Commencement Speech : David Foster Wallace

Wallace returns to his earlier point regarding the purpose of a liberal arts education, reiterating that teaching someone how to think is in fact more about teaching them to reject their own arrogance and to be aware of their own biases. He says that one example of the wrongness of our default train of thought is that we tend to automatically think of ourselves as the center of the universe. Continuing with his tactic of defying the graduates’ expectations, he assures them that he is not bringing this up to lecture them about virtue. He’s simply pointing out that it is natural to see the world through a “lens of self” (9), and that seeing past that lens requires a conscious

4. Throughout the speech, Wallace emphasizes that he is not offering “banal platitude[s]” (paragraph 2) or “moral advice” (paragraph 12). Explain what he means by this. Do you think he successfully avoids these things? Explain.

One of the finest commencement speeches was given by David Foster Wallace at Kenyon College. Wallace’s speech can be viewed as enlightening to those who are often blindly single-minded. It forces the audience to take a look at the way they approach everyday situations, rather than being self-centered, consider others before yourself. However, many overlook Wallace’s impeccable rhetorical maneuvers, focusing on the constant clichés and fictional anecdotes used. What people don’t realize is these clichés and fictional anecdotes are what make Wallace’s speech effective and reinforce the basic principles we were taught as a child, to share and think of others before ourselves. Overlooking Wallace’s flawless technique is doing a disservice to

Throughout the speech, the repetition demonstrates Faulkner’s passion to diminish the fear felt throughout the nation. Words like, “man”, “fear” and “ you” are repeated as a way to persuade the graduates so that they “have the ability to help change the world,” as they are the next generation of workers, politicians, parents, and dreamers.

In Tara Isabella Burton’s “Study Theology Even if You Don’t Believe in God,” she contends the study of theology forces us to look at other perspectives, and history resulting in more empathetic individuals. David Foster Wallace impacts this premise of Burton’s argument in his commencement speech, “This is Water”. He argues that empathy, or being aware of other’s perspectives is the driving force behind success. Without empathy, we would be stuck in our “default setting” or the belief that the world revolves around us ( ). According to Wallace, this would be problematic because it limits freedom and knowledge. By freedom, Wallace is not talking about rights rather he describes that “the really important kind of freedom involves attention

In David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech “This is Water”, Wallace discusses multiple aspects and instances that will come before us. To begin, Wallace’s speech elaborates to us most importantly that we are not the center of the world. For instance, Wallace states in his speech that a vast majority of the information he tends to be certain in usually results in being completely wrong. An example of this wrong highlighted in this speech is that Wallace states that everything his experience supports the belief that his self is the center of the universe. Relating this to Naikan, Naikan helps the client to consider what they have given to a specific person and what troubles they have caused them. The reason why is to consider one’s perception and the impact they have on others which is not conceived through selfish encounters. This helps Naikan clients to distinguish what positive changes they can implement after introspecting on their relationships and interactions with others.

“[A] recent author and public figure…[Colin Powell, wrote a] book, My American Journey, [that] helped me harmonize my understanding of America’s history and my aspiration to serve her in uniform…Powell gave me another way to think about the American dilemma and, more than that, another way to think about my own life” (Moore 131-2). Author Wes Moore wrote the book The Other Wes Moore, both an autobiography and a biography about a man who shares his name and has a similar backstory, to demonstrate how people’s destinies are primarily influenced by the environment into which they are born. Examining stories including and similar to those of both Wes Moores, as well as reflecting on one’s own personal experience, can provide insight into

George Wallace’s Inauguration speech and Martin Luther King Jrs “I have a Dream” speech were given during the civil rights movement. Two men who stood on opposite sides of the issue; integration or segregation gave these speeches. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that America should be integrated, while Governor George Wallace believed America should be segregated. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the I Have A Dream speech in August 1963 in Washington, DC about the integration of America. In one of the greatest speech’s ever given, he tells the nation that there can be change. We could be the change that comes together from all nationalities and work together for a greater future. Martin Luther King Jr. tells that the constitution was meant to unite

