One Hundred Great Essays

by Robert DiYanni

One Hundred Great Essays is published as part of the Penguin Academics Series, a series of low-cost, high-quality offerings. One Hundred Great Essays collects one-hundred of the most teachable and rewarding essays used in today's college composition class. The anthology combines classic, commonly taught essays with frequently anthologized contemporary essays by today's most highly regarded writers. The selections are broadly diverse in both subject matter and authorship. Essays have been selected as both models for good writing and useful springboards for student writing. An introductory section discusses the qualities of the essay form and offers instruction on how to read essays critically, and shows students how to use the writing process to develop their own essays.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Literature, Academic, Anthologies

800 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Robert DiYanni is an adjunct professor of humanities and an instructional consultant at the Center for the Advancement of Teaching at New York University. In these capacities he teaches courses on critical thinking, interdisciplinary humanities, commerce and culture, and business and its publics, and conducts workshops and consultations with faculty throughout the university on aspects of pedagogical practice. Before coming to NYU, Dr. DiYanni taught at Queens College and Pace University and as a visiting professor at Harvard. He also served, for ten years, as Director of International Services at The College Board.

Reviews

[JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read most of this in April but had to return it before a trip. It's a neat mix of classics and modern works, all worthy examples and interesting in their own right. A few social themes are disproportionately emphasized, especially gender and race issues. Among my favorites of the selection were: Graduation (Angelou), Of Studies (Bacon), Politics and the English Language (Orwell), Notes of a Native Son (Baldwin), Calculated Risks (Cole), Attending a World (Bateson), The Trouble with Wilderness (Cronon), Letter from a Birmingham Jail (King), On Self-Respect (Didion), and The Geography of Imagination (by Davenport).

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection has so many great essays to choose from, that I have more than my share to choose from to teach an advanced writing class next autumn.

[K. Anna Kraft · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've arranged my takeaway thoughts on this book of essays into a haiku, as is my way:

"Perspective’s a voice
At the wind’s mercy, unless
Someone writes it down."

[j j · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have looked at the contents of several anthologies of essays but they all seem to have a few good ones and a lot of mediocre ones. Even the good ones may not be the best by those essayists. Not this collection. This one is packed with the best essays by the best essayists. I didn't read or intend to read it from cover to cover but did a selective reading to cover authors whom I have liked or about whom I have come across in my past readings.

The ones that I liked are:
'How we listen' by Aaron Copeland
'The interpretation of dreams' by Sigmund Freud
'Nowhere man' by Pico Iyer
'The medium is the metaphor' by Neil Postman
'The din in the head' by Cynthia Ozick
'The mother tongue' by Amy Tan

[Liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I realize there's a newer edition out, so I'm not 100% certain what specific essays were removed or added. I think despite that major detail this collection is still a great find, because of the variety of essays.

There's a great mix of dry essays, entertaining gems, and essays that could be said to be somewhere in between, which I think is important for students to be exposed too. It included "The Vindication of the Rights of Women," and "A Modest Proposal" to more modern essays that deal with topics of language acquisition and culture such as "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" to Judy Brady's "I Want a Wife."

The topics are diverse and range from social to political issues. Due to the publication range of the essays in the collection, anyone can mix and match cultural issue to particular writing style if you are inclined to do so.

Each essay has a mini intro to the essays and background information on the author who wrote the essay. After each essay there are 3 writing prompts that students can do, though not all of the particular prompts may suit your individual tastes or needs. (I consider them more as a potential assignment and just an added bonus as opposed to writing assignments that must be completed with each essay.)

I think if you're planning on teaching Pre AP/AP Language/AP Literature this collection is a great resource to have, though I suspect that those in Pre AP and AP Language may benefit more than an AP Lit class.

Overall, great find, and something I think you should consider having your school look into if you are considering purchasing new material for the English department.

[Doug Geivett]

I'm not reading this straight through, but sampling essays periodically. As of July 7, 2008, I've read seven of the essays: Francis Bacon, "Of Studies," Roland Barthes, "Toys," Lord Chesterfield, "Letter to His Son," Aaron Copeland, "How We Listen," Gretel Ehrlich, "About Men," Queen Elizabeth I, "Speech to the Troops at Tilbury," Anne Fadiman, "Never Do That to a Book."

[Chuck]

Got this anthology as a freebie at a summer inservice when I was teaching high school English, and I've held onto it since despite the frequent purges and liquidations that have been going on in our home since retirement (think Swedish death cleaning). For now, it's what I read when I'm between books.
I've read about a dozen of the 100 essays so far, and they've been interesting and enjoyable. It'll take a while to read the rest, as I'm sure I'll dive into other books along the way. So, more later...