The essay has positioned itself within humanity as one of the most relevant and interesting narrative resources. For centuries, one of our greatest concerns has been to be able to transmit information and knowledge, contributing our point of view.
That is why, since the Renaissance, a narrative genre was built whose main characteristic is to be able to present an idea in a subjective way built from arguments. Literary essays, within this great genre, are one of the most popular and in this new article we are going to delve into them.
Definition of a literary essay
A literary essay is any type of short narrative text that exposes a subject freely in a subjective way and making clear the point of view of its author. It is relevant to accentuate its subjective tone so as not to confuse it with other types of similar texts such as monographs or theses, which are intended to defend a specific aspect with objective data.
I believe that the essay as a genre does not boast of certainty, on the contrary, the reader takes charge of the matter. It is an invitation to analytical coexistence; the reader reads to see how far he agrees with what he is reading.
santiago kodavloff
Most of the literary essays are focused on topics that, by their nature, have a subjective tone, such as the humanities or the social sciences. In this sense, this type of essay can be of various types of subject but always taking advantage of an extension of no more than 50 pages and with the intention of being an argumentative and expository text.
Characteristics of a literary essay
Like all literary subgenres, literary essays also have their own characteristics. Specifically, this type of text falls within the genre of essays and, in order to classify them as their own subcategory, a series of characteristics have been attributed to them:
It’s subjective
One of the first points to take into account with a literary essay is that they start from a subjective basis. This means that, despite supporting its arguments with sources from other authors, the narrative thread of the essay has its own point of view that is based on the author’s experiences.
A literary essay is subjective
In this sense, it is the writer himself who proposes the topic and who decides from which perspective to cover the writing and its development.
Part of a reflection
A literary essay should not be confused with a column or opinion article. Despite being subjective, the germ of these narrative texts is a reflection elaborated by the author. In this sense, to be able to write this genre there must be an investigation, contrast and reflection on a specific topic.
Has a measured and fluent language
Another of the great characteristics that serve to define and identify a literary essay is the care that must be taken with the language. Just as in other types of essays the priority is the presentation of evidence and technical language, in literary essays the narrative style is part of the exercise.
Has a measured and fluent language
In this way, the authors must flaunt their pen and elaborate a text that exposes and defends their point of view but relying on literary resources and a fluid and coherent language.
Follow a defined structure
The theme of literary essays is completely free and subjective. However, they all agree on something; the structure. Despite the fact that there are several options regarding the treatment of information, all literary essays are divided into three parts.
Follow a defined structure
These correspond to an introduction where the subject is exposed, a development or nucleus where all the content is exposed and a conclusion where the text is summarized and closed.
Types of literary essay
Despite the fact that the premise of literary essays is that their subject matter is free and chosen by the author, the truth is that throughout its history, the same patterns have always been repeated, leading to a classification. As we said, most of the essays are focused on topics related to the humanities or social sciences.
It is for all this that we are going to review the main types of literary essays organized by theme.
Literary essay on poetry
They are all those essays that try to review or give a point of view on poetry and poetic movements. Most of the time they are usually carried out by the writers themselves and serve, on occasions, as poetic manifestos that mark the literary generations.
Philosophical literary essay
A good part of the classical authors of philosophy began developing their theory through literary essays. These types of texts use an aesthetic and refined language and want to give an outlet to issues about existence and epistemological positions.
Sociopolitical literary essay
Another of the most frequently discussed topics in literary essays are political and social sciences. In this type of text, the authors usually give their point of view on sociopolitical movements or historical situations. They serve as arguments and bases to reflect on the social and historical course of humanity.
Literary essay on novels
Just as it happens in the case of essays on poetry, a good part of these essays has to do with literature and on analyzing movements or narrative styles. From reviews to reflections on various authors or works. Literary essays on novels are one of the most popular and serve both to determine artistic characteristics and to detect literary currents.
Mixed literary essay
They are those literary essays that mix various themes. In this sense, it can be very interesting to be developing an essay on a political movement and introduce a reflection on history or philosophy to better complement it.
College literary essay
Despite the fact that other types of essays more similar to theses are handled within the academic field, based on hypotheses and evidence, narrative essays are also developed within the classroom. This helps students to develop their critical opinion and to have opinions on the topics on which they are being educated.
