Edward Hoagland’s essay “What I Think, What I AM” shows us the possibilities of mingling mind with feeling, and thought and feeling with form. It shows the accuracy of his observation that “the fascination of the mind is the fascination of the essay.” Defining the essay, Hoagland enumerates the salient features of the personal essay.
About the writer Edward Hoagland
EdwardHoagland is an American author best known for his nature and travel writing.
His essays have been collected into tour books: The Courage of Turtles (1971),
Walking the Dead Diamond River (1973), Red Wolves and Black Bears (1976), and
The Edward Hoagland Reader (1979). He has also written three novels and two
travel books.
What has
been most read of Hoagland's output are his essays, which, as he has written,
"hang somewhere on a line between two sturdy poles: this is what I think,
and this is what I am."
Summary of the essay “What I Think, What I AM” by
In the
essay, the writer, Hoagland gives an efficient definition of the personal
essay. He is trying to say to us that there is the possibility of a fusion of
logic and reason in the essay. He also says that there is a fascination with
the mind in the essay. Many people think that essays are outdated at present
but Hoagland does not think so. He claims that essays can be sold more easily
in the market than short stories. The art of storytelling is predated in the
time of cave painting but after movies, novels, biography, and so on send
stories in the drain. According to the writer, once short stories are written
in a specific context, they cannot be overdone. But essays can be overdone,
revised, and added in each edition.
The writer
thinks that the essay is always hung between this is what you think and this is
what you are. It means that it covers the writer's mind, thoughts, and
feelings. He massively supports personal essays which for him is the expression
of the human voice. According to the writer, personal essays are the mind's
spontaneous flow on the paper. He advocates that such essays are not
systematized outlines of the idea. In this regard, it is more informal than an
article. Essays don't condense with a summary as articles do.
An essay is
a mind speaking to a mind. Ideas of the essay are expressed by an educated, and
knowledgeable man. In this regard, it is less universal in their appeal than
stories because the essay is addressed to an educated, perhaps a middle-class
reader. Personal essays also tell a story while keeping a particular viewpoint.
For example, in Mark Twain's piece called, "Corn-Pone Opinions "in
which Twain says that a 15 years old boy used to hang out a black window and
listen to the sermons by a neighbor's slave standing on top of a woodpile.
A personal
essay frequently is not autobiographical but sometimes conveys the quality of
the author's mind. The personal essay is more different than other genres
because the personal essay is directly concerned with the mind and it is
bestowed with the fascination of mind is the fascination of essays.
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Frequently asked question from the essay What I Think, What I AM
1. What are the similarities and
differences, as Hoagland maintains, between an essay on one hand and a story,
article, or autobiography on the other?
Ans: Essay (especially a personal essay) is different
from an article because the personal essay is more informal. Unlike stories, it
is the voice of human beings. An essay does not usually condense to a summary
as articles do. An essay is a mind speaking to a mind so that to understand, It
needs intellect and a logical mind. It is less universal than stories because
the essay is addressed to an educated. For him, autobiographies are generally
extended essays that talk only about the writer self.
2. An "emphasis upon mind
speaking to mind is what makes the essay less universal in their appeal than
stories". What does Hoagland mean by this statement?
Ans: He means by this statement that essays are written
for educated and intellectual readers. So, to understand essays, there needs
minds and intellect. In this regard, the essay is less universal in its appeal
rather than stories.
3. What does Hoagland mean by the
statement, "the artful I of an essay can bias chameleon as any narrator in
fiction"?
Ans: He means that like in fiction, in the personal essay,
the first-person narrator's status and existence become like a chameleon. The
narrator changes his colors as a chameleon frequently changes according to the
situation. Here color means the narrator's existence throughout the essay.
4. What is Hoagland's tone in his
essay?
Ans: Hoagland's tone in his essay is suggestive and
appealing (to write a personal essay).
5. How does Hoagland
"define" essay? Is the definition formal, or extended?
Ans: Hoagland defines the essay as mind speaking to the
mind, the fascination of mind is the fascination of the essay and it does not
boil down to a summary. In this regard, the definition seems to be formal.
6. "An essay is intended to
convey the same point to each of us" (3). Discuss.
Ans: While comparing the essay with stories, the writer
says that the essay is intended to convey the same point and ideas to each of
us. He means that a personal essayist does not give symbolic and muddle ideas
but he tries to tell us clearly what he wants.
7. What is the relationship between
what you think and what you are?
Ans: What you think is related to the mind, what you are
is related to your existence. It is interrelated because without a mind, your
existence is meaningless and without your existence, you cannot think.
8. "Fascination of the mind is
the fascination (of the essay)" (6). Explain.
Ans: The fascination of the mind is the fascination of
the essay because essays are directly concerned with the mind. The very freedom
of the mind possesses is bestowed on this branch of literature that does honor
to. A personal essay frequently is not autobiographical at all, but what it
does keep in common with autobiography is that by its tone. It conveys the
quality of the author's mind. Nothing gets in the way. It means that only the
personal essay and the author's mind are directly connected. So that
fascination of the mind to write only can be towards fascination of the essays.