annotated source 02/03

Montaigne, Michel de. "To the Reader." Quotidiana. Ed. Patrick Madden. 26 Dec 2006. Web. 2 Feb 2012.

Montaigne was French, not British--I feel like I have to say that upfront as I am presenting his essay as a source. The reason why I am including Montaigne in my sources is that even though he was French (his first language was actually Latin, interestingly enough), he is considered the father of the personal essay. He, in fact, named the genre by calling it the "essay." The word "essay" formally means "attempt or try" which makes sense because the heart of the personal essay is the idea of experimenting with ideas by trying them on, attempting to understand the world around them. Anyway. This particular essay "To the Reader" is one of Montaigne's shortest essays--don't think, though, that I chose it for the length. I chose this because this essay was the preface to his book of essays; thus, this preface comments more on the essay as a form rather than essaying per se. In it Montaigne states, "had my intention been to seek the world's favor, I should surely have adorned myself with borrowed beauties: I desire therein to be viewed as I appear in my own genuine, simple, and ordinary manner, without study or artifice: for it is myself I paint." He is setting forth the essay as an honest, frank form of literature in which the author attempts to portray him or herself in a genuine manner instead of "borrowing beauties." This, along with other statements in this essay, are at the heart of the essay, and all other essayists since have him to thank for the genre. Most of the classical British essayists (especially Lamb) interact directly with Montaigne's writing, so I felt like he had to be in my course of study somewhere.