Post I: Discourse Surrounding the Essay

"Essay writing is not about facts, although the essay may contain facts. Essay writing is about transcribing the often convoluted process of thought, leaving your own brand of breadcrumbs in the forest so that those who want to can find their way to your door. Essays, therefore, confuse people. They occupy a quirky place in the general genre of nonfiction, a place many people seem not to understand."

-Lauren Slater in "Why Essays Can Confuse People"

Lauren Slater’s remarks regarding the concern of confusing essays are very valid and relevant. Slater does a fantastic job of explaining why the world today has such a terrible time understanding the bizarre and sometimes redundant essays being written. She mentions the fact that many people lack understanding of the nonfiction genre, which is a debatable, yet fairly valid point. Comprehending the tunnel of someone else’s mind is certainly confusing, but also a great way to test the mentality of the audience. Slater shows us that essays are not only about facts, but also about the process of the writer’s mind and voice.
Why are essays so much more complex then articles or journals? The answer lies behind the fact that individuals want to read things we understand directly; people are idle at times and want things handed to them. Many people start reading essays and find they are unable to comprehend the material. Ultimately, they resort to setting the essay down and finding another piece of work that peaks their interest. Articles are very much straightforward and as Slater mentions “thoroughly investigated and digested.” But from reading Slater’s comments you can see that essays are much more intriguing to the mind and ultimately open up more doors and questions to the readers who take the risk and time to indulge in an essay.
When reading an essay, the task at hand is to connect with the essayist and retain as much as possible from the story. Essays are used as a fixation where writers can easily and comfortably converse the thoughts of their mind, hoping that the audience will follow along with them. It appears that the reasons as to why essays can confuse people are basically hidden in the mind and the soon to be essay written by the author.