Lisa Edmonds

In both audio essays by Joshua Wheeler and Rachel Yoder in The Missouri Review, they stress key words in order to get their message across.  They also, use many other techniques like pausing, but the phrases that drew my attention the most were the words expressed that could not be ignored.  When Wheeler discusses his experience with his suicidal sister, he recalls how dark his sister’s eyes were from sobbing (6:23).  This short and simple sentence goes deep in expressing just how miserable his sister really was.  These were no crocodile tears, they were real, real signs of pain and grief. Initially, he does not tell us directly that she is killing herself but gives us several clues.   When he states, “Dad was carrying around the Vicodin bottle,” it becomes clear what his sister’s intention were (7:58).  In the beginning he makes several references to the church but he does not tell us the whole story until the end.  This kept my attention and made me want to know more.  Wheeler says phrases like, “Hot hands of sinners, sinners, sinners (2:16).  I am not sure if he is referring to suicide or to life in general, that can sometimes put people over the edge.   These are the bad things that happen to us, that some people can not recover from, and then decide to take the only way out they see as possible, suicide.  Yoder also throws out some shocking terms that make you want to listen. For example, when she talks about the kids in her school that had coon hunting permits,  this did not need to be repeated because of the shock value in her statement (5:30).  The thought of young kids running around with shotguns for the sole purpose of killing Black people was a shocker to say the least.  She also used little phrases like  ‘a two stop light town,’ that drew my attention, mostly because I’m from a two light town (1:20).  That fact that two towns could be so similar but be so much unlike each other, fascinated me.  My town was and still is opened minded when it comes to diversity.  The fact that Yoder rebels from the bigotry in her town is an inspiration.

In The Bitter Fruits of Wakefulness by Joel Lovell, he uses his audio essay to depict his insomniac experience as a 11 year old kid (34:32).  The techniques he uses are simply his voice and the vivid memories of his childhood with a little music in the background.  He doesn’t need any special effects. He does not use many of these techniques that are prevalent in the old style of the audio essay. He simply tells what may same like nightmares to an 11 year old boy.  He uses many examples to depict the trauma that kept him from sleeping as a kid. One that stands out is when he hears his father fight with his brother (36:32).   At that time he was too young to know what was happening with his brother, who was not, yet, diagnosed  with Schizophrenia. He paints a clear picture simply by telling his story. The voice is the number one tool the audio essayist needs to make his story come to life. Jeff Porter states in Essay of the Radio Essay, “Radio essays deal with the uniqueness of sounds, and that uniqueness is grounded in the human voice” (193).  Every voice has its own personality and is a reflection of the person who is speaking.  Lovell’s radio essay feels as if you are talking with an old friend that you can relate to, especially if you’ve ever suffered from insomnia, which I have.  The production assistant, Keith,  from  Ira Glass’s, This American Life,  uses a different  technique.  He uses audio from the movie The Shining in addition to his voice, to tell his story. He also uses interviews with others to help complete the picture.  For example, the vision of the two little girls in the movie is one that is clearly locked in my head from youth. So when he talks about them and plays the part of the movie when the little girls say, “Come play with us Danny,”it is as clear as if I was watching the movie right then and there (48:54).  He was only six at the time, and it is easy for anyone who has seen the movie to understand how it could keep him up at night.  This is the most important part of being an audio essayist, to be able to put clear images into the listener’s head.  Keith also keeps it interesting with bits of humor, like when he interviews his mom (48:40).  His mom thought the little girl(s) were friends of Danny’s.  He shows the humor in what was a traumatizing incident in his childhood. Keeping people tuned in is the job of a radio essayist, which they both do.

In Albert Goldbarth’s Delft, the three poles discussed by Aldous Huxley in From the Preface to Collected Essays, are clear and present in his essay.  First, I must add that I am still itching after reading this essay about fleas.  The first pole that Goldbarth shares with the reader is his personal memoir of his relationship with Cynthia.  He states, “They’ve only pestered me once in my life, and that was at Cynthia’s,……sharing its fleas with us seemed its singlemost warmhearted gesture”(255).  He is reflecting back on his romance with Cynthia and what an intricate part the fleas had to do with it.  How picking the fleas off of Cynthia led to more passionate endeavors.  For the second pole he is always referring to historical facts, which I believe to be true, although I am not always sure.  For example he states as a fact, “It’s not this piercing that causes the itch, but enzymes in the fleas saliva,…..keeps the blood from coagulating” (266).  Throughout the text he is throwing out names, places and dates, as history and proof of what he is saying to be true.  He even throows in some passages from the bible:

We first read of plague in Samuel,

Book I, Chapter V: as punishment

for stealing the Ark of the Covenant,….(268).

