Lyrical Essay
Introduction
In our English class this year we began to venture into some unconventional methods to write narratives. We’ve been reading Lyrical Essays which explore stories through more fluid literary structures. These different styles can range from writing in the second person to writing essay length footnotes in the middle of an essay.
Final Lyrical Essay
For our own personal Lyrical Essay, we were granted a lot of creative freedom to explore a topic of our own choice. The topic I choose was Insomnia, more specifically my own. I then set off researching both scientific aspects of insomnia as well as art inspired by insomnia. The finished Lyrical essay is linked below with the annotated bibliography. It has been described as a bit sad or depressing because it alludes to anxiety and depression so be aware?
Intention statement:
Journal of Sleepless Endeavours received its name and inspiration from my own personal intermittent insomnia. The essay seeks to capture and compile various aspects of my insomnia as well as details from specific episodes. Throughout the essay, I alternated from first person and second person writing. The first person paragraphs are intended to be more linear and grounded in reality to help give the reader a look into my mind and thoughts. The second-person paragraphs explore more specific and abstract feelings and events from specific insomnia episodes. For example, in one of the paragraphs, I discuss and allude to actual dreams of mine which are very personal. I would be uncomfortable talking about these dreams directly so I used more vague and abstract ways to describe them. In addition, I also tried to move into more abstract and less tangible ideas as I wrote so that over time the essay gets crazier. I wrote the essay in this fashion to simulate how insomnia seems to cause me to lose a sense of reality as I am awake further into the night. During peer review, my readers gave a lot of positive feedback which I really appreciated. I was worried that my essay might be too abstract, but they reassured me that it was still enjoyable. They also helped me decide to add the image from Shawn Coss which I had been debating previously. I wasn’t sure if its tone would work with what I was intending but my peers agreed that it worked well within context. I was also inspired by the writing of David Foster Wallace, so I tried to emulate his use of footnotes in the early linear section of the essay. My footnotes seek to add humor and additional context similar to how Wallace wrote Consider the Lobster. I also tried to build a somewhat cohesive narrative into my lyrical essay so that it would be more satisfying to read. The paragraph where I irrationally believe I am either having a heart attack or have recently perished is another reference to actual experiences of mine while also attempting to build suspense. A common symptom of my insomnia is irrational thoughts and irritations regarding the temperature but it is often hard for me to decipher if it is too hot or too cold. This then became a guiding theme throughout the essay to show what led me to get out of bed and walk around in the backyard.
Lyrical Essay Animated
Next, we were given a large amount of freedom to create more or less whatever we wanted, inspired by our Lyrical Essay, for a Digital Media assignment. I’ve always been a fan of animation so I decided to make a sort of animated video essay. I’m not sure how to classify it really, so instead, I’ll describe my process. I recorded a voiceover of my Lyrical essay with added sound effects and then created drawings that I thought were fitting. Then I animated them using After Effects and online tutorials from creators like Ben Marriott.
Reflection
This project helped me work through and think more elaborately about insomnia in my own way. There was a certain freedom in creating and discussing this more personal topic coupled with the safety of the abstract product that hid the details. I also feel like I’m improving my drawing skills and my comfort in After Effects which I’m feeling happy about.