lyrical essay
A lyrical essay is pretty much exactly what it sounds like.
We started this English unit by studying the concept of creative nonfiction, and exploring the bounds of typical forms of nonfiction. The word “essay” conjures, to me, the Expo-markered instructions for a typical class assignment: textbooks, primary sources, lab reports. A thesis, claims, and three pieces of evidence cited per claim. A couple sentences of perfunctory analysis for each.
This unit challenged this idea. As we read essays and analyzed essays like “Fuck the Bread, The Bread is Over” from the Paris Review and chapters from Ross Gay’s Book of Delights, our ideas of what constituted an essay were torn apart. Poetic license and nonfiction are not mutually exclusive. Lyrical essays toe the line between education and art, transforming a (apologies to the essay aficionados) traditionally boring form into something entirely new.
As the word “lyrical” would suggest, the essays are identifiable by their musical rhythm and flow. However, there are really no clear conventions for the form. Rather, in the words of Justice Stewart re. the Supreme Court case Jacobellis v. Ohio, “you know it when you see it.”
In writing my essay, I was particularly inspired by David Foster Wallace’s essay, “Consider the Lobster.” Wallace’s masterful use of the language — coupled with impactful themes and bursts of humor — served as the blueprint for my own piece. Also his footnotes.
I tried to weave the process of making the essay into the essay itself, using quoted excerpts of my first drafts and frequently incorporating my voice into the analysis of the topic.
Read the essay below!