The essay, as a text form in its own right, is becoming increasingly important in school lessons (e.g., also for the Abitur). A topic is to be treated in an original way through more associative and net-like connections. The volume defines in an introduction what exactly an essay is, collects 15 typical texts (from Adorno to Enzensberger to Sibylle Berg or Lukas Bärfuss), comments on difficult terms in these texts, and concludes with work assignments. In this way, students are given a first orientation and the necessary tools to interpret foreign essays and write their own texts.