Thanks for this deep dive, Andrea! I admired the writing in this piece and the way the internal emotional story was advanced and explored through the parallels in the rat narrative and lore.
Thank you for this article. When I read it first and made comments on some of the devices, I was pleased to have picked up on some that you have mentioned. I appreciate your discussion of the mosaic structure.
We live right on an inlet, and rats are part of our reality. Eagles and cats help, but not entirely. Speciesism is one of the ways to avoid telling the truth. When is an animal, including the human animal gross?
Hi, Andrea... I hope you are planning to pull all your "Everything Essay(s)" together into a book. For those of us writers who arrived without degrees relating to writing in its myriad forms, your ability to deconstruct and explain the techniques weaving their way into, through, and out of an essay is a godsend. Booksellers' bookshelves are stocked heavily with tomes telling us "how to write." There are very few that demonstrate how and why the writing works. Even when it's gross. Thanks (as always), Steve Mathias
Thank you so much for analyzing the essay, and dissecting the metaphors and deeper meanings. It is helping me be a better reader, and reading even more enjoyable.
that's crazy good, and gross for sure, but real. we did battle with a roach infestation in our first NYC apartment; nothing like roaches (or rats) to strip you of your illusions of yourself as untouchable somehow. i admired the structural elements and your analysis is so helpful and really adds to my understanding of how an essay like this can work.
Good piece, Andrea. I noted yhour comments on the expansive essay. I continue to work on a memoir with a 92-year-old doctor. Phase one was pure accumulation — get everything down, cut nothing, don't judge it yet. We ended up at 107,000 words.
Now we're in phase two: cutting the redundant, the meaningless, the weak. Not because it was wrong to write it. Instead, we couldn't know what mattered until it was all there for us to review. But now the cuts are more obvious, and we have become rather ruthless.
What surprised me is that phase two isn't only cutting. Sometimes, in the middle of trimming a section, he'll go back and add a sharper detail or a clearer line — something neither of us knew was missing until we read it aloud. So it's not accumulate, then subtract. It's more like: accumulate, then see clearly enough to both cut and add.
Phase three, polish, comes after. But we must be patient and go through phase two before that step. I like this process — it seems to work well.
Such a great approach Jim. And you have an astute doctor if he's finding sharper details in phase two--I think reading it aloud is key. I'm always rereading my writing aloud--my husband periodically asks me who I'm talking to ;-)
I assume you know this, but there is real scientific backing to the usefulness of reading aloud. Here are a few factoids. Why Your Brain Misses Errors Silently — The Generalization Trap: Your brain prioritizes efficiency by skipping small details to grasp the overall meaning.The Intention Blindspot: Because you wrote the passage, your brain already knows the sentence's goal. Auto-Correcting: Your internal monologue automatically corrects typos, missing words, or clunky phrasing without you realizing it. Why Reading Aloud Reveals the Truth.----- Slowing Down: Speaking forces you to pronounce every single word, breaking the fast, predictive tracking of your eyes. Auditory Feedback: Hearing the words aloud engages your auditory cortex, which acts as a second, independent reviewer. Physical Rhythm: Your tongue and breath will physically stumble over poor grammar, awkward syntax, or missing punctuation. Novelty Effect: Changing the sensory input from visual to auditory tricks your brain into treating the text as brand-new information.
Oh, you know, I love this one! And I think there’s nothing wrong with calling rats Gross. Much of this post also reminds me of how important it is to come to the Paige with unresolved feelings and then use the story to explore and make meaning. Thanks so much for sharing your brilliant thoughts on this essay!
I love the way you’ve structured this analysis; what a treat for essay writers! I love this!
Thanks Andromeda! I know often do the same for fiction, novel writing, which I totally admire.
Thanks for this deep dive, Andrea! I admired the writing in this piece and the way the internal emotional story was advanced and explored through the parallels in the rat narrative and lore.
yes I agree--it's amazing what can be braided together and the synergy it can create.
Thank you for this article. When I read it first and made comments on some of the devices, I was pleased to have picked up on some that you have mentioned. I appreciate your discussion of the mosaic structure.
