Essays discussion

*Jonathan Swift - A modest proposal (1729)
http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html

*Thomas Jefferson - The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America (1776, 4th of July)
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/...

*George Orwell - Shooting an elephant (1936)
http://www.online-literature.com/orwe...

*Langston Hughes - Salvation (from The Big Sea (1940))
http://www.spiritwatch.org/firelangsa...

*E.B. White - Once More to the Lake (1941)
http://www.moonstar.com/~acpjr/Blackb...

*George Orwell - Politics and the English language (1946)
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/...

*Bruce Catton - Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts (1955)
http://faculty.ucc.edu/english-chewni...

*Martin Luther King Jr. - A letter from Birmingham jail (1963)
http://www.historicaltextarchive.com/...

*Martin Luther King Jr. - I have a dream (1963)
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Martin...

*Judy Syfers - I want a wife (1972)
http://www.verge.demon.co.uk/kerb/wan...

Well, Brik, it seems I've had my head so far up my own arse since graduation that I'm lost in the dark. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I shall try to absorb and mull the above sometime soon.
Best,
R.

Hi Richard, yes, these examples are apparently obligatory reads, which doesn't make it more fun reading them. I don't like all of them but they are considered classics.
If you have favoute (contemporary) essays, please add them here and will add them to the chronological list.

Hi Brik,
I breezed through a couple of them and will further fullfil my "obligations" in due course. Will keep my eyes and ears open.
All the best,
R.

Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" is the essay that won me over to the genre many years ago. I taught it in a freshmen comp class while in grad school, and have been hooked ever since -- on the genre in general and Orwell's nonfiction in particular. (there has long been speculation, though, on the part of some biographers that Orwell, then known as Eric Blair, never actually shot an elephant, which would nudge this piece into the realm of fiction -- as would his essay "A Hanging," which certainly reads more like a short story than an essay)

My other favorite is "How the Poor Die."

As fine an essay at White's "Once More to the Lake" is, my personal favorite is "The Ring of Time." That final line about the difference between the aritifical light reflected and the genuine inner light generated by a circus performer is marvelous: "It is the difference between planetary light and the combustion of stars."

MLK's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" is also a great piece to teach. I use it in a freshmen seminar on the Law and Literature. His argument for nonviolent civil disobedience really moves the students -- especially his point that the mere passage of time changes nothing; people must actually DO something to effect change.