Rifka Mutiara Syifa

Critical Reading (A)

122154208
A Critical Review of Edward Hoagland, 2005, MIND Speaks to MIND: On Essays,
Selected American Essays 34.

People rarely read essays because they prefer reading literary works such as short
stories, novel, etc. because they think literary works are more entertaining than essays.
Edward Hoagland, an essayist and also a lecture in University of Iowa, tries to persuade
the readers that reading essays is fun. In his essay entitled On Essays, he not only
provides the advantages of reading essays, but also he compares essays and other kinds
of works such as fictions and articles.
In his study, Edward Hoagland introduces essays as an old-fashioned form based
on what most people say about it. However, the marketplace argues quite the
otherwise. By comparing between essays and short stories, he argues that the market
demands on essays are bigger than them on short stories, which is saying that people
like essays more than they do on short stories. By the second paragraph, he compares
essays and short stories on their period of time. While short stories have a permanence,
which will not be influenced by time, essays are more flexible. By using metaphor to
represent an essay, a greased pig, he tries to explain the inevitability of essays, which will
suit the time they are written.
Continuing his viewpoint, he states that a personal essay is the human voice
talking its order the minds natural row, instead of a systematized outline of ideas
(paragraph 3, line 3). The style of the essayist has a nap to it, a combination of
personality and originality and energetic loose ends that stand up like the nap on a
piece of wool and cannot be brushed flat. With that, he emphasizes that essays are
purely based on the writers mind based on their personal opinions. Also, he argues
that essays may have fewer levels than fiction, because we are not supposed to argue
about their meaning (paragraph 4, line 6). In the next paragraph, he states that reading
essays is like mind speaking to mind, because they are addressed to certain people,
such as an educated, perhaps a middle-class reader with certain presuppositions, a
frame of reference, even a commitment to civility that is shared. On the other hand,
short stories are more universal.
According to Hoagland, the artful I of an essay can be as chameleon as any
narrator in fiction; and essays do tell a story quite as often as short story stakes a claim
to a particular viewpoint (paragraph 6, line 1). By providing Mark Twains experience,

Rifka Mutiara Syifa

Critical Reading (A)
122154208
he intends to tell that in fictions, there will be another story aside of the real story which
was happened, while essay enables them to ride out rough weather and hybridize into
forms that suit the times. For a fiction writer, writing a short story does not mean he has
to write a fiction (paragraph 8, line 4). He can write his own or others story as what has
happened and it will be fiction if it remains a story. On the other hand, an essayist does
not have to tell the whole truth to make a story, but the thing is that he has to depend
on his memories to tell the truth, because essayists are obligated to tell the truth.
Since Hoagland is an expert essayist, he can probably persuade the readers to
change their mindset that reading essays is no better than reading fictions. However,
also because he is an expert essayist, we may say that he is being subjective, because he
only takes side on essays, not short stories. By reading his first argument saying, essays
of nearly any kind are so much easier than short stories for a writer to sell, one question
which came up into my mind was, Are essays really that popular?. This question
comes up not without reasons. With the concrete evidence which is found in bookstores
that most books labeled as best-selling books are fictions, such as novels and
anthologies, which are favoured by young adults nowadays. On the other side, essays
do not seem to have the sales to that extent. From that fact, I can say that Hoaglands
argument is invalid. Moreover, Hoagland does not provide further information about
the popularity of essays; it makes the readers question his argument.
The next argument which I find rather questionable is the human voice talking
in essays. Essays are purely based on the writers mind, which is with his or her own
style describing something based on his or her opinion. When stating this opinion,
Hoagland does not compare it to how fictions are. Fictions if I may sayare also
human voice talking, and absolutely, it is a combination of personality and originality
which each writer has particular style. However, they can transform into somebody or
something else when they are being the narrator of a story. While he is emphasizing on
the benefits of essays, he is saying that essays have fewer levels than fictions. This
argument, in my opinion, is rather confusing because it makes the readers concludes
that essays are still no better than fictions. As an amateur in essays, I also do not really
get his point. What levels is he talking about? Again, further information is needed to
support his argument to make the readers understand.
The last argument of him which makes me put my faith on fictions is the fact that
essays are addressed to only particular people, like those with higher educational
background. That fact actually leads to a conclusion that less people enjoy reading

Rifka Mutiara Syifa

Critical Reading (A)
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essays, as they are not universal. On the other hand, fictions can be read by everyone,
without exception, which make more people put their interest in reading fictions.
As an expert essayist, Edward Hoagland offers worth-reading essay, because he
shows the other side of reading essays that people might not recognize before. The way
he delivers his opinion is interesting, since he puts figurative language which makes the
readers put more attention to it. His aim to persuade the readers to like essays also has
to be praised, because as we know, rarely people recognize the existence of essays, and
it must be difficult to convince them. However, he needs to add more information about
essays and fictions from other experts point of view, not just his. Also, he should have
provided more concrete examples and evidences that people can relate to. This essay is
good for fiction readers to read; because it gives them new thinking that they can read
more than just fictions. Other than that, I recommend this essay for amateur essay
writers, for this essay will encourage them to develop their writings and be confident
with their works.