Analysis Of David Foster Wallace's 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address

In the speech “Inaugural Address January 14, 1963” Spoken by Governor George C. Wallace, There are times in his speech where he refers to past events, For example, he refers to Jefferson Davis , he also refers to when he was in Japan during the war, and lastly he refers to Hitler's government.

Some would argue that the difference between an accomplished and unaccomplished person is confidence. Ralph Waldo Emerson certainly upholds this belief throughout his discourse entitled “Self-Reliance,” with the characterization of a man who holds on tight to what he believes in as being the best kind of man. Emerson argues that original and unique thought is necessary for true education and that conformance and perpetuation are the great hindrances to mankind. By putting the very things that he is advocating on display, Emerson’s contention is well-argued to the audience with his use of inclusive language, allusion, and individualized rhetoric. It is this use of confidence by Emerson, that allows his argument to be well-received and seem

“Build your own life...find your opportunity, and always be sexy.” The general claim made by Aston Kutcher’s in his speech at the Teen Choice Awards is that to be successful you have to make your own life, work hard, and be thoughtful. He uses ethos and rhetorical devices to support his claim. His purpose is to inform in order to be inspiring. He establishes a serious but casual tone for his audience of mostly teens.

The Farewell Address embodied Washington’s political principles and hopes for the United States, a newly developed nation, to grow strong and remain independent. He stressed the importance of national unity. Despite the confidence Washington had for his country to continue to thrive without his leadership, he felt obligated to forewarn the American people and future generations the greatest dangers, or threats, to the United States. Washington believed threats such as political parties, and associations with foreign alliances could weaken the nation. Today, it is believed that the Farewell Address is a prophetic warning for contemporary politics.

On January 17, 1961 President Eisenhower gave his farewell speech to the great people of the United States of America. President Eisenhower had delivered this speech to the regards of the final days of him being president of the United States of America, after 2 terms in the White House it was now President Eisenhower’s time to part ways with this country and his services as being a leader of America, after committing a half century to our great nation President Eisenhower, address the nation in his final days as president but to wish the president after him “Godspeed” (Eisenhower 4) and America peace and prosperity.

In MOVEME, Marcal Graham claims, “Many things affect our freedom as thinkers. We are imprisoned by others who keep our minds from growing immeasurably and unchallenged. We are challenged when we don’t question the implications and impact –negative or positive—of our decisions. As a result, many people are confined by their perceptions, attitudes, and internal mental maps of the world around them” (35). The people we choose to be in our lives have the greatest effect on how we live, what we do, and especially how we think. Graham’s comment can inspire the younger generation and reveal how the people they hang around can have a negative effect on their mindset.

Have you ever stopped to think about what you were thinking? Or have ever spaced out and knew you were spaced out but didn’t want to space back out? Have you ever noticed that you are always thinking, even if you think you’re not thinking, you’re still thinking? Thinking has a lot to do with perspective in my opinion; it all depends on your own experience and thoughts about the situation you’re thinking about.  

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger their liberties or democratic processes” (Dwight Eisenhower). These were the words of Dwight Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States, in his 1961 Farewell Address. These words were a warning to Americans. Eisenhower was one of the greatest military minds America has ever known. Leading America through World War II and Korea, and winning against all odds. He was a highly respectable figure and highly intelligent. He used these skills to lead the American people into a prosperous period. His warnings of the future were to be taken with the utmost urgency and fear. He wanted to protect the American people from themselves.

Both, Quindlen’s and Wallace’s speeches made a great point about life and how people should view and live it. Both shared many things in common. Throughout their speeches, both shared a common theme; live life to the fullest and in the moment, being selfless and empathic.

Author David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech to the class of 2005 at Kenyon College centered on an atypical commencement topic; the correlation of a person’s thought process and their overall happiness. Wallace contends that the natural way in which people think, the “default-setting,” is easy and unconscious yet detrimental. An alternative way of thinking, a “well-adjusted” approach that Wallace advocates, is hard work and takes practice yet is much more constructive. Throughout the speech, Wallace juxtaposes these two ways of thinking by associating the default-setting with the idea of death, while the “well-adjusted” approach is associated with life. This highlights the monumental importance of the often overlooked notion of making a conscious decision about what and how to think.

George Washington’s farewell address, published just prior to his retirement from the presidency in the fall of 1796, has long been esteemed as one of the most crucial documents for the original establishment of American policy in many areas. From setting a precedent for American neutrality during international wars to promoting the stewardship of public credit, Washington’s address has had a great influence on the paths that America has taken over past centuries and the decisions that its leaders have made throughout history. This is largely because most parts of Washington’s advice have been heeded to at least some degree, and they haven 't yet been labeled completely as “archaic” or “irrelevant” for fixing problems faced in the modern era. However, this is beginning to change as a new generation arises, one that faces a different realm of social, political, economical and spiritual issues, many of which didn 't exist for previous generations. As this generation has arisen, there are several parts of Washington 's address and of the Founding Fathers ' ideals that it has not heeded. These ideals include the idea of the dangers of political parties, the importance of religion and morality to a republican society, and the dangers of long-term political alliances.

In Eisenhower's Farewell Address, his final public speech to America, he wanted to leave them with some advice and wise words of wisdom from there soon to be ex president. He emphasized his point to not use the potential influence of the military. He stated that “Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.” He said that we “must avoid the impulse to live only for today” which he is meaning that we need to look into the future and realize the importance to keep our nation safe. To keep the economy safe for our following generations. In this speech he coined the phrase Military-industrial complex, which became a huge thing

Summary of the speech: The name of the speaker was Kenneth Johnson. He was the creator and inventor of the popular board game, Phase 10. His speech primarily focused on the struggles, failures, and successes as an inventor and entrepreneur. In his speech he shared his stories regarding his journey in the board game business.

Emerson 's essay on self-reliance unearths a plethora of distinctive lessons that serve to guide the people of society in each of our pursuits to become fully human. Serving as the overall driving idea behind the essay, Emerson details the significance of man valuing and acting upon his own ideas and judgement. He writes, “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men,—that is genius,” which simply means that to trust oneself is the epitome of brilliance, to further accentuate that belief. He also notes that society idolizes thinkers who present their own unique concepts, yet we as a society are too weak to speak our own minds. By dismissing our thoughts, we will start to notice a trend in which we see traces of those thoughts in the words and works of others, leading to self-shame as we cowardly accept our own opinions pouring from the mouth of someone else.

In his Commencement speech at the Kenyon University, David Foster Wallace states that humanity as a whole is oblivious to the obvious things in life and has “a close mindedness that amounts to an imprisonment so total that the prisoner doesn’t even know he’s locked up” 1. He touches upon this concept of how people get caught up into the day to day routine of their life and they end up feeling empty like something essential is missing from their lives that their life becomes unsubstantial, this is because they are not aware that they are stuck in the default setting.