On September 12th, 2008, David Foster Wallace committed suicide. Before his death, he gave a remarkable speech to the Kenyans graduating class of 2005. It was called “This Is Water” and in it, Wallace informs the graduates about his perspectives on life. Throughout the speech, Wallace presents didactics to the audience in hopes of elaborating...
Most people go about their day unconsciously, just trying to get by and start the next and they become frustrated so easily due to others around them causing some sort of delay in their daily tasks. David Foster Wallace gave a speech to college graduates in 2005 titled “This Is Water”. Many say that it’s...
The author of “This Is Water” uses the unique creation of persona through default setting, repetition of keywords, and ethos to get his message of the personal obligation our society needs in order to face “our lives, bodies, and minds.” David Foster Wallace was an American writer and a university professor in the disciplines of...
Rhetoric is used throughout many speeches as it draws audiences in and allows them to learn more. In David Foster Wallace’s speech, “This is Water” and in the film, Dead Poets Society featuring one of the main characters, John Keating-both utilizes rhetoric in their speeches to describe the importance of finding value in education and...
The speech on This Is Water makes us think about thinking, something that we have most likely never thought of doing. Thinking comes naturally to us, and we do it instinctively, the way we think has been molded by our life experiences or lack of, as well as our upbringing and beliefs. We however have...
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The hardest part of a person’s life is finding out who they are. To find out who they are, they might go to college or drop out of college to travel or do something else with their life completely. Both 2005 Kenyon College graduates and every reader learned a lot about themselves after either reading...
Consciousness and Reflexivity David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech, “This is Water,” opens up a complex discussion on whether we can “adjust” what is “hardwired” into our brains. Robert Kurzban’s book, Why Everyone (Else) is a Hypocrite, contributes to this discussion with its neurodeterministic perspective and skepticism of the self. These topics are further critiqued on...
In the text “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace although many people may seem to the center of the universe, Wallace guides them to be aware of the world around them. Wallace uses emotional and logical appeals in his main argument that people can choose to look at anything in life differently than their...
One of the most important decisions in one’s life is their response to this question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It’s already a common question to ask children in elementary school but as years go by, more factors come into play as you decide what you want regarding your future....
Manifestation of an obstacle that promotes a disagreement will create opposite sides of personal integrity or submissiveness. When an individual is faced with a problem, their initial actions are dependent on their beliefs and encouragement of those involved. However when a decision is slowly solidifying, the individual whose opinion is not favored will begin to...
