Digressive Enough

Weekly column written for the Singapore Unbound newsletter. Sign up here.

Of the five essays selected for a revamped unit on personal writing, my ninth-graders liked the essay by Native American author Elissa Washuta best. "Wednesday Addams Is Just Another Settler" is amusing and moving, just digressive enough to hold the attention and not frustrate it. It is a very contemporary voice, that takes the measure of its distance from tradition, and so the measure of American itself. My students enjoyed the writing exercise inspired by the essay: to compare themselves to a fictional character that they love or used to love. I had essays on characters from childhood reads and from computer games. I recommend Washuta's essay to you for Thanksgiving reading.

Two Essay Readers have joined the SP Blog team, in addition to our new Poetry Reader and Fiction Reader (announced in the last newsletter). Jerrine Tan and Prasanthi Ram will be reading your personal essays as well as essays on literary and cultural criticism. We offer a modest payment. Check out the submission guidelines here.

In case you're interested, the other essays in the revamped unit are: "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan, "Aria" by Richard Rodriguez, "Black Men and Public Place" by Brent Staples, and "The Danger of a Single Story" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Jee Leong Koh
November 19, 2020

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