History of the Essay
Who is known for his aphorisms (short, witty, and wise sayings)?
Ben Franklin
Who is known for writing "Poor Richard's Almanac?"
Ben Franklin
Who is being known for being compared to Zen paintings and wrote in a stream of consciousness style?
Kenko
Who is known for being a poet and Buddhist monk that was known for his brief and fragmented essays?
Kenko
Who wrote "A Letter from a Birmingham Jail?"
Martin Luther King Jr.
Who wrote "No Name Woman?"
Maxine Hong Kingston
Who wrote the spoof "Is Sex Necessary?"
James Thurber
Who thought essays should have "gusto" (passion)?
William Hazlitt
Who wrote "On the Pleasure of Hating?"
William Hazlitt
Who is known for teaming together and publishing in periodicals called The Tatler and The Spectator?
Addison and Steele
Who is known for being a lifelong bachelor and writing "A Bachelor's Complaint?"
Charles Lamb
Who wrote "The Essays of Elia?"
Charles Lamb
Who wrote "Marrying Absurd?"
Joan Didion
Who wrote "Charlotte's Web" and "Stuart Little?"
E. B. White
Who wrote "Once more to the Lake"?
E. B. White
Who is known for being "Father of the English Essay?"
Frances Bacon
Who wrote "Learning to Read and Write?"
Frederick Douglass
Who is known for writing 1984?
George Orwell
Who is known for writing Animal Farm?
George Orwell
Who is known for writing the essay "Shooting an Elephant?"
George Orwell
Who wrote about cowboys and life in the West?
Gretel Ehrlich
Who had a book of essays titled Walden?
Henry David Thoreau
Who wrote "Civil Disobedience?"
Henry David Thoreau
Who is known for his literary satire "A Modest Proposal?"
Jonathan Swift
Who is known for writing about race relations in America and his societal place of being a black man?
James Baldwin
Who wrote "Notes From a Native Son?
James Baldwin
Who wrote for Harper's and The New Yorker?
James Baldwin
Who had an autobiography titled "My Life and Hard Times?"
James Thurber
Who wrote "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty?"
James Thurber
Who is known as the "Father of the Modern Essay?"
Montaigne
Who is known for naming essays as "essais" (meaning attempts)?
Montaigne
Who wrote "The Way to Rainy Mountain?"
N. Scott Momaday
Who, from 46-120, wrote "Parallel Lives" and influenced biography?
Plutarch
Who, from Greece, wrote "Moralia?"
Plutarch
Who wrote in an aphoristic style ('hitch your wagon to a star' and 'trust thyself') and based essays from his public lectures?
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Who wrote "Heading Into Darkness?"
Richard Rodriguez
Who is known for publishing his periodicals in The Rambler, Idler, and Adventurer?
Samuel Johnson
Who is known for being a Japanese court lady that wrote pillow books and on gossip?
Sei Shonagon
Who is known for being a Roman writer who wrote "Asthma" and "Noise?"
Seneca
Who was known for being a Roman writer was also an orator, philosopher, and wrote dramatics?
Seneca
Who was known for writing "Common Sense" and had a periodical called "The Crisis?"
Thomas Paine
Who wrote "One Life" and "The Electric Kool-Aid Test?"
Tom Wolf
Who wrote "Death of a Moth" and was published in Common Reader?
Virginia Woolf
Who wrote "Their Eyes Were Watching God?"
Zora Neale Hurston
