n.
Analytic, interpretative, or critical literary composition, usually dealing with its subject from a limited and often personal point of view.
Flexible and versatile, the essay was perfected by Michel de Montaigne , who chose the name essai to emphasize that his compositions were "attempts" to express his thoughts and experiences. The essay has been the vehicle of literary and social criticism for some, while for others it could serve semipolitical, nationalistic, or polemical purposes and could have a detached, playful, earnest, or bitter tone.