Composition as Explanation (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Gertrude Stein
- First Published: 1926
- Type of Work: Essay
- Genres: Nonfiction, Essays
- Subjects: Language or languages, Twentieth century, Authors or writers, Literature, Art or artists, Communication, Writing, Beauty, World War I, Cubism
Composition as Explanation is an artful blend of literary theory, historical commentary, and personal confession. Delivered originally as a lecture to students at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford in 1926, it is one of the first attempts by Stein to explain her method of composition. The essay represents one of the most candid attempts by a writer to communicate the struggle to write to an audience of strangers. As in all of Stein's writing, her sentences refuse to be pinned down and yield new insights with each reading.
The essay begins haltingly,...
[The entire page is 778 words long]
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