This memo includes the stylistic analysis of “Consider the Lobster” by David Wallace and explains the stylistic choices I chose to make in my imitative essay. Emulation of the Three Sections In the first section of the original essay/column work, Wallace uses strong visuals and a description of the festival to introduce the audience to the location and theme. It opens up with him describing how the festival looks and sounds like, then goes into greater detail describing the reasons why he is currently there. While he maintains a tone of sarcasm throughout his work, in this particular section his tone sounds more factual and informative. In my imitative essay, I chose to emulate his introduction by giving an example of what a typical testing room looks like. I then used that to introduce the subject of Pisa testings and its impact on students. Additionally, I attempted to emulate the tone of sarcasm throughout my essay. The second section of Wallace’s “Consider the Lobster” introduced the historical aspect of the lobster festival and offered up several factoids about both the festival and the history of lobsters. This section is also where Wallace begins to introduce the reader to the deeper theme behind the piece. I emulated Wallace by introducing the history behind Pisa and explaining how it has affected schooling in …show more content…
I also attempted to use this scheme, often employing run-on sentences to continue my ideas. Wallace also uses parenthesis often throughout the essay/column piece. He used this to split up his ideas and often provide commentary that he didn’t want to put in the footnotes. I also employed the use of this scheme. It was effective at splitting up the various ideas in the run on sentences, and also allowed for commentary to be added in without detracting from the piece. Additionally, parentheses allowed for the tone of sarcasm to be conveyed more
Wallace shows his literary intellect in his use of the rhetorical device. He describes the nod to the opposition when he details the way we are not supposed to think by calling it our “default setting”. He starts off by saying that he would have tendencies to feel like he was the center of the world, but excuses that behavior by saying “It is our default setting, hard-wired into our boards at birth” (. The author explains the consequences of not controlling your default setting by continuing his story about the trip to the grocery store. Wallace declares “ Because the traffic jams and crowded aisles and long checkout lines give me time to think, and if I don 't make a conscious decision about how to think and what to pay attention to, I 'm
Emma Marris uses many types of persuasive elements in her essay “Emma Marris: In Defense of Everglade Pythons”. In her writing she persuades her readers that the pythons should be allowed to be in the everglades since it is not their fault that they are there in the first place. She uses metaphors to relate to the reader and word choice to enhance her writing.
Have you realized something different about criminals lately? No it isn't that they became more viscous but they are actually becoming less intelligent, many people referring to the new wave of criminals as ¨Not Exactly Razor-Sharp.¨ The text ¨Not exactly Razor-Sharp¨ written by Dave Berry is an essay written using comedic effect to give readers the ¨funny¨ full of “puns” type of story that this essay is. Dave Berry uses his comedic story to show that sometimes people's bad intentions can have a humorous effect for a story later in time.
The style of this essay seemed to be very informal from essays I previously had read. Yet, author John DeVore gave it his personal touch. For instance, “Unless we’re talking Taco Bell. Which I will talk about, at length, even if you haven’t asked a question that has anything to do with Taco Bell.” After reading that quote I knew that in his essay he would bring forth his personality.
A noted reminder of the true sadness hidden within middle american culture, to only escape is a shame reflected back to him and his inability to escape where he relates to “especially at night, when all the ship 's structured fun... I felt despair... despair, but it 's a serious word.” Wallace draws awareness to the word “Despire” as Paul Giles states that it draws “knowingness and insecurity” into Wallaces essay. The awareness of despire is a common suffereing for Middle American culture, it draws on irony, falseness and consumer consuption, these are all ideas that Wallace relates to and can not escape from. Like every other Middle American, Wallces confesses to that fact that “ I cannot escape my own essential and newly unpleasant
Wallace, David Foster "This is Water" Kenyon College Commencement Speech 2005 The general argument by David Foster Wallace in his work "This is Water" is that sometimes the most obvious realities are the hardest to comprehend. More specifically, he argues that thinking negatively is not a choice but a natural setting and we need to start thinking cognitively and outside the box. Wallace performs this speech for a group of graduating college students to prepare them for the future life they are about to embark on. He includes the grocery store example so that the reader's can connect to the story because they have gone through that situation themselves; he is trying to connect to the audience.
