David Foster Wallace 's Kenyon Commencement Address

In the Commencement Speech, “This is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life,” Wallace claims that people are naturally self- centered. (235) We only tend to see the world as it relates or pertains to us. Wallace’s speech is meant to change the graduate’s perspective on the world. Wallace believes that the graduates should heed his advice because it will eventually provide an important

This is Water, was a commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace at Kenyon College in 2005. Ever since this speech has been given it has become well known. Because of the length, it can be hard to read through the speech while trying to understand the whole idea of it. Wallace fills the speech with stories, examples, and vivid ideas while trying to convince these college graduates how to view life in a positive perspective. While this speech is packed full of ideas he manages to give it in a way outside of the norm for commencement speeches. Yet still gets all the information to the graduates and anyone else who listens to it.

Ethos is an appeal to ethics, which gives the author credibility to persuade their attended audience. For instance, both Lukianoff and Haidt give a little insight about who they are, “Greg Lukianoff is a constitutional lawyer and the president and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which defends free speech and academic freedom on campus, and has advocated for students and faculty involved in many of the incidents this article describes; Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist who studies the American culture wars.” (Lukianoff and Haidt). Using this rhetorical strategy to start their argument off was a strong approach to persuading their attended audience because it provides credibility to the readers to prove to them that the authors know what they’re talking about and it makes the argument much more effective. Another example of ethos that the authors provide is, “Today, what we call the Socratic method is a way of teaching that fosters critical thinking, in part by encouraging students to question their own unexamined beliefs, as well as the received wisdom of those around them… But vindictive protectiveness teaches students to think in a very different way… A campus culture devoted to policing speech and punishing speakers is likely to engender patterns of thought that are surprisingly similar to those long identified by cognitive behavioral therapists as causes

Downes uses examples of a strong element of ethos all throughout her essay. Sophie Downes is a student of the university of Chicago, having attended for many years and being a senior of the university and having attended many classes that have used

Graff effectively uses ethos in his article by discussing a personal anecdote as well as utilizing some intelligent diction. When arguing that students would be more inclined to engage in an academic mindset if they were able to apply their own interests, Graff states, “I offer my own adolescent experience as a case in point” (245). By claiming that he personally struggled with academic engagement, Graff influences the audience to perceive him as a credible source. Not only does Graff prove his ethos through his personal anecdote, but he also builds his ethos by using impressive, complex diction. For example, Graff uses scholarly words such as “philistine,” “interminable,” and “rudiments” in order to present himself as a qualified, intelligent resource (247). By establishing his credibility, Graff strategically influences the audience to be convinced of his argument.

Meanwhile, ethos allow the reader to view the author as a trustworthy source and builds the author's credibility. An author can do this in a number of different ways, such as using other credible sources to their advantage or by building common ground with the reader. It is especially important for Gladwell’s audience to trust him, as he is trying to convince them that what they believe about success is wrong.

The author of “This is Water”, David Foster Wallace, uses the anecdote of the wise old fish and the younger fish to show us the importance of being aware of our surroundings. At the end of the speech when Wallace states “This is water” again it is trying to remind us that life is what you let it to be.

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

The context is students telling their life in college and what helped them get Thought College. The audience is for teachers and how they might be able to help college students. The purpose in all of this is helping the students in college. The logos is students will have more confident if given help by teachers or by other students. The ethos is the author showing credibility with giving the students their stories and making it into an article giving details like what they had to deal with being a first-generation college student. Also what helped them in college? The pathos is teachers seeing how students struggle and they feel showing some concern to some students. The interesting factor that I read were a website to help

According to Alan G. Gross and Arthur E. Walzer, ethos is a type of ethical appeal establishing the speaker’s credibility or character and expertise as persuasive techniques (…). Throughout, Evicted Matthew Desmond employs ethos to gain and reinforce his knowledge and expertise on the subject, to prove his reliability as a

Atticus uses ethos in his argument to persuade the court that they should believe Tom Robinson because he is a decent man. He does this when he calls Tom a “quiet, respectable, humble Negro.” This is a use of ethos because this statement shows the audience that Tom is a good person. Atticus also used ethos by referencing Thomas Jefferson and how he said that all men are created equal. This was a use of ethos because Thomas Jefferson was an experienced and authoritative man. Another example would be how Atticus states “I’m no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and in the jury system - that is no ideal to me, it is a living, working reality.” This is a form of ethos because when Atticus said this he enhanced his figure by making it sound as though he is a realist about the possible findings of Tom Robinson. Atticus also gave the jury a compliment when he said that “it is a living, working reality.”

If one were to try to imagine a world without air, then it would certainly be very different than the world as humans know it. Since air is essential to the livelihood of most life on Earth, it could be considered an “important reality.” In David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech, “This is Water” to the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College, Wallace states that “the most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about.” (Wallace) Despite the necessity for air, most take its beautiful existence for granted. Wallace believes unawareness leads to unhappiness, and thus wants his audience to actively think about their surroundings. He

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

‘This is Water’ was originally a commencement speech,delivered by David Foster Wallace, to the graduates of Kenyon College in 2005, the speech was reprinted in the form of a book following his death in 2009. The title of this speech comes from a cliché anecdote about two young fish who were swimming in the ocean, and they pass an older fish who says to them, “morning boys, how’s the water?”, the two fish look at one another and say, “what the hell is water?”. The meaning behind this anecdote is that, most people live their lives and and don’t see the forest for the tree’s. This is me piling my own cliché anecdote on top of DFW’s

Mr. Roth effectively has ethos in his book. Bernard Roth the Author of the book, The Achievement Habit: Stop Wishing, Start Doing, And Take Command of Your Life, had multiple different example of how he is a creditable source. Roth helped design the d.school, one of the hottest graduate