Articles Index
The Meaning of Home, by John Berger
In this passage from "And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos" (1984), John Berger draws on the philosophy of Mircea Eliade, a Romanian-born historian of religion, to offer an extended definition of home.
A Definition of Pantomime, by Julian Barnes
In this excerpt from the essay "MPTV," Julian Barnes defines the essential characteristics of the pantomime, a form of popular theater in England since the 16th century.
Descriptive Details in Stegner's "Town Dump"
In these five paragraphs from his memoir "Wolf Willow," Wallace Stegner employs precise descriptive details to convey the poetry of a town dump.
Status Details in Tom Wolfe's Descriptions
In two paragraphs from the novel "A Man in Full," Tom Wolfe conveys a sense of character through physical description--or what he calls "status details."
Kinky Friedman's Interior Monologue
In these two paragraphs from "Armadillos and Old Lace," Friedman indulges in an interior monologue (that is, he talks to himself) "on the subject of loners."
In Praise of Clichés, by Wright Morris
In this passage from his third volume of memoirs, Wright Morris recalls a discovery he made while writing his award-winning novel "The Field of Vision." Creating genuine vernacular voices for his characters meant that he had to employ "the very clichés [he] had so often ridiculed."
Hot Hands, by Stephen Jay Gould
In this excerpt from the essay "The Streak of Streaks," paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould relies on examples and statistics to explain--and debunk--the popular belief known as "hot hands," a version of the gambler's fallacy.
Bill Barich's Descriptive Narrative
In "Steelhead on the Russian," Bill Barich recounts his experiences fishing for trout in northern California's Russian River. Here, after seeking advice from his mentor, he describes his first effort to "play the fish."
Jessica Mitford on the Embalmer's Art
In this excerpt from "The American Way of Death," Jessica Mitford describes the grisly process of restoring a damaged corpse.
Rodeo and Baseball, by Gretel Ehrlich
Award-winning essayist and novelist Gretel Ehrlich has said that she's happiest when outdoors, whether on a ranch in Wyoming or an ice sheet in Greenland. In this paragraph from her first book, "The Solace of Open Spaces," she compares two American sports, one distinctly regional, the other national.
Examples in E.B. White's "Progress and Change"
After commenting on the gradual disappearance of the Pullman berth (a small sleeping compartment in trains), E.B. White offers this reflection on the "dim degeneracy" that often accompanies progress.
E.B. White's Diction and Metaphors in "Death of a Pig"
In these opening paragraphs of the essay "Death of a Pig," E.B. White mixes formal with informal diction while introducing an extended metaphor.
E.B. White's New York in the 1940s
In the first paragraph, drawn from the opening of "Here Is New York," E.B. White approaches the city through a simple pattern of division. In the next two paragraphs, taken from the end of the essay, White anticipates the terror that would visit the city more than 50 years later.
Comparison in Sarah Vowell's Place Description
In this carefully crafted paragraph from the essay "Shooting Dad," Sarah Vowell conveys distinct impressions of her father and herself by describing--and comparing--their different work spaces at home.
Ethopoeia in George Orwell's "A Hanging"
In the following two paragraphs from George Orwell's essay "A Hanging," the narrator shifts his point of view from that of a disinterested observer to one who identifies intimately with the prisoner. In classical terms, this sort of identification is known as "ethopoeia."
Edward Abbey's List of Examples in "The Great American Desert"
In this passage from chapter two of "Journey Home," rogue environmentalist Edward Abbey identifies some of the most unappealing characteristics of desert life through a series of vivid examples.
Reasons and Examples in Paul Fussell's "Class"
This passage considers one of the more visible signs of social class: clothing and other belongings "with messages on them you're supposed to read and admire." Notice how Fussell introduces several specific examples as he explains why people "feel a need to wear legible clothing."
Examples in Pat Conroy's "Confessions of an Ex-Catholic"
Pat Conroy uses several specific examples to demonstrate the pleasure he still takes in the "baroque and euphonic language" of the Catholic Church.
William Golding's Encomium to Books
William Golding originally delivered this encomium to the book in a lecture in 1976--well before the arrival of laptops, Kindles, e-books, and other competitors to what Golding calls "physical books."
Narration in Graham Greene's "Lost Childhood"
In this brief narrative from the opening of the essay "The Lost Childhood" (first published in 1947), Graham Greene recalls "the dangerous moment" when he first discovered that he could read.
Examples in Epstein's "You Take Manhattan"
In "You Take Manhattan," Joseph Epstein describes the "permanent transience" and "jumpy rhythms" of the city he called home for three years. In the following excerpt from that essay, he employs a series of witty examples to illustrate the outsized attitudes and aspirations of New Yorkers.
A Description of the Barracks in Block 16 of Manzanar
The memoir "Farewell to Manzanar" recounts the experiences of the Wakatsuki family at an American internment camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II. In this excerpt, Jeanne Wakatsuki, just seven years old at the time of her imprisonment, provides a clear-eyed description of the "shack" in which the family was forced to live for almost three years.
Cause and Effect in "The Dream Animal" by Loren Eiseley
In this excerpt from the essay "The Dream Animal," an informal study of human evolution, Loren Eiseley relies on patterns of cause and effect to explore the mystery of the rapid emergence of the human brain.
Willie Morris's Descriptive Narrative
In the following passage from his memoir "North Toward Home," Willie Morris relies on concrete details that both record and interpret an experience.
Contrast and Hyperbole in Jean Shepherd's "Endless Streetcar Ride"
Here, in the essay-like introduction to "The Endless Streetcar Ride," Jean Shepherd relies on hyperbole to develop a memorable contrast between "them" and "us"--the "stars" and the "numberless ciphers."