Like the Crab piece points out, "The Son of Mr. Green Bean" would not be so carefully crafted if in the form on a traditional essay. The form of the lyrical essay allowed the author to pick and choose what he wanted to talk about, ranging from celebrities and tv shows, to his own life. With the form of a traditional essay, the author would have had to write a lot more to be able to link all these ideas together. As he would be writing to try and connect the ideas, the story could turn in a new direction revealing things about the author the author wasn't set out to reveal. In a way, traditional creative non-fiction essays are more like journaling. The author is less likely to have every part of the essay mapped out before starting. Lyrical and braided essays need more thought ahead of time to be able to make a comprehensive thought.
"The Son of Mr. Green Bean" essay would be an example of a braided essay because it weaves all the snippets of facts and stories in and out of each other. This essay in particular feels like it has less of the author's opinion on his life because it is so focused on the other parts of it and the brevity of each little piece. On the other hand, since the selection of what ideas to weave between on another was so calculated, the author's thoughts could be viewed through the order and choices in what bits to include.
Cara--Yes, I think you're right: The "author's opinion"--now narrator?--is inferred by the the "calculated" (great word) use of segments in a particular order.I guess I'd call this a segmented, not a braided essay, because the narrative threads keep breaking.
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