Seneca Review, a publication of Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY, came out with a special issue recently (Vol 37, No. 2), to honor previous editor, Deborah Tall. The issue's theme is on the lyric essay and in a vague explanation of what is, and how it is attributed to her, John D'Agata mentions of a correspondence with Tall when he was still in college. She wrote, What you're looking for is a kind of essay propelled not by its information, but rather by the possibility for transformative experience. You're talking about the lyric. A lyric form of the essay.
There. Whatever 'there' is.
What intrigued me, though, was the issue's first article after D'Agata's intro. It is entitled Assignments, written by Wayne Koestenbaum, and I was not sure if it is a lyric essay or a prose poem or, for the life of me, really an assignmment. Here are some items Koestenbaum wants for us to do:
- Write a Jean Rhys imitation. Include five examples of understatement. Include one hyperbole. Include one sin. Structure the piece not as a narrative but as a definition or a lesson.
- Discuss a specific prescription drug's relation to politics.
- Make a list of worries. Interview a famous person. Combine the two.
- Discuss a shopping quandary.
- Quote a line from a novel or a poem. Selfishly manipulate and misuse the quote.
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Someday I will abuse this idea and make my own assignments. In the meantime I will go to the nearby park, run around the lake, feed the ducks, and weigh my options: to shop or not to shop.
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