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Essay Books

The word “essay” derives from the French infinitive essayer which means “to attempt.” The written essay has its roots in this meaning. Early essays were often treatises or attempts to explain phenomenon, or retellings of personal experience to promote certain modes of behavior.  

Typically, though not always, essays are written from the author’s personal point-of-view. They can be about anything from observations about butterflies to treatises about why a political change is needed.

More recently, as creative nonfiction has become an increasingly prominent genre, the essay is thought of as a unique way of telling stories, something like a nonfictional short story.

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