Course outline
Module 1
Module 1: Origins of the Essay: Montaigne and the Art of Trying
Origins of the Essay: Montaigne and the Art of Trying
Knowledge check
Q1. What does the French word 'essayer' mean, from which Montaigne derived the name of his literary form?
- A. To persuade
- B. To try or attempt ✓
- C. To narrate
- D. To judge
Why: Montaigne named his writings 'essais' from the verb 'essayer,' meaning to try or attempt, reflecting his tentative and exploratory approach to his subjects.
Q2. In which year did Michel de Montaigne first publish the Essais?
- A. 1490
- B. 1580 ✓
- C. 1650
- D. 1720
Why: Montaigne published the first two books of his Essais in 1580, establishing the essay as a distinct literary form.
Q3. Which of the following best describes Montaigne's central subject in the Essais?
- A. Abstract theological doctrines
- B. Himself, through self-examination ✓
- C. Military strategy in the Wars of Religion
- D. The rules of classical rhetoric
Why: Montaigne famously declared that he was the subject of his book, using his own thoughts, habits, and experiences as a lens for exploring the human condition.
Q4. Montaigne's essays are characterized by which of the following qualities?
- A. Rigid adherence to a single thesis
- B. Digressive, exploratory, and open-ended reasoning ✓
- C. Strict chronological narration
- D. Formal verse structure
Why: Montaigne's essays wander, digress, and circle back, embodying the spirit of trial and provisional thought rather than fixed conclusions.
Q5. Which classical author was a major influence on Montaigne's essayistic method and his interest in moral reflection?
- A. Homer
- B. Virgil
- C. Plutarch ✓
- D. Dante
Why: Montaigne greatly admired Plutarch, whose Moral Essays and Lives shaped Montaigne's reflections on character, ethics, and human behavior.
Module 2
Module 2: Voice and the Personal Essay
Voice and the Personal Essay
Knowledge check
Q1. In a personal essay, what does the term 'voice' most closely refer to?
- A. The length of the sentences the writer uses
- B. The distinctive personality and perspective that comes through the writer's language and attitude
- C. Whether the essay is read aloud in a public setting
- D. The use of direct quotations from other writers
Q2. Which of the following is the most defining feature of the personal essay as a form?
- A. It presents only objective, verifiable facts
- B. It is written in verse rather than prose
- C. It explores ideas through the lens of the writer's own experience and reflection
- D. It must be exactly 500 words long
Q3. Why do many essayists use the first-person 'I' in personal essays?
- A. Because the first person is grammatically required in all essays
- B. To establish a direct relationship with the reader and ground ideas in lived experience
- C. To avoid having to cite any outside sources
- D. Because the third person is considered rude in literary writing
Q4. Which revision would most likely strengthen the voice of a personal essay?
- A. Removing all sensory details to appear more neutral
- B. Replacing specific memories with general statements that apply to everyone
- C. Adding specific, concrete details and honest reflection about how the writer thinks and feels
- D. Using as many technical terms and jargon words as possible
Q5. What is the relationship between the writer's self and the subject in a personal essay?
- A. The writer should completely erase themselves to focus on the subject
- B. The writer uses their own experience as a way into a larger subject or idea
- C. The subject is always more important than the writer's perspective
- D. The writer and subject must be unrelated to avoid bias
Module 3
Module 3: Argument and the Critical Essay
Argument and the Critical Essay
Knowledge check
Q1. In the essay as a literary form, what is the primary function of a thesis statement?
- A. To summarize the author's biography
- B. To state the central claim the essay will argue and support
- C. To list the sources the writer consulted
- D. To entertain the reader with an anecdote
Q2. Which of the following best describes a claim in critical writing?
- A. A fact that is universally accepted and needs no support
- B. A debatable assertion that the writer must justify with evidence
- C. A direct quotation from another author
- D. A personal feeling that cannot be argued
Q3. What is the main purpose of counterargument in a critical essay?
- A. To confuse the reader so they accept the thesis
- B. To replace the writer's own argument with someone else's
- C. To acknowledge opposing views and strengthen the writer's position by responding to them
- D. To pad the essay with additional length
Q4. Which type of evidence is most appropriate for supporting an argument about a literary text?
