Emerson work (5)
I believe the answer is:
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">emerson work</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(I've seen this in another clue)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is the entire clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for essay that I've seen before include "Composition, paper, article" , "School composition" , "Prose composition" , "Analytic or interpretive literary composition (5_" , "Attempt; written piece" .)