Science has fascinated the human race since the dawn of time. It intrigues, manipulates and formulates our understanding of our world around us. It grows, expands and then adds to the collective work of what already is carried on the giant shoulders of scientists. Then, once accredited and accepted as plausible, it advances the stockpile of human knowledge through the dispersal of academic essays. Unlike science, the personal and subjective approach to essay writing entertains the reader, which adds little in comparison, to the attainment of human knowledge. This essay analyses these characteristics and why the personal essay isn’t beneficial to human knowledge, and is a form of entertainment, rather than an educative medium.
The personal essay is best described as a representation of who the author is and why they have come to the conclusion of where their ideas now are. It balances their personality, written expression and their own ideal qualities in an entertaining and persuasive manner. Joseph Epstein describes this type of essay as “a happy accident of literature. I call it an accident because it seems to have come into the world without anything like a clear line of descent”, his quote furthers the creative manner of the personal essay . The move away from academic papers was to target a wider audience. Due to the casual approach of the personal essay, the boundaries are limited only to the imagination of the author. With the lack of cohesiveness and requirements, the overall product which often appears after writing these reflective pieces, gives a wider view of the individual properties and thoughts of the author, rather than an objective thorough essay often seen at university levels.