The Real Water 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, …show more content…
He uses logical appeals through his use of stories. He clarifies his message through his stories, and relates something that may be unfamiliar to something that is, like a simple story of fish, the two men, or an average adult day. As he talks about a person’s regular day, he is trying to relate to the audience. Wallace discusses, “By way of example let’s say it’s an average adult day, and you get up in the morning, go to your challenging, white-collar, college-graduate job, and you work hard for eight or ten hours and at the end of the day you’re tired and somewhat stressed and all you want is to go home and have a good supper...you remember there is no food at home...the traffic is apt to be: very bad… you have wander all over the huge, over-lit store's confusing aisles...the checkout line is incredibly long...you get told to “Have a nice day” in a voice that in the absolute voice of death… then you have to drive all the way home through slow, heavy, SUV-intensive, rush hour traffic, et cetera et cetera.” (Wallace 59). Wallace presents a real life scenario, which may become theirs. Wallace continues, “The thing is that, of course, there are totally different ways to think about these kinds of situations. IN this traffic, all these vehicles stopped and idling in my way...it is actually I who am in HIS way...But most days, if you’re aware enough to give yourself a choice, you can choose to look differently...If you’re automatically sure that you know what reality is, and you are operating on your default setting, then you, like me, probably won’t consider possibilities that aren’t annoying and miserable... The only thing that’s capital T-truth is that you get to decide how you’re gonna try to see it. This, I submit is the freedom is a real education, of learning how to be well-adjusted” (Wallace 59-61). He is using a “big metaphor” to
The relationship you have with others often has a direct effect on the basis of your very own personal identity. In the essay "On The Rainy River," the author Tim O'Brien tells about his experiences and how his relationship with a single person had affected his life so dramatically. It is hard for anyone to rely fully on their own personal experiences when there are so many other people out there with different experiences of their own. Sometimes it takes the experiences and knowledge of others to help you learn and build from them to help form your own personal identity. In the essay, O'Brien speaks about his experiences with a man by the name of Elroy Berdahl, the owner of the fishing lodges that O'Brien stays on while on how journey to find himself. The experiences O'Brien has while there helps him to open his mind and realize what his true personal identity was. It gives you a sense than our own personal identities are built on the relationships we have with others. There are many influences out there such as our family and friends. Sometimes even groups of people such as others of our nationality and religion have a space in building our personal identities.
Laura Esquivel uses all of her strategies to make small moments in Like Water for Chocolate have meaning and emotion in relation to her characters. In the book, the month of July is where Tita, the protagonist, is staying with a doctor named John and she refuses to speak. That is until Chencha comes to see her. Esquivel uses repetition and imagery in a few paragraphs to enhance that moment, Chencha’s arrival, and to make it meaningful. With her use of repetition and imagery, Esquivel is able to convey her tone, create a mood and support her purpose in the matter of one page.
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 relationship you have with others often has a direct effect on the basis of your very own personal identity. In the essay "On The Rainy River," the author Tim O'Brien tells about his experiences and how his relationship with a single person had effected his life so dramatically. It is hard for anyone to rely fully on their own personal experiences when there are so many other people out there with different experiences of their own. Sometimes it take the experiences and knowledge of others to help you learn and build from them to help form your own personal identity. In the essay, O'Brien speaks about his experiences with a man by the name of Elroy Berdahl, the owner of the fishing lodge that O'Brien stays at while on how journey to find himself. The experiences O'Brien has while there helps him to open his mind and realize what his true personal identity was. It gives you a sense than our own personal identities are built on the relationships we have with others. There are many influence out there such as our family and friends. Sometimes even groups of people such as others of our nationality and religion have a space in building our personal identities.
The chapter “On the Rainy River” from the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien follows a young college graduate who is drafted into a war he does not believe in. In an effort to dodge the draft by fleeing to Canada, he is inevitably stopped by his internal struggle. The author uses diction to demonstrate this struggle through the tone revealed. O’Brien’s tone in this chapter is ashamed, which is conveyed through the narrator’s driving emotions, others’ perception of his actions, and in his ultimate decision to go to Vietnam.
Another rhetorical strategy that Wallace incorporated in his essay is appeal to logos. As mentioned in paragraph 2, Wallace did not purposely use stories to bore his audience, but to support his claim which illustrates the way how they perceive certain situations According to both stories, the fish and eskimos, the audience logically deduced that the characters in both scenarios were wrong based on their lack of reasoning. The fish in Wallace’s story asks, “What the hell is water?” (Wallace 1) and the atheist inaccurately assumes that God does not exist because God was not there at the despairing moment to rescue him; instead, he had to rely on “a couple of Eskimos.” (Wallace 2) In both cases, the audience comprehends Wallace’s conceptual
The separation of church and state is an ongoing debate that effects everyone, even if you are not aware of it. There are many arguments to this debate, and both sides are heavily supported. I will be analyzing two sources that support the separation of church and state but used two different forms of rhetoric to support the separation.
