Essay Sampler: Models of Good Writing (Part 3)

As noted in previous essay samplers (Part One and Part Two), one of the most effective ways to improve our own writing is to spend some time reading the best writing of others. Take time out to read Zora Neale Hurston on "the eternal feminine," Jo Goodwin Parker on poverty, E.M. Forster on the nature of ownership: another dozen essays, speeches, and articles--most published within the past century, but one almost 300 years old.

1. Inaugural Address of Barack Obama (2009)
   "We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."



2. "Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts," by Bruce Catton (1956)
   "So Grant and Lee were in complete contrast, representing two diametrically opposed elements in American life. Grant was the modern man emerging; beyond him, ready to come on the stage was the great age of steal and machinery, of crowded cities and a restless burgeoning vitality. Lee might have ridden down from the old age of chivalry, lance in hand, silken banner fluttering over his head."



3. "A Hashish House in New York," by H. H. Kane (Harper's, 1883)
   "Suddenly I heard a fierce clamor, felt the scrawny arms of these foul spirits wound about my neck, in my hair, on my limbs, pulling me over into the horrible chasm, into the heart of hell, crying, shrilly, 'Come! thou art one of us. Come! come! come!' I struggled fiercely, shrieked out in my agony, and suddenly awoke, with the cold sweat thick upon me."



4. "How It Feels to Be Colored Me," Zora Neale Hurston (1928)
   "At certain times I have no race, I am me. When I set my hat at a certain angle and saunter down Seventh Avenue, Harlem City, feeling as snooty as the lions in front of the Forty-Second Street Library, for instance. So far as my feelings are concerned, Peggy Hopkins Joyce on the Boule Mich with her gorgeous raiment, stately carriage, knees knocking together in a most aristocratic manner, has nothing on me. The cosmic Zora emerges. I belong to no race nor time. I am the eternal feminine with its string of beads."
   Reading Quiz on "How It Feels to Be Colored Me"



5. "In Praise of Idleness," by Bertrand Russell (1932)
   "I think that there is far too much work done in the world, that immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous, and that what needs to be preached in modern industrial countries is quite different from what always has been preached."



6. "Life Under the Chief Doublespeak Officer," by William Lutz (1989)
   "If there's one product American business can produce in large amounts, it's doublespeak. Doublespeak is language that only pretends to say something; it's language that hides, evades or misleads."



7. "A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public," by Jonathan Swift (1729)
   ”I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled . . ..”
   Reading quiz on "A Modest Proposal"



8. "My Mother, My Hair," by Deborah Tannen (2006)
   "Daughters and mothers agree on what the hurtful conversations are. They disagree on who introduced the note of contention because they have different views of what the words imply. Where the daughter sees criticism, the mother sees caring."



9. "My Wood," by E. M. Forster (1936)
   "It is not a large wood--it contains scarcely any trees, and it is intersected, blast it, by a public foot-path. Still, it is the first property that I have owned, so it is right that other people should participate in my shame, and should ask themselves, in accents that will vary in horror, this very important question: What is the effect of property upon the character? . . . Let's keep to psychology. If you own things, what's their effect on you? What's the effect on me of my wood?"



10. "Salvation," by Langston Hughes (1940)
    "Suddenly the whole room broke into a sea of shouting, as they saw me rise. Waves of rejoicing swept the place. Women leaped in the air. My aunt threw her arms around me. The minister took me by the hand and led me to the platform."
    Reading quiz on "Salvation"



11. "What Is Poverty?" by Jo Goodwin Parker (1971)
    "You ask me what is poverty? Listen to me. Here I am, dirty, smelly, and with no 'proper' underwear on and with the stench of my rotting teeth near you. I will tell you. Listen to me. Listen without pity. I cannot use your pity. Listen with understanding. Put yourself in my dirty, worn out, ill-fitting shoes, and hear me."



12. "Why I Want a Wife," by Judy Brady (1971)
    "Not too long ago a male friend of mine appeared on the scene fresh from a recent divorce. He had one child, who is, of course, with his ex-wife. He is looking for another wife. As I thought about him while I was ironing one evening, it suddenly occurred to me that I too, would like to have a wife."
    Reading quiz on "Why I Want a Wife"

ESSAY SAMPLERS: Models of Good Writing
Part One
Part Two
Part Four
Part Five