Essays

First, here's Courtney Akins's essay, "Survivors." This is one of my favorite lines:

"A branch lay at my feet, it must not have been able to fight the wind, and I picked it up and began hacking at the beast with horns before me. Red droplets fell and plopped upon the ground."

I like this passage because it shows, in just a couple short sentences, the sense of adventure and vividness of imagination that permeates this essay. The child's sense of urgency and fear turns this shrub into a foe, these berries into lifeblood. It's cool.



Now, for Turquoise Coney's essay, "Don't Surprise Me":

"Ms. Betty was always nice to me and the other children in the neighborhood but I couldn't get over the fact that she looked like a witch who would turn me into a rat as soon as I stepped in the door."

I love this sentence because of the fact that it shows just how irrational childhood fear is. Even though this woman, Ms. Betty, was always perfectly sweet to the neighborhood kids, they still think she's going to turn evil as soon as they step foot into her cluttered apartment. It's something I remember from my own childhood--there was this woman down the street who was really friendly, but when that woman opened up her mouth to laugh, she let our a cackle so fierce that it chilled me to the core. Terrifying.



"Bluff" by Emily Haymans

"That's how really cold cans of drinks smell to me; like thin, shiny fish scales."

There is so much emotion hiding just beneath the surface of this essay--but the serious-child voice just brushes over all of it. This sentence is an example of how the child-like and simple way of looking at things offers some sort of larger commentary. The detail here is olfactory--which is difficult to achieve, but makes for poignant writing. Awesome. I think Emily really nailed the child voice--she took it seriously, but gave it that curious, rambling manner that so overwhelmingly characterizes the story-telling of children.


Beth Godwin's essay, "The Dirty Bird"

Before I state my favorite line in this essay, it's necessary to give a bit of background. This is a line of dialogue from the narrator's sister, with one word of the narrator's internal response to follow:
" 'I'll have one, too.' Copycat. "

This essay plays with the idea of having a child narrator who internally reacts to the scene around her. This line illustrates the simple beautiy in using such a technique. It can be quick, smart, chuckle-worthy. I think that it's also a very difficult technique to use--if one's not careful the internal monologue can be overwhelming. It can seem unrealistic or forced, but I think this line shows a wonderful example of exactly when to use it.



And finally, we have my favorite line (or, more appropriately, one of my favorite lines) from
Shaun DeLoach's untitled childhood essay:

"I sunk my hands in mud until it snuggled up into my nails and past the crevices between my fingers until my hands were blanketed."

This is how Shaun opens up his essay--with the feeling of cool, soft, fabulous mud surrounding our fingers. Because when one reads Shaun's writing, it's not just the narrator who experiences the events of the essay, but rather the reader as well. We can't help but feel it because the narrator gives us enough sensory details to bring us into the world. This is just so necessary when it comes to understanding the child's view of the world around him.