The article “Water Works”, published by Orion Magazine and written by environmental specialist Cynthia Barnett intends to inform the reader anyone can make water an important factor. Overlooking it has become common many people in the United States have adapted to through the changes that have occurred in society over time. At the beginning of her article, she describes an area that does not make water care a priority, whereas in another location they make it very evident water is important. The location she describes is gloomy, grey, and is a populated area that has old water systems that are damaging environmental factors. Barnett continuously emphasizes that people are the ones who can help restore nature. This is at a less cost than
Water in daytripper reoccurs symbolically in the story, what it represents to me in this story is revival/rebirth. Before Bras goes to Salvador, he dreams of being on a boat surrounded by water and next to him is a mysterious woman asking him to bring ‘pretty things’. Bras discover endless possibilities from the seas from Iemanja, in a dream they are riding on a boat through rough seas being tossed around with baskets that seem to symbolize his own wishes and desires. This shows how in bras dreams his life’s goals are laid out as he wishes, Bras through his life just like how water flows in and out never knowing where it will end. His dreams tell him time his time is running out, and that he needs to make the most of his chances that he can get. Every dream he has before he is awakening with “wake up before it’s too late.”(203).
In Tim O’Brien’s short-story, On the Rainy River, the main character, Tim, is drafted to the Vietnam War. Later on in the chapter, Tim deals with mental and emotional issues on whether he should go to the war or run away to Canada and be a “coward”. This is a conflict for Tim because he does not agree with the war which makes it hard for him to attend, but on the other hand if he does not go to the war he fears that his family and friends will neglect him. Tim O’Brien reveals how an individual may discover the person deep inside themselves when insecurities and doubts are in one’s mind. O’Brien’s use of gloomy words, a depressing tone, symbolic events, and imagery, help the reader understand Tim’s situation as well as his purpose in the book.
Examples: Paragraph 3-5. Myers gives three examples to audience in order to show the different meanings of the term “No Sweat.” These examples are very impressive and practical. I think that Myers uses this strategy very well
He says “If anybody feels like perspiring, I’d advise you to go ahead, because I’m sure going to.” (Wallace). Saying this from the beginning was one of the biggest steps that Wallace made towards having a relationship with the audience, and he was effectively able to break down barriers between the audience and himself. Further breaking down the barriers between the audience and himself, Wallace says that the purpose of the speech isn’t to lecture the audience or tell them how they are supposed to live their life. Wallace’s purpose of the speech is to show what he thinks life is
Graduating college is one of the most important moments in a person’s life. They get told at the ceremony how great they are and how life is just going to go their way. That would be true in most cases. However, David Foster Wallace had a different idea. He was going to make sure that these college graduates knew what they were getting into and was going to give them some advice.
In the conclusion of Herbert's letter he asserts dominance and believes that they will stop using the slogan “It’s the Real Thing” to advertise a book called “Diary of a Harlem Schoolteacher.” Herbert asserts dominance by stating that they’re unable to use the slogan because it belongs to them and has been used by Coca-Cola in the past. Herbert assumes that Seaver will stop using the slogan by stating “We appreciate your cooperation and your assurance that you will discontinue the use of “It’s the real thing””(lines 26-27). He doesn’t want the slogan to be used for the books advertisement because it could be confusing for customers. The tone that is used in Herbert's letter to Seaver is authoritative and informal. It’s authoritative because
Living in a structured society that allows us to be self-centered and self-absorbed has also allowed us to forget about virtually everything else. Even the most compassionate person has been guilty of even the slightest egotism. However, from the time that we have been able to walk and form mostly full sentences to the time that we have enough mental capacity to form concrete opinions about the world around us, we, or at least, our parents and teachers, have advocated for an unlimited education not only for ourselves but also for our community. When we think of education, we tend to frequently refer back to subjects such as English, math, and science; on the other hand, whether it is a public or private education, we are also learning about ourselves. As we get older and advance to higher levels of schooling, the traditional form of teaching begins to fade, and teachers would rather apply such simple subjects to ourselves and our world, and they ask students, young or old, to ease out of that mindset that they are the “absolute center of the universe” and consider our history as well as our present situation. This concept of self-centeredness and perception is the central theme of David Foster Wallace’s 2005 Kenyon commencement address, in which he expands even further on the effectiveness of education through the use of logos and several anecdotal analogies. In his speech, informally titled “This is Water,” Wallace clarifies that its true meaning pertains more to universal