Would any of Bacon’s essays have been more persuasive if he had talked about his own experiences? Which ones? Why?”
Francis Bacon was born in 1561 and died in1626. He wrote many essays in his time and was and excellent writer. Much of his work helped contribute massively in the fields of philosophy and the Scientific Method. Most of his writing ranged in style and variety and most were unique only to themselves. He was such a good writer, he was credited with the creation of the writing style known as the essay. His work in the fields of literature earned him high praise by everyone around him. However, some wonder, that if he included personal accounts or experiences, his writings would have been more convincing.
There is no doubt that when an author adds his/her personal experience, it makes the reading more believable and convincing. However, while Francis was a literary artist, many of his now well known reads lack such buff.
As others have pointed out, the essay title “Of envy,” he claims that people inside groups are always going to be Jealous of other people. While it is an interesting take on society, and has been proven a few times, for example, a mother will envy another mother, he presented no real evidence to prove such a claim. Essays like this, while fascinating, lack any sort of proof of bumf on the topic.
He writes other essays about the usage of time and how A young person could be old, and a old person could be young. He argues that how they use their time dictates their real age. While that is an agreeable statement, He still provided little to no real evidence to supprot the claim.
To answer the question, yes Bacon would have been much more convincing if he were to have added real proof. Of course, his statements are somewhat broad, but he would have made a better case if he out in the time to give a personal account or story.