor details, such as characters' names or the
setting.
 Realism: Literary realism depicts familiar objects, people, and
places without dramatizing or romanticizing the story. Literary
 realism emphasizes realistic characters and settings, detailed
descriptions of everyday occurrences, and depictions of social
classes.
 Magical realism: Magical realism is a genre of literature that
depicts reality with a sense of fantasy or magic. A magic realism
story is a variation of realism fiction.
 Fantasy: Mythology and ancient folklore are some sources of
inspiration for fantasy novels. Fantasy novels usually depict
imaginary settings, beings, and universes that are nonexistent in
the real world.
 Romance: Love stories are the dominant theme of romance
novels. Although romance is also a prominent element of other
forms of fiction, romance novels emphasize the development of a
romantic relationship.
 Science fiction: There are several themes that are
characteristic of science fiction, including space exploration,
futuristic species, and time travel. Most of the stories revolve
around scientific concepts, such as physics, astronomy,
anthropology, chemistry, and astrophysics.
 Dystopian: A dystopian story envisions a world that's in a state
of cataclysmic decline. A dystopian fiction can depict societies
with perpetual wars, social and economic class divisions, mass
poverty, environmental destruction, anarchy, and loss of
individuality.
 Horror: The primary goal of horror fiction is to shock and
frighten readers. A horror story involves characters, settings, and
plots that create suspense and tension for the reader.
 Fable: Fables typically teach a moral lesson to the reader or
illustrate a moral dilemma that the protagonist overcomes. An
author may use inanimate objects or animals as protagonists
who act like humans to resolve conflict in a manner that
demonstrates character development.
 Mythology: The mythological genre reveals elements of human
behaviour through the use of symbols. Mythology includes
themes such as gods, goddesses, and cultural phenomena.
Related: Understanding the 4 Writing Styles (And How to Use Them)

3. Nonfiction
Nonfiction writing aims to inform or inspire the audience by using
actual events, people, places, or facts. Students can gain a deeper
understanding of fiction texts through nonfiction texts, such as
textbooks and essays. Before writing a nonfiction piece, nonfiction
authors typically conduct extensive research. Here are a few of the
subgenres of nonfiction literature:

 Autobiography: An autobiography is a personal narrative of

one's life. Autobiographies may serve a variety of purposes, such
as helping the author overcome a difficult situation, assisting
people in overcoming similar challenges, or simply conveying
stories.
 Biography: A biography is an account of a person's life, written
by someone else. Many biographies feature notable individuals,
such as celebrities, athletes, business leaders, and politicians.
 Essay: An essay is a short piece of writing in which the author
elaborates on an idea or topic after conducting thorough
research. An essay may aim to engage its readers, influence
their thinking, get them involved in its ideas, or persuade them to
adopt the same point of view.
Related: 11 Essay Writing Tips to Help You Become a Stronger Writer

4. Drama

Dramas are representations of fiction that involve dialogue and

performance. Dramatic literature includes epic poetry, lyric poetry,
and novels. The performance of a dramatic piece of literature may
occur on stage in front of a live audience or through radio, film, and
television. There are many sources of inspiration for drama pieces,
including novels, short stories, poems, and real-life events. A drama
contains dialogue, and the actors portray the characters through their
impersonations. A dramatic piece of literature contains acts or scenes
that rely on props or imaginative dialogue to create a visual
experience. The following are drama subgenres:

 Tragedy: Tragedies focus on hardships that can cause

emotional distress to the protagonists of the story. Tragedies
contain details that illustrate the challenges that the protagonist
experiences.
  Comedy: A comedy is a type of drama with a humorous tone
that depicts amusing events in which the characters ultimately
prevail. A comedy features a lighthearted tone, clever wordplay,
turns of phrase, and humorous discussions of serious topics.
 Musical: A musical can be an original work or an adaptation of
a longer literary work. Musical dramas tell a story through music
and include direct expressions of themes through song.
 Melodrama: Melodramas are pieces of dramatic literature that
depict serious stories. A melodrama may contain heroes,
heroines, villains, and mentors with flaws who overcome their
limitations to achieve success.
Related: 11 Essential Writer Skills and Ways to Improve Them

5. Prose

The prose is a literary genre with no formal metrical structure. Instead

of relying on rhythmic structure, as in traditional poetry, it relies on a
natural flow of speech and ordinary grammatical structure. It involves
clear, concise paragraphs that may be fiction or nonfiction. When
writing prose, writers divide the text into paragraphs and use regular
grammar that can be serious or humorous.
What are literary essays?

I discussed writing with my friend. A person I know joined the

discussion and asked: Postmodern Bookworm, what do you tend to
write? I answered him: Informal essays.

I like to write about thoughts inspired by books I have read. Though, I

do not know if my writings meet the criteria of literary essays. As a
bookworm, I wanted to find out.

The history of essays

The history of essays has its roots in French renaissance philosopher

Michel Montaigne. I looked at some of his writings, and wow. Those
essays are not easy to read. And that is not an opinion but a fact. Just
look at the first sentence of one of Montaigne’s essays. (No, you don’t
have to read it if you don’t worship boredom. In that sentence,
Montaigne explains how he is the right man to write someone’s last
words.)

