French thinker Michel de Montaigne invented the term "essay," though he likely never foresaw its use as a term to describe schoolboy writing exercises.  Thinking Aloud speaks with Patrick Madden, of BYU's English Department, who specializes in the theory and practice of the personal essay and its sister genres in literary nonfiction, such as travel writings, aphorisms, and "prose-poems."—Original airdate: 6/1/2007



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