Essaying, Montaigne-style

The essay form is very familiar to college students; less so, the original genre of the essay as this was used in the Renaissance by writers like Montaigne. My students read from Montaigne recently, and I lectured to them (starting about 47:50 in the class recording) about the essay as an exploratory genre, rather than as (with contemporary college writing) a tightly organized and argued piece of writing.

I'd like my students to try out the original, Renaissance-style essay form in their next blog post, using Montaigne's approach (if not his length) as he models this in such pieces as "Of Cannibals." What is that approach?

• A personal essay (drawing upon personal experience and reflecting a personal viewpoint)
• An informed essay (bringing in quotations, history, well-known texts)
• An essay that brings out clear issues but explores multiple sides of issues rather than merely arguing one.

I mentioned in class that there are parallels to Montaigne's Renaissance essay form in today's blogging. This is true with respect to the personal and exploratory nature of many a blog post. However, I would like my students to imitate less the wandering style of Montaigne and to look more at how his writings are informed (in part by using quotations and historical allusions) and how they are clear and balanced on difficult issues. (We don't need a reason to be disorganized and wandering. Montaigne models that a productive kind of exploration is one that is grounded in the history of thought, and one that clearly posits ideas in contrast to each other).

The Assignment

In 300-400 words, explore the concepts of communication and civilization in a Montaigne-style exploratory essay. 

• The concepts of communication and civilization can be from the Renaissance, from today, or any period. You may wish to consider whether communication aids or impairs civilization, historically or today.
• Use a title for your essay / post that imitates Montaigne (Browse the table of contents of Montaigne's book of essays for ideas on titles and sample a few essays to further get a sense of Montaigne's style)
• Include a quotation from one of Montaigne's essays at or near the beginning (preferably from an essay other than the ones we read in common). You can of course weave in other quotations from others, too.
• Tell or report at least one story (from your own life or otherwise)
• Make a case for multiple sides of a given issue
• Keep the tone casual and personal, but also informed and intellectual
• Use the label "post assignment 4"

This due date for this assignment will be extended from Friday to Saturday 1/17/15 at noon.