A short parable comprises the opening paragraph of Wallace’s speech. In this, there are two fish swimming along when they pass an older fish, headed in the opposite direction, that asks them how the water is. The two fish continue along for a bit before one asks the other “what the hell is water?” This serves as an extended metaphor used by Wallace to demonstrate his main argument for awareness in life. Just as the fish do not consider their surroundings, people more often than not fail to consider

I believe that existence is comprised of hundreds and millions of different realities intermingling and colliding into one another. I also believe that at the center of each reality there lies the individual who crafted it. Our perception of what is real and false exists solely in our own minds, and our minds are what determines the lense in which we perceive the world. Our perception is largely influenced by our psyche; how we live and think stems from our perception of the world. Our brains are directly influenced by a number of key factors, including but not limited to; societal connotations, individual experience, instinctual desires, environmental factors, and cognitive thought. These factors, as well as other conditions, are what determine our “default setting.” In his noteable “This is Water” speech, given at the 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address, David Foster Wallace argues a similar idea as he explains his take on the phrase “teaching you how to think”. Through his use of relatable parables and anecdotes and repetition and reverent focus of words like “choice” and “awareness” he paints a livid picture of the use of conscious choice in our daily lives. He stresses the concept of a self centered “default setting” that comes from an individual's “blind certainty” and the repercussions that deferring to that default can have on an individual's lifestyle and fulfilment. If we are unable to recognise the water in which we dwell we will always remain unaware, stuck in an

The great Greek philosopher Epictetus once stated, “Only the educated are free.” David Foster Wallace wrote and delivered the transcription of 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address, called “This is Water”, which became a viral video. He argues that the real freedom is being educated and comprehending how to think. In his “This is Water” speech, David Wallace was eloquent and emphatic in sending his message, which was not to follow the “default setting” and the “capital T-truth”. He was able to create one of the most memorable effective speeches in the 20th century. He uses ethical appeal to gain the trust of the audience and to build his character, and uses logical appeal to make the audience comprehend his point of view. In addition,

In the 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address, David Foster Wallace tries to persuade the graduates that education is having awareness. Being educated isn’t about earning a degree or how much knowledge you have but about how you think. Wallace shows that knowing how to think can change the way you look at situations, knowing how to think gives a person situational awareness. Paying attention to situations around you and things about them gives you other options of how to look at them. During his speech, Wallace gives the example of being frustrated in the grocery store after work or while driving in traffic; if you think of different options instead of thinking about yourself then you can look at these situations differently or even feel better.

Galileo Galilei, an Italian polymath, once said, “You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.” After graduating college, many students feel anxious about the new chapter of their lives they’re about to begin. Students are bound by a curriculum since primary school, guidelines they conform to all their lives in order to walk across a stage with a degree in hand. However, these individuals are seldom able to explore the passions inside of them that shape their aspirations throughout their time in the education system. Instead, they reflect on their college years of staying up all night to write final papers. Finals papers students have revised and edited a multitude of times in order to produce a paper that adheres to a rubric and, once again, conforming to another set of guidelines. In Donovan Livingston’s Harvard Graduate School of Education Commencement Speech, “Lift Off”, Livingston uses rhetorical devices such as alliteration, allusion, and metaphor to reinforce his message that students should not be limited by the confines of the education system, but that the education system should be supporting and guiding students towards reaching their full potential by the time they step out into the real world.

From 1954 to 1968 there was a Civil Rights movement changing African Americans rights in America. The civil right goals were to change the way blacks in America where treaded in schools, buses, bathrooms and other facility’s and to get equal rights from legislation. On January 14, 1963, Democratic Governor George Wallace was sworn in, giving his “Segregation” speech. In that same year on August 28 a man named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lead the march on Washington D.C giving the “I Have a Dream speech”. The two speeches given in 1963 coincided to the civil rights but the speeches differed in both opinion and message. To explain this in a more thorough explanation, the terms Kairos, Ethos, Logos and Pathos will be used to define each compare and contrast.

Wallace starts off his speech with a parable about two fish oblivious to the fact that they live in water, which addresses moments and things in life that go unnoticed. He discloses to the audience that he is not trying to patronize them by suggesting he is far wiser than they, rather he is simply pointing out that the very obvious things in life often go unnoticed