The central message of Edward Hoagland’s “What I Think, What I Am” is that the essay is a unique and enduring literary form because it reveals the writer’s mind and identity in a direct, personal way.
While short stories have a timeless universality, essays thrive on individuality and flexibility. They are not just about facts or arguments but about the voice, thought process, and personality of the writer. Essays connect readers to writers in a conversational, intimate manner, showing both what the writer thinks and who the writer is.
In short, the essay’s value lies in its ability to capture the living quality of a writer’s mind, making it both personal and enduring.
Summary
Edward Hoagland begins by noting that modern life has become lonely, and because of this, people often turn to columnists and essayists for companionship. Readers feel close to these writers — whether they are newspaper personalities, national critics, or movie reviewers — because they consistently share their thoughts and feelings. People return to these voices week after week, as though they were neighbours or friends who provide a steady stream of attention. This explains why the essay form continues to be popular, even though some people claim it is outdated.
Hoagland argues that essays are actually more successful in today’s marketplace than short stories. Writers find it easier to publish essays, and more of them appear in print. However, there is no well-known yearly anthology of essays, unlike the anthologies that collect the year’s best short stories. This shows that even though readers enjoy essays, they are not always recognized as highly as stories.
Hoagland then compares short stories and essays. Short stories, he says, feel permanent. They are balanced and satisfying because, while everything may have been tried, nothing feels overdone. The essay, on the other hand, is more unstable. Although it has a long history going back to Montaigne, it often seems tied to the changing trends and excesses of modern times. Essays may mix autobiography, journalism, or experimental writing. They can be slippery and hard to define, like a “greased pig,” as Hoagland describes them. Many young writers use essays in popular magazines and alternative newspapers to make a name for themselves, unlike short stories, which appear in more traditional literary journals.
Despite this, essays remain important. They exist between two poles: “what I think” and “what I am.” Essays allow writers to share both their ideas and their personal identity. In fact, autobiographies can be seen as long essays, since they combine personal history with reflection. A personal essay feels like a human voice speaking directly to the reader. Unlike articles or formal treatises, essays follow the mind’s natural flow, meandering yet meaningful. They may not boil down neatly into a single summary, but they always contain a central point.
Hoagland emphasizes that essays are less universal than stories. Stories can appeal to anyone because they awaken empathy and imagination. Essays, however, speak from one mind to another. They assume the reader shares certain cultural knowledge, education, and even a sense of civility. This makes them more limited in audience, but also more intimate. The “I” in an essay can be flexible, just like a narrator in fiction, but the essay still carries the personal stamp of the writer.
To illustrate this, Hoagland gives the example of Mark Twain’s essay “Corn-pone Opinions.” Twain begins not with an abstract statement about public opinion, but with a vivid memory from his youth: listening to a neighbour’s slave imitate local preachers while standing on a woodpile. The story is lively and colourful, and from it Twain develops his broader point. This shows how essays can combine storytelling and reflection to make their ideas more engaging.
Another strength of essays, according to Hoagland, is their flexibility. Just as fiction writers can use real events and still call them stories, essayists can shape and adjust their memories to serve the purpose of the essay. Essays do not have to tell the whole truth in a literal sense, but they must communicate a deeper, honest point. A personal essay may not even be autobiographical at all. What matters most is that it conveys the character and quality of the writer’s mind.
Because essays are tied so closely to the mind, they reflect its freedom. The essay is one branch of literature that honours individuality and the quirks of personal thought. Its fascination lies in this quality: when we read an essay, we are drawn to the unique movement of another person’s mind. Unlike other forms of writing that may be constrained by structure or convention, the essay is free, flexible, and deeply personal.
In conclusion, Hoagland argues that the essay is not outdated or dying. Instead, it continues to thrive because it speaks directly from one mind to another. While short stories may feel more permanent and universal, essays remain valuable for their honesty, flexibility, and ability to reveal both “what I think” and “what I am.” Essays succeed because they capture the living quality of thought, and that is what makes them endlessly fascinating.
Understanding
1. What does Hoagland mean when he says that essays "hang somewhere on a line between two sturdy poles: this is what I think, and this is what I am" (3)?
Hoagland means that an essay is both personal and reflective. It shows the writer’s opinions (“what I think”) and also reveals the writer’s personality or identity (“what I am”). In other words, an essay is not just about ideas but also about the person behind those ideas.
According to Hoagland, essays share certain features with stories, articles, and autobiographies. Like a short story, an essay may tell a vivid tale, use description, and capture a moment from life in a lively way. Like an article, an essay often puts forward a point or reflection, though in a less rigid and formal manner. Similarly, essays may resemble autobiographies in the sense that they draw on the writer’s personal experiences, feelings, and memories. In all these forms, there is a balance of fact, imagination, and thought that helps to connect with readers.