Emily Montes de Oca Professor Donaldson SPC 3230 June 14, 2016 Rhetorical Analysis: Finding Nemo Disney movies are really well known for teaching kids valuable life lessons in a way that they could understand. Finding Nemo teaches the importance of family and how to face your fears for those that you love. The movie focuses on two fish, Marlin and Dory trying to find Marlins lost son Nemo after fishermen took him. Since Nemo is the only family Marlin has he is very protective over him, and before he was born he grabbed on to, what was only just an egg at the time and said, “I will never let anything happen to you”.
David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech “This is Water” at Kenyon College is often thought of as one of the most influential speeches because it calls the graduates to observe the world around them through a different lens. However, he does not accomplish that by calling the graduates to action, but instead challenges them to use their education. He also appeals to the students’ emotions through his use of ethos, logos, and pathos. Although people mostly only remember the antidotes, it is the message associated with reoccurring emotions and literary devices throughout the speech that moves the reader into action. Wallace is able to captivate his audience and persuade them to view the world without themselves at the center through his tactful use of rhetoric.
Wallace, David Foster "This is Water" Kenyon College Commencement Speech 2005 In the speech "This is Water" David Foster Wallace attempts to explain how the general populace is self-centered and what a person can do to change the "default setting" within our mind. Wallace's main point is to get his audience to understand and realize that they have a daily choice to make between being inconsiderate and acknowledging those around them. They can either remain conceited and unsympathetic towards others, or they can change and attempt to see and understand the situations of those around them as they go through their daily trials. Wallace uses various examples to explain and expand his argument.
He also distances himself from an argument by presenting factual information, but reiterating his position as an observer rather than an expert. Throughout the essay, Wallace keeps himself at the forefront of of the argument; he uses names like “your correspondant” to emphasize his position as the eyes and ears of the reader- creating a relationship between the author and audience. “For 56 year the Maine Lobster Festival has been drawing crowds with the promise of sun, fun, and fine food. One visitor would argue that the celebration involves a whole lot more.” David Foster Wallace places himself in the essay before it even begins.
In the novel Jasper Jones the protagonist Charlie is faced with racial aggravation towards his friend Jeffery and his family. As the story progresses, even though they seem small at the time, these racial stereotypes have cruel and unfounded aggravation. Silvey uses a range of language techniques to emphasise how unjustified the racial aggravation is. Jeffery is considered a racial outsider by the villagers and this is evident by the way they treat him.
“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? (79)”, this quote is from the book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
Katha Pollitt, in her essay, “Marooned on Gilligan’s Island: Are Women Morally Superior to Men?” addresses the topic of how difference feminists actually weaken women. Difference feminists believe that women are morally superior to men. Pollitt was invited to sign a peace petition, but realized it was actually demeaning to women.
“Consider the Lobster,” by David Foster Wallace, published in the August 2004 edition of Gourmet Magazine explores the morality of the consumption of lobsters through the analysis of the Maine Lobster Festival. Foster Wallace guides his readers through his exploration of the festival and general circumstances of lobster eating before evoking a sense of obligation to the creature’s well being. His gentle slide into the ‘big picture’ through his causal argument wades readers into the depths of his thoughts through the power of storytelling until they are left with no choice but to engage with their own perception of the act with skepticism. Ultimately, the passage commands readers to reexamine their own consumption of lobsters regardless of
The consumption of animal meat is highly accepted in today’s society, however, the methods, in which the animals are killed are sometimes questioned for their cruelty. David Wallace, in considering the Lobster, takes the readers to the Maine Lobster Festival, where the consumption of lobsters is exploited, and the festival's attendees celebrate these acts. However, the essay goes furthermore than narrating the lobster’s festival, because through sensory details, and different techniques, he makes the readers question society’s morality. By stressing the cruelty it takes boiling lobsters alive, Wallace is capable of creating a sense of awareness in society decisions that demonstrate their corrupted morality, and how it affects directly others (like lobsters)