Braided essay prompts

I’ve posted two fine examples of the Braided Essay for those of you who wish to use this unique structure. For some background on the form (it’s also called the lyric essay), visit this site. As I said in class, the form consists of three distinct narrative lines–a personal story, research, someone else’s story–that each speak to a chosen theme.

The braided challah is a fitting symbol for an essay form closely allied with collage: the braided essay. In this form, you fragment your essay into separate strands that repeat and continue. There’s more of a sense of weaving about it, of interruption and continuation, like the braiding of bread, or of hair.

The most important thing to note about braided essays is repetition of the braid “strands.” The repetition of these elements are what makes an essay braided rather than just a collage. If you place multiple fragmented events and don’t repeat them, you are making a collage, not a braided essay.

Then she discovered amazing resonances with the material she already had written, plus, of course, an evocative metaphor tying together the other two strands of her memoir. The braid is also an effective technique for non-fiction.