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Wix and the Digital Essay


The essay was first coined as “essai” by Michel Montaigne in 16th century France and the term in French means “to attempt” or “to try” (Ballenger, pg. 10). However, over the years, the essay became more about making an argument, proving a point, or providing specific description. The essay became less about the process of writing and more about its product.

But now, with the use of digital essays, perhaps we can get closer to the essay’s original meaning. The digital essay can take many forms in terms of text and layout, but it’s the process of making rhetorical choices that becomes paramount. The digital writer is taking more of a rhetorical leap or attempt to try and create meaning in the online space.

Since the e-ssay or the digital essay is writing that has been created to exist in a digital rather than a physical space and is meant for the screen rather than the page, there needs to be more attention paid to how that creation process is different than the traditional essay format. Many writers assume that as soon as you upload an essay online or paste it into a blog, then it is a digital essay; however, there is more to the composition process than that.

A traditional academic essay is composed in a flat, linear space, so it cannot simply transpose into the digital space of Composition 2.0 that operated in a networked, connected, and social framework. Rather than simply transposing the flat, linear genre of the academic essay into a digital space, digital writing should explore the constraints (both limitations and affordances) of the digital space by using hyperlinks, audio, videos, comments, blogs, and images as well as consider the visual and textual composition. (Please see Dr. Joseph Harris' thoughts on the digital essay here.)

Digital composition allows the reader to add another layer(s) or dimension(s) to his work. If Composition 2.0 is a new version of composition, then there is both continuity and change. The students are still writing and composing as the main task, but digital composition asks students to make new and complicated decisions as writers and composers. In the digital space, not only do writers make decisions on the textual level, but they also must carefully consider:

  • the rhetorical situation

  • layout, structure, and genre

  • multimedia enhancements

  • connections and reflections

  • how to compose for public spaces

  • how to create purpose and authority

For more information on what digital composition can allow student writers to accomplish, please visit my Digital Design page that has versions for both instructors and students.

Ballenger, Bruce. The Curious Researcher: A Guide to Writing Research Papers. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2012. Print.


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