As to his last words, doubtless, if any man can give good account of
them, it is I, both because, during the whole of his sickness he
conversed as fully with me as with any one, and also because, in
consequence of the singular and brotherly friendship which we had
entertained for each other, I was perfectly acquainted with the
intentions, opinions, and wishes which he had formed in the course of
his life, as much so, certainly, as one man can possibly be with those
of another man; and because I knew them to be elevated, virtuous,
full of steady resolution, and (after all said) admirable.

That one sentence has 107 words. That is more words than most of my
chapters have.

The definition of an essay

According to a Wikipedia article about Montaigne, the purpose of

essays is not to teach or prove but to question. An essay is thinking
through writing. More specifically, essays are thinking about a specific
topic from a certain point of view.
You can define things according to what they are not. It is beneficial to
consider how essays differ from other kinds of texts. I will go through
some examples.

What is not an essay?

An essay is a thoughtful text that examines a topic from different

perspectives. Essays are not about subjective opinions. Therefore, an
essay is not an opinion piece.

An essay has its foundation in the writer’s thoughts. If someone was to

write a literary essay about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, it is not
enough to write about the plot of the book. Instead, the writer could
reflect on whether Frankenstein’s monster was evil since its creation or
if the cruel world made him a monster. Therefore, an essay is not a
summary.

While writing informal essays, writers can use creativity. Essays might,
and in my opinion, should have distinctive voices. You can use some
elements of fiction in essays, like metaphors, parables, and symbolism.
Still, essays belong under the umbrella of non-fiction. Therefore, essays
are not stories.

The purpose of literary essays

An essay is a text that a writer writes based on their thoughts, having

its introduction, discussions, and conclusion. We can approach the
definition of literary essay from the viewpoint of the definition of essay.
A literary essay is an essay in which the topic is some question related
to a book or literature. For example, these would be questions for a
literary essay:

 Margaret Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale in 1986. As a

dystopian novel, how does it describe our reality?

 Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman use biblical

references. How do these references express that the book
belongs to the postmodern era?

 What kind of attitude did George Orwell have towards politics

based on the novel 1984 he wrote?

I hope the examples I came up with paint a picture of the purpose of

literary essays. It is crucial to pick a specific thing from a book that
gives enough food for thought. The writer makes observations from the
book. Based on these observations, they think through writing. In an
ideal situation, the writer can end up with a conclusion about the
question they had in mind. A literary essayist can compose a clear
picture that answers their question.

Some thoughts about the purpose of literature

I am going to use two metaphors. The first one is:

Books are the playground of thoughts.

One could describe speculative fiction as what-if literature.

 The Hobbit asks, what if there lived a hobbit in a hole in the

ground?

 Movies by Marvel Universe ask what if the comic heroes and

villains were real?

 The Wizard of the Earthsea by Le Guin asks what if there was a

boy who discovers he has magical powers and goes to a school
for wizards?

Genres under speculative fiction, like sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, set a
what-if question and then answer the question of what would follow.

Stories set in speculative fiction are the easiest to see as playgrounds

for thoughts. Still, every piece of fiction is a playground for thoughts.

 What if a girl and a boy fall in love, but their families do not let
them be together?

 What if two girls fall in love but face difficulties because society
does not accept their love?

 What happens to the conscience of a murderer when they murder

someone?
Every piece of fiction represents the ability of an author to tell a story.
At the bottom level, stories are a composition of mind games.

Books are the playground of thoughts but also the mirror of our
society. Authors cannot avoid the influences of the surrounding world
while writing. Even though fiction is a lie, as Neil Gaiman wrote, fiction
is a lie that tells us true things, over and over. The truth of fiction is not
what happened but what it says about us as humans. A mirror does not
picture the world perfectly as it is and does not show but a small piece
of the world. Such are books, as they do not mean to describe the world
perfectly.

Writing about literature

The purpose of literature is to describe a narrow part of our society like

a mirror. Then, what is the point of writing about literature? The
original purpose of essays was, according to Montaigne, to question,
for example, to ponder if something we consider the truth is correct.
An essay for Montaigne was a tool of skepticism. Hundreds of years
later, essays play the same role for me. By writing essays I try to
analyze my thought process about something. Let us narrow this down
to literary essays. There are four levels in understanding the point of
writing a literary essay. They are

1. The mind and understanding of the writer

2.Our world and society

 3.Literature

4.Literary essay

screenshot of something made on the author’s laptop

Let us make a simplification. A person writing a literary essay is like a

machine. The input is literature. The output is a literary essay. The
writer’s understanding of the world defines what kind of essay there
will be as a result.
A literary essay is a writer’s written work of how they understand how
literature mirrors a limited part of how our world works.

Essays
Aldous Huxley said, “The essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about
almost anything."1 Huxley's description of an essay may seem a bit vague. Still, he
captures the element of what makes essays so gratifying. They are the complete
package: wisdom draped in pretty language.