Guided Analysis: "The Age of the Essay"
Be sure you have read the assigned essay and the instructional posts. You may use the general feedback to craft your own responses. That general feedback is not a set of correct responses that can be copied; it is a guide to understanding that requires you to put in additional work.

The Age of the Essay, Updated: https://sisypheanhigh.com/malachite/?p=4919


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Analyze the metaphor in ¶33: “Err on the side of the river.” *
Break down the river metaphor into actionable language, which means you can use this metaphor in your writing. This is probably the most important metaphor for us in the essay, so make sure it’s clear to you. What is a “river” in writing? How should you approach the process? How does it end?
Respond to the simile in ¶40: “At sixteen I was about as observant as a lump of rock.” *
Respond to this metaphor with your own self-awareness and self-efficacy. This is worth highlighting for a simple reason: You have to be more observant than this, regardless of age. How do you view your own ability to observe the world around you? To what extent do you think Graham’s view of himself is fair? It’s good not to know things, of course; that’s the starting place for the next idea.
Unpack the claim in ¶42: “[T]he more you learn, the more hooks you have for new facts to stick onto — which means you accumulate knowledge at what’s colloquially called an exponential rate.” *
Unpack this claim using the next quotation, including Graham’s surrounding ideas and logic when possible. Again, focus on actionable language — what we can do with this idea. What does it mean to learn at an exponential rate? What are the “hooks” in your own learning?
Analyze the observation in ¶44: “When it comes to surprises, the rich get richer.” *
Analyze this observation, focusing on what “surprise” means. In context: What does it mean to get richer? How does it connect to writing? You need to define “surprise” according to Graham’s logic, and you can connect this back to the “hook” metaphor in the previous paragraphs.
Explain the advice in ¶45: “I find it especially useful to ask about things that seem wrong.” *
Explain what “wrong” means here, and connect this to the later idea of disobedience. What are you looking for when you search for subjects and approaches for an essay? What does it mean to pay attention to “things that seem wrong,” and how could that fit into the work we are doing?
Analyze the imperative in ¶51: “Whatever you study, include history — but social and economic history, not political history. History seems to me so important that it’s misleading to treat it as a mere field of study. Another way to describe it is all the data we have so far.” *
Break down this concept, and analyze how it connects to English essays in our space. Put this in the context of the entire essay, which you’ll remember starts with a history lesson. Then reflect on your own habits here — your approach to history as Graham describes it, not as a subject in school. What does “history” look like when you write?
Connect ¶38, ¶39, and ¶53: “[I]f you want to write essays, you need two ingredients: a few topics you’ve thought about a lot, and some ability to ferret out the unexpected.” *
Discuss this idea of “ferret[ing] out the unexpected,” connecting it to the idea of “get[ting] deeply enough into it” in ¶39 and “mak[ing] a habit of paying attention to things you’re not supposed to” in ¶53. What does it mean to look for the “unexpected,” and how is this part of the writing process?
Connect that last response to another essay: Molecular Learning: Green Eggs and Deconstructed Ham. *
Connect your thoughts so far to the metaphor that animates this instructional essay: Molecular Learning: Green Eggs and Deconstructed Ham.

Take the time to reflect on this. Analyze your own habits, including which “topics you’ve thought about a lot” and what you’re “not supposed to” pay attention to. Be specific about your thinking, your learning, etc., and treat this final prompt as the most important to our future writing process. 
What do you now know, and what can you do? *
Explicate your learning after reading this text. What have you learned? What new information can you now use? What will you be able to do in your writing? How will you apply these ideas to your writing process?

This is your proof of process: What you write here shows your close reading, critical thinking, metacognition, self-awareness, and much more.
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