There’s something scary about the pronoun “I.” When we’re first taught to write essays, we’re told to avoid this word like the plague. “I” is by turns informal and inappropriate, both unworthy of the form and too intimate in its implications.
But what’s so wrong about the intimate? Is it so dangerous to reveal oneself to the reader? Why the hesitancy?
Within these pages, you’ll find seven personal essays from staffers throughout The Michigan Daily. These range from the comical to the revealing to the genuinely optimistic — but they are all honest.
In these stories, you’ll find genuine pain, happiness and insecurity. Our writers will take you on their summer travels and to the memory of an impromptu comedy show gone awry. But wherever these writers take you, they’ll all bring you back to what they’re really trying to understand: themselves.
Lessons from the Morgue by Maya Shankar
The Importance of Being by Regan Detweiler
Tears of a Clown by Nabeel Chollampat
Jack and Maria by Maria Robins-Somerville
An American in Dublin by Dayton Hare
Dancing Like Nobody’s Watching by Sam Rosenberg
Still Making a Statement by Tom Hayden