5-6:15pm
Intro…..
Essays
Freewriting
Samantha Irby….
Essay defiance, in Irby’s work….
Life and when it’s written
What’s on your night’s page?
FROM ME: Essays are an opportunity to not just express and idea but convey conviction, tell stories… and if it’s an assignment a chance for your to develop an original idea, to offer your input, and “expertise” I guess you could say. Yes, there should be a thesis, yes it should be supported, have “structure”(structure, can be debated and defined in a dizzying galaxy of ways)…. But the essay you write should be impassioned, and a part of your thinking, the way you see something. There should NEVER be summary in an essay. Yes, you can and probably should refer to parts of what you read, but not too much! The reader of your work wants to read YOU!
And honestly, forget the word “essay”. Rather, embrace “writing”. Stick to that word, and the actuality the it is YOUR writing. The essay is a time to be free and expressive, yes passionate but full of life on the page. I don’t get why students don’t seize more upon the canvas that an essay provides, the stage to write. Well, I do… ‘cause of how you’ve been taught. Not saying that’s wrong by any means, but try something different. Try a different thought shape and view of YOUR essay writing.
I like the way Irby writes. She writes deprecating things about herself but its more like color commentary because shes just going with the flow. I appreciate the fluctuations in length also because consistency is boring
Tough love is the ONLY love, at least in narrative and memoir… I very much get this from Irby’s work.
Any quotes from her essays?
Not necessarily but I wonder why she choses to write in the style she does rather than essays and chapters? Why does she have a similar story vibe to her writing?
It’s playful, conversational… there’s a thread of curiosity and judgement in the essays, I think.
“Are you looking to get married? -I don’t know homie. Marriage seems so hard.” and ” The bachelorette proves that man are as petty, vapid, and ridiculous as women are made to seem, they’re just better at hidding it” I love the second quote. She’s calling them out and standing the facts!!
”Maybe in this life you get all kinds of soulmates, multiple people who vibrates at the same level you do. I think that Fred is for me.” I loved this quote because I can relate a lot with that situation. For one second she wrote something that made me think she would start writing something serious and philosophical – which she did but in the same sentence she wrote ”I just don’t get to see his penis anymore” that made me laugh so loud
Me too!
I’m wondering if Irby wants one thing from life, several, or nothing…. I’m having a hard time seeing what her actual desires are.
I think she is just flowing and not really having expectation. But being grateful for things she gets and most important, making fun out of everything. That is what I think
Interesting!!
“I mean, someone should write a primer for adulthood that’s just two or three sentences long:
1. WEAR CLOTHING THAT ACTUALLY FUCKING FITS.
2. BUY DRUGS FROM REPUTABLE DEALERS ONLY.
3. DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM AN OVERDRAWN CHECKING ACCOUNT.
”
Love this you can see how well she is able to make something crappy into a hilarious situation that also teaches a lesson.
YES FINN!!!!! So true!!!!
Professor Mikey, what do you mean by essay defiance?
Oh.. don’t get me started!! lol ….. The traditional form and meaning of essay is something Ms. Irby totally dismisses… she’s a diarist more so than essayist!! 🙂
what is a diarist
One who writes in a diary..
Thank you! Sorry I should’ve just looked it up!
You’re good, Shantel…. thanks for posting.
Essay Defiance = Rejecting what essays “should be”…
My book just came today, but from the first few pages I feel like her and Sedaris share a lot of ideals. She seems very interesting and I want to dive into this book.
Cool!!! What makes her interesting?
to me she doesn’t really follow like essay structure it’s just different and I like that
I like the term essay defiance ! When you think about it, is there really a ‘correct’ way to write an essay? I feel like as long as you get your point across it shouldn’t mature the structure of your essay. Sometimes thinking outside the box benefits you.
*matter
damn auto correct
Nearly always, Jake!!! 🙂
Well I think that is something david tried advocating and I think Irby is doing something similar as well.
I think she came out of the gate strong because “My Bachelorette Application” is extremely funny. She is easily relatable for me
Awesome!!! Enjoy the reading!!
TOUGHEN UP. As a writer and student… something I wrote to MYSELF the other day, and wanted to share with you all. When we have character and identity, we are fortified and nothing is unattainable. So….. TOUGHEN. UP.
I totally agree mikey
I appreciate you, Finn.
Honestly it took me a while to catch , what you were meaning with toughen up. But I have to say that I can agree with you. You have my back 💯
ALWAYS, Evelyn… AL-WAYS. I appreciate you.
I think these author’s wants us to get rid off the word essay . Since they are doing their free style form of writing
YES!!!! Please write that in your journal, and develop that idea!! That’s great!!!
I will work on it Mikey. But don’t promise a perfect essay 😁
There’s not such thing as a perfect essay, my friend!!! Just enjoy your writing….
I feel like in high school for me at least, teachers looked for a specific style like topic sentence, concrete evidence then two complimentary comments then a conclusion, repeat this for 5 paragraphs and that’s the essay. I never really understood why I would be docked for writing 3 paragraphs because the content of those 3 would be equal to another’s 5 .Yet I would be docked for not having 2 other paragraphs
They’re teaching you structure, which is great!!! But it’s not the only consideration with essay composition!!!
I was replying to Jake silvas comment
I totally agree. Sometimes you don’t need to drag your essays till 5 paragraphs. You end up using recycled work and it just puts a damper on your previously great 3 paragraphs.
Not always….
