What Kind of Personal Essayist am I?

Ambivalence = Mixed Feelings (Photo by SashaW)

I. The Conversational Element (xxiv-xxv). Am I willing to explore feelings of ambivalence or doubt?

II. Honesty, Confession, and Privacy (xxv-xxvii). Am I open to revealing sensitive details about my private life?

III. The Contractions and Expansions of the Self (xxvii-xxix). Am I open to discussing my personal flaws? Am in interested in revealing my extensive knowledge of a particular subject?

IV. The Role of Contrariety (30-31). Am I interested in articulating an opinion readers are likely disagree with?

"Echo and Narcissus" by John William Waterhouse (1903)

V. The Problem of Egotism (31-32) Do I have a response to those who might accuse me of vanity (for writing about myself, my experiences and opinions)?

VI. Cheek and Irony (32-33). Do I enjoy making fun of people?

"Idleness" by John William Godward (1900)

VII. The Idler Figure (33-35). Do I celebrate idleness?

VIII. The Past, the Local, and the Melancholy (35-37). Do I want to focus on “the local”? Am I interested in looking back at past experiences and reflecting on how they shaped the person I have become?

IX. Questions of Form and Style (37-41). Do like to meander into unexpected places instead of taking a straight path from A to B?

X. Quotation and the Uses of Learning (41-42). Am I interested in using texts I’ve read to propel my writing?