Essays & Speeches

These study guides analyze powerful words that have shaped and reflected some of the most influential moments in history. Perfect for exploring the power and craft of rhetoric, this collection covers Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments, among many others.

Publication year 1995

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Family, Society: Community, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Flora/plants, Natural World: Place, Values/Ideas: Literature

Tags Creative Nonfiction, Science / Nature, Military / War, Parenting, War On Terrorism / Iraq War, Biography

High Tide in Tucson is a series of essays by heralded American novelist Barbara Kingsolver, collected and published in 1995. The essays are wide-ranging in subject matter, addressing topics from politics, to nature, to midcentury domestic life, but all reflect Kingsolver’s observations about herself and the people around her. Prior to her writing career, Kingsolver had a wide range of other professional experiences that influence essays in the book.Most of the essays in High Tide... Read High Tide in Tucson Summary


Publication year 1212

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Natural World: Place, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Philosophy, Religion / Spirituality, Natural Disaster, Japanese Literature, Asian Literature, History: World, Philosophy, Classic Fiction


Publication year 1977

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Religion / Spirituality, Science / Nature, Philosophy, Philosophy

SummaryHoly the Firm is a 1977 book on Christian spirituality by American naturalist and author Annie Dillard. Dillard, whose 1974 Pilgrim at Tinker Creek won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, is often championed for her ability to describe and narrativize the natural world. In Holy the Firm, Dillard applies this ability to what happened during a three-day period on an island in Puget Sound. Dillard ultimately stayed on this Island for two years... Read Holy the Firm Summary


Publication year 2020

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Femininity, Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Gender / Feminism, Social Justice, Race / Racism, Class, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Politics / Government


Publication year 2004

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Society: Community, Society: Globalization, Society: Economics, Society: Politics & Government, Society: Nation, Society: Colonialism, Society: War, Natural World: Environment

Tags Social Justice, Politics / Government, Gender / Feminism, History: World, Philosophy, Philosophy


Publication year 1928

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Tags Harlem Renaissance, Creative Nonfiction, Education, Education, American Literature, Classic Fiction

This guide is based on the electronic version of Zora Neale Hurston’s “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” available at the University of Virginia’s Mules and Men website. The original essay was published in the May 1928 edition ofThe World Tomorrow. Hurston’s essay is her explanation of how she experiences being African-American.Hurston opens the essay with the comment that she is “a Negro” and unlike many African-Americans claims no Native American ancestry. Prior to... Read How It Feels To Be Colored Me Summary


Publication year 2014

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Music, Science / Nature, History: World, Philosophy, Philosophy, Arts / Culture, Biography


Publication year 1926

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Self Discovery, Society: Education, Identity: Language

Tags Arts / Culture, Modernism, British Literature, Literary Criticism, Classic Fiction


Publication year 2015

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Identity: Language

Tags Education, Education, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Self Help, Humor


Publication year 2019

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Politics & Government, Society: Economics, Natural World: Place, Society: Community, Natural World: Objects, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Philosophy, Technology, Arts / Culture, Self Help, Information Age, Science / Nature, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Politics / Government


Publication year 2013

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Race, Identity: Language, Identity: Masculinity

Tags Politics / Government, Biography, Creative Nonfiction, Race / Racism, Relationships, Social Justice, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, African American Literature


Publication year 1987

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Language, Identity: Race, Identity: Gender

Tags Sociology, Latin American Literature, Education, Education


Publication year 1992

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Tags Politics / Government, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Gender / Feminism, Sociology, History: World, Philosophy, Philosophy, Biography

How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed (1992) by Croatian essayist and journalist Slavenka Drakulić details life in Communist Eastern Europe, especially the former Yugoslavia (which after 1989 would become eight distinct countries, including Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, and Montenegro). Drakulić wrote this collection in response to the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall and dissolution of the USSR; in her view, there was more political coverage than reflections of how communism affected quotidian life. In... Read How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed Summary


Publication year 2017

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Femininity, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride

Tags Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Race / Racism, Social Justice, Gender / Feminism, LGBTQ, Mental Illness, Biography

Content Warning: Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body describes and references rape and sexual violence, emotional abuse, and verbal abuse.Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body (2017) is a memoir by Roxane Gay that addresses the emotional, physical, and psychological effects of sexual assault—and how they tie into self-image. Though Gay’s memoir centers her body, food, and self-image, she also confronts society’s fatphobia—the world’s unwillingness to accept fat people as they are due to assumptions about... Read Hunger Summary


Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Race / Racism, Black Arts Movement, Existentialism, History: World, Social Justice, Classic Fiction, Politics / Government, Biography

I Am Not Your Negro by James Baldwin and Raoul Peck is an accompanying text to the 2016 documentary of the same name, directed by Peck. The documentary was released to critical acclaim. It won Best Documentary award at the BAFTA Film Awards and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The text is essentially a transcript of the film, incorporating excerpts of interviews, television features, and films.I Am Not Your Negro... Read I Am Not Your Negro Summary


Publication year 1973

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Race, Life/Time: The Future

Tags Race / Racism, Civil Rights / Jim Crow

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream'' speech is one of the most celebrated oratory pieces in American history. King delivered the speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963 as the final speech of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Ruston organized the march to advocate for civil and economic rights for Black Americans, which was among the... Read I Have A Dream Speech Summary


Publication year 1978

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Identity: Language, Identity: Mental Health

Tags Health / Medicine, Philosophy, Science / Nature, Psychology, Disability, History: World, LGBTQ, Philosophy

Susan Sontag’s 1978 book Illness as Metaphor is an 87-page work of critical theory exploring the language we use to describe disease and its victims. The work was originally published in the New York Review of Books as three long-form essays. Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor while undergoing treatment for breast cancer, though not mentioned in the text. This genre—critical theoretical examinations of social and cultural events or phenomena—was where Sontag established her reputation. Illness... Read Illness As Metaphor Summary


Publication year 1933

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Beauty, Society: Globalization, Life/Time: The Future, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Philosophy, Arts / Culture, Japanese Literature, Asian Literature, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

The essay “In Praise of Shadows” was originally published in 1933 in Japan and was written by the Japanese author Jun’ichirō Tanizaki (1886-1965). His work spanned a wide array of subjects, including the cultural impact of World War II, sexuality, and family relationships. He was especially interested in exploring the cultural differences between Japan and the West. Tanizaki was awarded Japan’s Imperial Prize in Literature in 1949 and wrote novels, short stories, essays, plays, and... Read In Praise of Shadows Summary


Publication year 1983

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Mothers

Tags Gender / Feminism, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Race / Racism, Social Justice

In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens is a collection of essays, speeches, and letters by Alice Walker. The collection was published in 1983. Walker is also a novelist and a poet. Her most famous novel, The Color Purple, was published in 1982 and won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 1983. The novel was adapted into a movie as well as a musical. These essays are collected from different books and... Read In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens Summary


Publication year 1958

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Economics, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Business / Economics, Philosophy, Politics / Government, History: World, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

The essay “I, Pencil,” also known as “I, Pencil: My Family Tree as Told to Leonard E. Read,” was first published by the American businessman and libertarian advocate Leonard E. Read in 1958. The essay first appeared in The Freeman, a publication of the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEE), a think-tank he co-founded in 1946. Read was a staunch critic of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” an ambitious series of government policies and... Read I, Pencil Summary