- A. Personal opinions about the author's character
- B. Specific passages, quotations, and details from the text itself
- C. Unverified rumors about the author's life
- D. General statements such as 'everyone knows this is true'
Q5. What distinguishes a critical essay from a purely descriptive or summary essay?
- A. It uses more complicated vocabulary
- B. It is longer in word count
- C. It makes an arguable interpretation and defends it with reasoning and evidence
- D. It avoids referring to the original text
Module 4
Module 4: Form, Structure, and the Shape of Thought
Form, Structure, and the Shape of Thought
Knowledge check
Q1. In essay writing, what is the primary purpose of a thesis statement?
- A. To summarize the author's biography
- B. To state the central claim or argument the essay will develop ✓
- C. To list every source the author consulted
- D. To provide a dramatic opening anecdote
Why: A thesis statement articulates the central claim or argument that the essay sets out to support, giving the reader a clear sense of the essay's direction and purpose.
Q2. Which structural approach organizes an essay by moving from a specific example to a broader general principle?
- A. Inductive reasoning ✓
- B. Deductive reasoning
- C. Chronological ordering
- D. Spatial ordering
Why: Inductive reasoning builds from particular observations or examples toward a general conclusion, whereas deductive reasoning starts from a general premise and applies it to specifics.
Q3. What is the function of a transitional sentence in an essay?
- A. To introduce a new quotation without context
- B. To conclude the essay with a final verdict
- C. To connect one idea or paragraph to the next and signal the logical relationship between them ✓
- D. To repeat the thesis word for word
Why: Transitions guide the reader through the essay's movement of thought, showing how one idea leads to or contrasts with the next, which helps maintain coherence and shape.
Q4. Michel de Montaigne is often credited with establishing the essay as a literary form. What does the word 'essai' roughly mean in French?
- A. A formal proof
- B. A trial, attempt, or test ✓
- C. A published sermon
- D. A collection of letters
Why: Montaigne chose the term 'essai,' meaning an attempt or trial, to signal that his writing was exploratory and provisional rather than a definitive statement of truth.
Q5. In the essay form, what does a digressive structure most typically allow a writer to do?
- A. Avoid ever returning to the main subject
- B. Follow the associative movement of thought, wandering from the central topic and returning to it in a way that reveals meaning ✓
- C. Eliminate the need for evidence
- D. Present information strictly in alphabetical order
Why: Digression lets the essayist mirror how the mind actually works, following associations and tangents, and often the detours themselves deepen or complicate the main argument.
Module 5
Module 5: Lyric Essays and the Blurring of Genres
Lyric Essays and the Blurring of Genres
Knowledge check
Q1. Which feature most distinguishes the lyric essay from a traditional expository essay?
- A. A strict requirement to cite primary sources
- B. Heightened attention to language, image, and associative structure over linear argument
- C. A fixed length of exactly 1,000 words
- D. The exclusive use of first-person narration
Q2. What does the term 'blurring of genres' most accurately describe in the context of lyric essays?
- A. Writers avoiding any use of factual information
- B. The mixing of essayistic reflection with poetic techniques, fragments, and sometimes fiction or memoir
- C. Combining two separate essays into one publication
- D. Replacing paragraphs with bullet-point lists
Q3. Which of the following is a common structural device used in lyric essays?
- A. A single unbroken paragraph of argument
- B. Numbered sections, fragments, or white space that create associative leaps
- C. A formal thesis statement in the first sentence
- D. Chronological ordering of events only
Q4. Why might a lyric essayist choose associative connections over logical progression?
- A. Because associative writing is always shorter
- B. To mirror how memory and perception often work, inviting the reader to make meaning between images and ideas
- C. Because editors require it for publication
- D. To avoid expressing any personal opinion
Q5. Which writer is most often associated with the development of the lyric essay as a recognized form?
- A. Ernest Hemingway
- B. Samuel Johnson
- C. Phillip Lopate and Brenda Miller, who have written extensively on and anthologized the form
- D. William Shakespeare
Module 6
Module 6: The Essay in Journalism and Public Writing
The Essay in Journalism and Public Writing
Knowledge check
Q1. Which characteristic most distinguishes an essay from a news report?
- A. It must always be written in the first person
- B. It emphasizes the writer's perspective, reflection, and voice alongside information ✓
- C. It is required to cite at least ten sources
- D. It must be shorter than 500 words
Why: Essays foreground the writer's personal viewpoint, interpretation, and reflection, while news reports traditionally aim for objective, detached reporting of facts.
