Total Eclipse

The essay was written by Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Dillard who is an American fiction and nonfiction writer.  The essay was first published in 1982 in Antaeus.  Dillard wrote her essay in order to make her message known to all adults, even (and especially) adventurous ones.  In her essay, Dillard describes the details of a total eclipse that she witnessed with her husband Gary in a town near Yakima in central Washington.  She writes of how the eclipse "began with no ado" and how "from all the hills came screams".  As Dillard describes watching the eclipse she is able to bring the audience into the moment with her.  Dillard also details the moment when she looked at her husband.  She writes, "He was in a film.  Everything was lost.  He was a platinum print, a dead artist's version of life."  Her imagery is so great that the reader feels as though they are watching the eclipse alongside her.  By using the first person narrative, Dillard is able to successfully describe her experience as well as make her message known.  At the end of the essay she writes, "One turns at last even from glory itself with a sigh of relief.  From the depths of mystery, and even from the heights of splendor, we bounce back and hurry for the latitudes of home."  Here, Dillard is discussing how she believes that even in an event so rare and great as an eclipse, people still rush to get back to what is familiar.  She references turning away from glory with relief, because glory is something that is unknown for humans and can be scary and difficult to enjoy.  Dillard is able to accomplish her goal of detailing her eclipse as well as getting her message across through her use of relatable and elegant language.  For example she writes, "It was like slipping into fever, or falling down that hole in sleep from which you wake yourself whimpering."  By using imagery that is familiar to her readers, Dillard is able to write a successful and enthralling essay.

Vegetable Clown

In her essay, Dillard discusses a detail that she remembers vividly from her trip to see the eclipse.  She writes, "During those years I have forgotten, I assume, a great many things I wanted to remember - but I have not forgotten that clown painting or its lunatic setting in the old hotel."  These details help the reader better understand the mindset that Dillard was in during her experience.

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