I think high school really was just teaching us how to follow instructions more than learning
assembly line thinking
“How did you hear about our search? I have a television. And I do most of my reading while waiting in line to buy diet yogurt at the grocery store. ” picturing her writing this is so amusing to me. I imagine her voice dripping with sarcasm and a no duh quality to it
🙂
At this point in my life when I decide to write it out and realty to understand it makes me feel less stressed. To know yourself and the environment around you makes life much better and expressing that through literature is a great way to start.
I feel that when life is written, it’s given to so much validity, but more life.. more tangibility. When it’s on page, it defies age.
writing is invincible
As class comes near an end; what’s on everybody’s page tonight?
lol… we still have 15 minutes buddy!!! But for me….. Essay defiance!!!!!!
Omg I just seen 6:15 haha my bad
All good brother. Cheers.
I think I am going to challenge myself and write about essay defiance.
Could be a topic for the final paper, this semester!!!
The defiance in Irby’s writing for me sounds like: see I can do whatever comes to my mind, why can’t you?
Again the confidence of just being and writing down your thoughts and feelings
Structure to an Essay is important however it also feels sometimes that laying rules as to what should entail an essay limit and hinder my writing sometimes. In previous english classes ive had to write multiple page essays before and ive always felt that i was wasting my time at some point and start repeating points. I feel that having a page or word limit is hindering good writers who can condense their arguments into smaller essays that dont need to be as long as they are. Even for the essay we just turned in I felt like i was forcing myself to think of points and topics at around page 4 and 5. Because of that i felt i wasn’t doing my best work and i rewrote those pages multiple times and still came ended up feeling sub par in those pages. I would rather read a short book that is consistently amazing and interesting instead of a longer book that has a few good moments between huge spaces of boring filler that serves no purpose. I feel essays work the same way.
Interesting…
Most of the time when “life” is written it is in a journal. personally I enjoy writing in my life. It is a place for me to vent without hurting anyone’s feelings.
mine will be happiness in a dangerous hobby
Explain…
well i would say skating is pretty dangerous, and there are countless other hobbies that are dangerous too. Cave diving, free-climbing, skydiving, surfing. I want to highlight the correlation of how the pain and the scary parts of these hobbies actually is what some the your happiest points or most achieving points in that hobby come from.
YES! I don’t know if that is what you meant but for me the dangerousness show us that we are alive and automatically brings us joy/happiness for just realizing that we are fu#$@ing alive. Living not just surviving
Talk to me about Irby’s writing style… and her use of the essay. Please… 🙂
Tonight, I want to reflect on my past English classes and kind of compare and contrast the different things I’ve learned in regard to strategies and methods. I enjoy how we want each other to be honest and true with our pages. I used to really hate writing in my journal because it is hard to sit still, but I have adapted and started to look forward to writing in my journal for this class!
jk too early oopsies!
I’m envious of irbys confidence and her style of just being able to be herself
Any parts that give you this feeling?
I feel like when life is written, then it leaves it up for the readers interpretation. They may have a different thought process than the author so they arrive at a different conclusion. I also feel like written life has the possibility to not age well, like writing about npc topics
i honestly think it takes a lot of practice to be able to analyze yourself and make fun of yourself to the extent of Irby. I think the depth she goes to in some of these stories shows the commitment she has to showing you, the audience, Samantha Irby through her own eyes.
I agree. If she was more generic, then it just wouldn’t be her.
totally nianna!
Agreed. I like the way you expressed your thought
ah man i appreciate it you gave some great ideas too jake
Love this POSITIVE energy… no complaining, only support and collaboration. Cheers to the both of you.
I think her style is more than the writing.. it’s HER. Her way.. her attitude, character.. meeting someone new is how I feel reading her paragraphs.
and you get to know so fast too. She tries her hardest to tell as much about herself as possible at the earliest possible position in her book
I totally agree!!!
You really get the full experience when she’s reading to you. You can understand the way she wants what she’s saying to come off
Yes.. attitude is immediate with Ms. Irby… definitely a strength.
More and more “Essay Defiance” to me means define the essay yourself. Make it your own.. it’s not about saying “fuck it”, or not doing the writing, the assignment if you want to call it that… it’s about ownership y’all!!!
I enjoy the fact Irby doesn’t hold back, she doesn’t shy way from any topic which is a hard thing to do in this era. I can confidently say that I think I will enjoy that rest of her book at this pace.
Irby Definitely makes her writing her own.
Oh yes… possible writing idea… OWNERSHIP.
What’s on tonight’s page, colleagues??
I will write on page about my new experience . I got another management to over in small clinics . I was trill to make anew change into my life , but this gave me a 360 degree change . A new beginning a new offer new me
As I said before on my page I am going to challange myself and write about essay defiance.
Tonight’s page has a lot of notes about Samantha Irby I didn’t notice myself but will look out for. After writing the Sedaris essay there are many things I wish I could have kept track of and listened to other people’s perspective to better my own.
try to leave constrictions out of your composition
YES!!!
For me life when it is writing is the attempt to materialize yourself, your memories and your thoughts. I see it from the same perspective I see photograph. For me, people nowadays wants to register every single things and the easiest way to do so is recording or taking photos. But when you write, you register more than just the moment, you register yourself in your words.
**btw this is on my tonight’s page
Love this..
It was nice to be here with you all, Mikey I have your back 100 . Be safe and take care of the baby, can we possibly meet him? Talk to you soon you all
Have a great night, everyone. Enjoy your writing, and Irby’s pages… 🙂
I think on tonight’s page I want to discuss how Samatha and David and similar yet different in their own ways.
Thanks everyone! Have a lovely evening 🙂
Have a good night everyone!