We live right on an inlet, and rats are part of our reality. Eagles and cats help, but not entirely. Speciesism is one of the ways to avoid telling the truth. When is an animal, including the human animal gross?
You are very welcome--thanks for the kind words. Love the word speciesism--definitley worth exploring in an essay.
Hi, Andrea... I hope you are planning to pull all your "Everything Essay(s)" together into a book. For those of us writers who arrived without degrees relating to writing in its myriad forms, your ability to deconstruct and explain the techniques weaving their way into, through, and out of an essay is a godsend. Booksellers' bookshelves are stocked heavily with tomes telling us "how to write." There are very few that demonstrate how and why the writing works. Even when it's gross. Thanks (as always), Steve Mathias
and thank you for the kind words. I like doing this Substack. Your support means a lot.
Thank you so much for analyzing the essay, and dissecting the metaphors and deeper meanings. It is helping me be a better reader, and reading even more enjoyable.
I promise the next essay won't be so gross!
that's crazy good, and gross for sure, but real. we did battle with a roach infestation in our first NYC apartment; nothing like roaches (or rats) to strip you of your illusions of yourself as untouchable somehow. i admired the structural elements and your analysis is so helpful and really adds to my understanding of how an essay like this can work.
Thanks Marie. And cockroaches , yes high on my gross list. I used to live in Richmond VA--huge problem with those critters there!
Good piece, Andrea. I noted yhour comments on the expansive essay. I continue to work on a memoir with a 92-year-old doctor. Phase one was pure accumulation — get everything down, cut nothing, don't judge it yet. We ended up at 107,000 words.
Now we're in phase two: cutting the redundant, the meaningless, the weak. Not because it was wrong to write it. Instead, we couldn't know what mattered until it was all there for us to review. But now the cuts are more obvious, and we have become rather ruthless.
What surprised me is that phase two isn't only cutting. Sometimes, in the middle of trimming a section, he'll go back and add a sharper detail or a clearer line — something neither of us knew was missing until we read it aloud. So it's not accumulate, then subtract. It's more like: accumulate, then see clearly enough to both cut and add.
Phase three, polish, comes after. But we must be patient and go through phase two before that step. I like this process — it seems to work well.
Such a great approach Jim. And you have an astute doctor if he's finding sharper details in phase two--I think reading it aloud is key. I'm always rereading my writing aloud--my husband periodically asks me who I'm talking to ;-)
I assume you know this, but there is real scientific backing to the usefulness of reading aloud. Here are a few factoids. Why Your Brain Misses Errors Silently — The Generalization Trap: Your brain prioritizes efficiency by skipping small details to grasp the overall meaning.The Intention Blindspot: Because you wrote the passage, your brain already knows the sentence's goal. Auto-Correcting: Your internal monologue automatically corrects typos, missing words, or clunky phrasing without you realizing it. Why Reading Aloud Reveals the Truth.----- Slowing Down: Speaking forces you to pronounce every single word, breaking the fast, predictive tracking of your eyes. Auditory Feedback: Hearing the words aloud engages your auditory cortex, which acts as a second, independent reviewer. Physical Rhythm: Your tongue and breath will physically stumble over poor grammar, awkward syntax, or missing punctuation. Novelty Effect: Changing the sensory input from visual to auditory tricks your brain into treating the text as brand-new information.
Your analysis has me eager to read the essay. However, I don’t see a link to read the essay?
Oh, you know, I love this one! And I think there’s nothing wrong with calling rats Gross. Much of this post also reminds me of how important it is to come to the Paige with unresolved feelings and then use the story to explore and make meaning. Thanks so much for sharing your brilliant thoughts on this essay!
Yes--unresolved feelings, perfect way to put it, also a great essay title.
Thanks Astrid--and thank you for the introduction to the term species. Yes it's a thing, definitely worth and essay :-)
The title of the essay is linked at first mention in the first paragraph. It shows in orange. But here you go: https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/605-home-invasions Enjoy the read!
Good one. There is also a beautiful work use of sound words.