For the last prose he uses many mythological references to tell his story.  He declares, “Cupid, it turns out, is vexed when an ambrosia-lubricated convocation of deities turns sleepy under Morpheus’s intervening,…..with three days and nights of mad coupling resulting (261).  Cupid’s arrows turn into fleas and everyone is so itchy that they relieve their selves with love making.  Goldbarth goes back and forth with all three of these prose until the end of the essay.  This makes it a far more interesting text than if he had just stuck to the use of one or two.  Huxley explains, “Most essayists are at home  and their best in the neighborhood of one of the essay’s three poles, or at the most only in the neighborhood of two of them (88).  He explains that to be able to use all three poles in an essay is a great gift that few writers possess. Goldbarth is definitely one of those great writers.

Arthur Christopher Benson states in “The Art of the Essayist,” that the reader does not go to an essay to get definitive answers to questions, but rather to get different views about ideas and problems that phase the human-kind (40).  This sentiment can be reflected numerous times in Annie Dillard’s “Total Eclipse.” The reader goes through the experience with someone who is witnessing a total eclipse for the first time. Many times Dillard points out what may seem like irrelevant details, such as the clown’s painting hanging up in her room (97).  Although this has nothing to do with a total eclipse, this observation brings to light an ordinary detail that every reader can relate to.  Seeing a hideous object that sticks in your mind, whether or not you want it to, is a monotonous occurrence in life, that may seem like a minor issue, but Dillard’s interpretation enriches this experience.  This is what Benson says is the purpose of a good essayist (42).  Dillard does this several times while describing the events of the day.  Even such minor details like pointing out the car lights that are on and the people going to work during the eclipse, are prime examples (108).  Although the description of the eclipse is breathtaking, when she points out the fact of people not being able to stop to watch it, because they fear losing their jobs, is a perfect example of what an essayist does according to Benson.  Benson states that all people, men and women alike, no matter who they are or what restrictions they may have in life, should value theirs (41).  Benson and Dillard both value individuals for themselves an not by their station in life.  Dillard observes and appreciates even small details, like the boy comparing the eclipse to a Life Saver (106).  No longer is the eclipse being described as this terrifying, death defying event (for example, the poor Emperor Louis of Bavaria) (103).  Now it can be seen for what it is, a beautiful mystery of nature.  This is what an essayist does, and makes the reader appreciate and sometimes fear the unknown.

After reading Carl h. Klaus’s opinions on what an essay is, and is not, I’ve come to the conclusion that I agree with most of his theories.  I do not agree with all, but most.  An essay is more than just reporting facts.  Everything in life is relative, and what what might be factual for you, may not be factual for others.  I agree that by just reporting factual statistics, this will never give you the whole story.  At the the same time facts are needed  in order to get the story straight.  Since all people see the same situation in a different perspective, it in hard to ascertain fact from fiction. Joan Didion’s opinion seems to align with this perspective.  She is an enlightened women that know there is no black an white in life.  Her essay on “Keeping a Notebook,” she points out the character defects in us all.  Didion states, “Why did I write, “Why didn’t I write any of this down (21)?”  She questions her own ability to recall past memories as they happened.  I agree with Klaus when he states that Spectator papers are not true essays (xvi).  Essays have a heart and soul and are much more than just statistical facts.  There is a practical use for such devices, like to find out the weather.  At the same time there is no questions about what the weather will be.  There is no passion.  There is no room for debate.  Spectator papers are there only to put out the facts without divulging into how these facts came about.  Most people listen to facts as if they were law.  The ability to question the facts is what a true essay writer does, whether he is right or wrong. Klaus wants people to think for themselves without all the propaganda that is put in the world today.  There is a place for factual knowledge, but it will only keep you ignorant if you do not learn to read between the lines.