Despite these similarities, essays stand apart because they are less about structured plots, factual reports, or complete life stories, and more about the writer’s mind at work. A short story aims to create characters and events, but an essay focuses on the author’s reflections and identity. An article is often precise and factual, while an essay is informal, conversational, and guided by the author’s personality. Likewise, while an autobiography usually covers the full story of a person’s life, an essay may use only fragments of personal history and even reshape them to bring out a deeper meaning. Thus, the essay is unique because it lies between these forms but remains more flexible and personal than any of them.
3. An "emphasis upon mind speaking to mind is what makes the essay less universal in its appeal than stories" (4). What does Hoagland mean by this statement? Do you agree with him? Why or why not?
Hoagland means that essays usually appeal to readers who share a similar background, education, or cultural understanding as the writer. Stories, on the other hand, can touch almost anyone because they rely on universal emotions like love, fear, or hope.
Yes, I agree with him. Essays often require readers to understand the writer’s references or context, so not everyone can enjoy them equally. Stories, however, can move readers regardless of background.
4. What does Hoagland mean by the statement, "the artful 'I' of an essay can be as chameleon as any narrator in fiction" (4)?
Hoagland means that the “I” in an essay, the voice of the writer, is not always a fixed, literal self. Like a narrator in fiction, it can shift, adopt different tones, and even play multiple roles. The essayist may choose to present themselves in different ways depending on what best serves the essay.
5. What does it mean for an essayist to be truthful? What is Hoagland's point concerning the essayist's freedom to select, distort, or partially tell the truth?
For an essayist, being truthful means expressing a deeper honesty about ideas and feelings, not necessarily sticking to exact facts. Hoagland says essayists can adjust or reshape memories — selecting or even distorting details — as long as their main purpose is to highlight a larger truth. The goal is not strict accuracy but meaningful insight.
Hoagland uses Mark Twain’s “Corn-pone Opinions” to show how essays can combine storytelling with reflection. Twain begins with a lively personal memory and then uses it to explore a bigger idea about public opinion. This example illustrates the flexibility and power of essays: they can be personal and narrative while still making a thoughtful point.
Rhetoric/Language/Writing
1. What is Hoagland's tone in his essay?
Hoagland’s tone is thoughtful and conversational. He speaks in a reflective way, almost as if he is talking directly to the reader. At times, his tone is playful and humorous, such as when he calls the essay a “greased pig.” Yet overall, it is serious and respectful, because he wants to show the value and importance of essays as a literary form.
2. Summarize the argument of this essay.
Edward Hoagland argues that the essay is not an outdated or dying form but one of the most vital and flexible forms of writing. He begins by pointing out that in today’s lonely world, people often rely on essayists and columnists as companions, returning to their voices week after week. This shows that the essay has an ongoing appeal and is even easier to publish than short stories.
Hoagland compares essays with other forms of writing. Short stories, he says, feel permanent and universal, while essays are more unstable and experimental. Yet this instability is also their strength because they can combine autobiography, journalism, storytelling, and reflection. Essays exist between two poles: “what I think” and “what I am.” They are not rigidly factual like articles, nor complete life stories like autobiographies, but instead, they capture the writer’s mind in motion.
Hoagland further explains that an essayist has the freedom to reshape memory or even distort details, as long as the deeper truth is preserved. What matters most is the honesty of thought and the quality of the writer’s voice. In the end, essays endure because they bring one mind into direct contact with another, revealing both individuality and insight.
3. How does Hoagland "define" essay? Is the definition formal, or extended?
Hoagland defines the essay in an extended way, not in a single formal sentence. He explains its nature by comparing it with stories, articles, and autobiographies. He also describes its qualities: conversational tone, flexibility, and the balance between personal experience and thought. By giving examples, like Mark Twain’s “Corn-pone Opinions,” Hoagland shows that an essay is both personal and reflective. Instead of one rigid definition, he paints a full picture of the essay’s form and purpose.
Discussion
1. "An essay is intended to convey the same point to each of us" (3). Discuss.
Hoagland means that essays, unlike stories, are not open to many different interpretations. A story may allow each reader to find their own meaning, but an essay is meant to deliver one clear point from the writer’s mind to the reader’s mind. Even if the style is loose or playful, the essay still carries a central idea that all readers are expected to understand in the same way.
2. What is the relationship between what you think and what you are?
According to Hoagland, an essay balances both thought and identity. “What you think” refers to the writer’s ideas, reflections, and opinions. “What you are” refers to the writer’s personality, character, and voice. An essay combines these two sides, so that it not only explains a viewpoint but also reveals the kind of person the writer is. Thought and identity are linked together, and the essay shows both at once.
Hoagland means that the main attraction of an essay lies in the unique way a writer’s mind works. Essays may not have dramatic plots or universal appeal like stories, but they are interesting because they reveal how a person thinks, remembers, and reflects. The flow of ideas, the shifts in tone, and the quirks of personality make an essay captivating. In short, we read essays to enjoy the movement of another person’s mind.
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