essay architecture
This Sontag quote maps onto my essay framework of voice (sight, sound, spirit):
“What is important now is to recover our senses. We must learn to see more, to hear more, to feel more.”
See more: imagery, concision, motif;
Hear more: rhythm, reputation, rhyme;
Feel more: tone, perspective, subtext.
I went into Susan Sontag’s “Against Interpretation” thinking we would disagree, but her take is more nuanced. She’s against interpreting an artist’s intentions to make it fit your own narrative; but she’s for analysis of the thing itself (it’s form and the sensation it evokes). By the end, she pleas for a “dictionary of forms,” which feels like the
... See moreIn the 14th century, Dante laid out 4 levels of meaning: allegorical, anagogical, historical, and moral. I wonder if you could simplify this to 3: formal analysis (the work itself), moral analysis (the stakes of agreeing and implementing the ideas of the piece), and historical analysis (the macro environment the piece was created within).
Instead of using GPT4 for Essay Architecture scoring, I should look into making my own weighted models. With around 200 examples, and a detailed breakdown of each, it will have a deeper and more intuitive understanding of the concepts.
Oscar Wilde, The Decay of Living (p.57)
“Nature has, in her eyes, no law, no uniformity.”
Quick pitch for Essay Architecture: Before I was a writer/editor, I was an architect. While that field has really strong books that teach the entirety of the craft, writing advice is scattered (also, too general / too specific). This makes it hard to improve at essay writing. A visual map of the craft makes it easier to grasp, and measurable patter
... See moreOur society has a love/hate relationship with quantification. The consensus is that we’ve OD’d on numbers and need to step back into a more intuitive state. I certainly feel that and find value in it too, but I’m still a number-head.
How does the good, the true, and the beautiful tie into essay writing?
I think Essay Architecture covers the beautiful. It’s the vessel to shape something so it’s engaging, balanced, and full. Truth is writing about topics that are real and honest and unique to you, while the good is about arriving at an idea that condones harmony and advances the s
... See moreSome points to defend the POV that “essay quality is objective.”
Specific scope: You have to set the scope small enough to “essays.” Books, memoirs, newsletter and other written mediums have their own criteria. Songs and films are even more different. I think it’s important not to get bogged down in genre, and instead to see genre as a culturally a