Hello, WR 323 Participants, Welcome to our Week 4 Discussion! As mentioned in our Schedule, your reading assignment for this week is the following: The guidelines for your Lyric Essay Crafting the Personal Essay, Chapters 7 and 8 Andrew Jason Jacono, "Marlowe" (Links to an external site

In his book, Moore talks about the "wonderful freedom in an essay", where an individual can "follow one's curiosity wherever it may lead"; however, he does warn that the writer needs to "insure coherent movement and interest for the reader", lest they get lost along the way (Moore, 77). It is the "free-form meandering of an author's curious mind" that connects "recurring threads" who hint at provoking observations and existential questions (Moore 84, 86). There is a beauty to this lyrical form, as words group together and offer a glimpse into the mind of the author, or even beyond that. Fleda Brown's essay "Home Bodily Repair Kit" follows such an example, particularly with the third paragraph: 

"The neck is a column or pipe with several smaller pipes inside it, so as to be able to make various kinds of music out of air. Its lift and curve has been likened (he has likened it) to a swan’s, a winning combination of elegance and vulnerability. But here’s the thing: the exterior column is covered with such fragile skin that it loses its grip on itself year by year. Its first sighs are called Venus rings, as if from too much loving. The strap muscles do what they can. You can strengthen the base, but the crumpling goes on. Who would have thought I’d end up so trivial? Do I think I am Mandelstam in his gulag, writing immortal and perfect poems about butterflies, poems that contribute to the Greater Social Good in ways understood by only a few? Or do I think I can flaunt the sadness of my neck like a scarf, theatrical, signaling to the audience some grand, private despair?"  (Brown, 2015) 

Brown uses a lot of imagery in this section of her essay, and much of it is rather intriguing; her transition from the "swan's...winning combination of elegance and vulnerability" to her "flaunt[ing] the sadness of [her] neck like a scarf" provides a stark contrast in tones (Brown 2015). The play between her own appearance and certain questions of life, such as if her work "contribute[s] to the Greater Social Good", creates a palpable tension in ideas that pulls the audience in and has them start to wonder about where they fit in in life (Brown 2015). It isn't just how the words are arranged in the structure of the paragraph that makes this section of her essay stand out. It is how the combinations of words make the story leap off the page, and what questions they ask to be pondered as the audience continues reading. 

For my lyric essay, I will be writing about an antique perfume set that once belonged to my great-grandmother. It is four complete pieces (without any nicks or scratches), with two droppers (I assume that's what they are), a small dish, and the tray these pieces sit in. For an essay, you never want to write "for an audience of one", and there needs to be "some unspoken harmony behind [the] words and images" you use (Moore 94). Describing the perfume set in detail, along with how I got it in the first place, would be a good start, as then my audience knows exactly what I'm talking about. Talking about what it means to me might be a little more difficult, as every writer often goes off on tangents that may be a bit confusing to the reader. However, I plan to discuss what my family means to me and how the Carr Fire affected me, as both events tie back to the antique perfume set my great-grandmother once had herself. 

Sincerely, 

Janie Browning

Works Cited 

Brown, Fleda. "Home Bodily Repair Kit". Brevity, Issue 48, Winter 2015. 

Moore, Dinty W. Crafting the Personal Essay: A Guide for Writing and Publishing Creative Nonfiction. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 2010.