Q2. The word 'essay' is derived from a French word meaning which of the following?
- A. To argue
- B. To attempt or try ✓
- C. To publish
- D. To observe
Why: The term comes from the French 'essayer,' meaning 'to try' or 'attempt.' Michel de Montaigne popularized the form in the 16th century, describing his writings as attempts to explore ideas.
Q3. In public writing such as newspaper opinion columns, what is the primary purpose of an essay?
- A. To list every available fact on a topic
- B. To present a personal interpretation and invite readers to consider an idea ✓
- C. To replace official government documents
- D. To provide step-by-step technical instructions
Why: Opinion and public essays aim to offer a considered perspective on an issue, persuading or provoking thought in readers rather than merely cataloguing information.
Q4. Which of the following is a common feature of effective journalistic essays?
- A. Avoiding any concrete examples to stay abstract
- B. Using a strong opening hook and concrete details to draw readers in ✓
- C. Writing exclusively in passive voice
- D. Including footnotes on every paragraph
Why: Journalistic essays often open with an engaging hook, such as an anecdote or striking image, and rely on concrete details to make abstract arguments accessible to a general audience.
Q5. Why do essayists in public writing often adopt a conversational tone?
- A. Conversational tone is required by all publishers
- B. It helps build rapport with readers and makes complex ideas easier to follow ✓
- C. It allows the writer to avoid making any claims
- D. It guarantees the essay will be academically cited
Why: A conversational tone creates intimacy and accessibility, helping general readers engage with the writer's ideas without feeling excluded by jargon or formality.
Module 7
Module 7: Revising the Essay: Craft, Style, and Editing
Revising the Essay: Craft, Style, and Editing
Knowledge check
Q1. Which revision strategy is most useful when you want to check whether each paragraph in an essay advances a single, clear idea?
- A. Reading the essay aloud to listen for rhythm
- B. Writing a one-sentence summary of each paragraph's main point and checking that it supports the thesis ✓
- C. Running a spell-checker across the full draft
- D. Replacing all adjectives with stronger synonyms
Why: Summarizing each paragraph in one sentence exposes drift, redundancy, and paragraphs that do not serve the thesis. Reading aloud and spell-checking address other concerns, and swapping adjectives is a style pass that comes after structural revision.
Q2. In the context of essay revision, what is the main purpose of cutting 'filler' words such as 'very,' 'really,' and 'in order to'?
- A. To make the essay shorter regardless of its meaning
- B. To avoid plagiarism by removing common phrases
- C. To tighten sentences so the writer's actual claims carry more force ✓
- D. To ensure the essay meets a required word count
Why: Filler words dilute emphasis and slow the reader down. Removing them sharpens sentences so the important claims stand out, which is a matter of craft rather than length or plagiarism.
Q3. Which of the following is the clearest example of revising for style rather than for content?
- A. Adding a new paragraph with evidence supporting a claim
- B. Changing the order of sections to improve the argument's logic
- C. Varying sentence length so that a long paragraph does not read as monotone ✓
- D. Removing a counterargument that the writer no longer believes
Why: Varying sentence length is a stylistic adjustment affecting how the prose reads. Adding evidence, reordering sections, and removing a counterargument all change what the essay argues or shows.
Q4. Why is it often advisable to set a draft aside for a day or more before revising?
- A. The draft will improve on its own while it rests
- B. It creates distance, making it easier to notice gaps, unclear sentences, and errors that felt invisible while writing ✓
- C. Editors are required to wait before accepting submissions
- D. Memory of the topic fades, which makes the writing more original
Why: Familiarity with one's own text causes writers to read what they intended rather than what is on the page. Time away restores a more objective reader's perspective, revealing problems that were hidden during drafting.
Q5. Which question is most useful to ask when editing a sentence that feels vague?
- A. Could a more complicated word make this sound more academic?
- B. What specific claim or image am I trying to convey, and can I state it more concretely? ✓
- C. Is this sentence longer than the one before it?
- D. Would a reader have already seen this idea in another essay?
Why: Vagueness usually signals that the writer has not pinned down the exact claim or image. Asking what specifically is meant leads to concrete, precise revision, whereas adding complexity or worrying about length does not address the underlying problem.