This is Water: a Rhetoric Masterpiece. David Foster Wallace delivered a surprisingly invigorating commencement speech for the Liberal Arts graduating class from Kenyon College in 2005. Wallace is famous for his novel Infinite Jest and was named one of the best authors of all time in Times magazine from the years 1995-2005. So there was no surprise, the speech was full of captivating, genius and brilliant rhetoric. I’ll already answer the question of this assignment: yes this speech was successful. Wallace himself says “I know that this stuff probably doesn't sound fun and breezy or grandly inspirational the way a commencement speech is supposed to sound. What it is, as far as I can see, is the capital-T Truth, with a whole lot of rhetorical …show more content…
The way in which he communicates the value of higher-education, of being truly aware of one's surroundings, and how to avoid one's inner “default setting” to his audience using these rhetorical techniques and literary figures of speech are what allows “This is Water” to be an extremely good piece.. I particularly liked this part of his speech, because I am someone who values higher education immensely. It was also so good, it transformed from commencement speech, to written transcript, even a well-known chain email attachment,to short film, to a book published by Little, Brown and Company called This is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered On a Significant Occasion, About Living a Compassionate Life. Most commencement speeches three days in age are usually cocky, weird, boring or just the person tried to hard. The one at my brother’s graduation from the Rochester Institute of Technology this may, was absolutely pitiful let's just say..she had a bag of gumballs, and she dropped the whole bag of gumballs. My High school's speech..the kid quoted a tweet. So,“This is Water” is set apart from the rest as an incredibly effective and inspiring speech about overcoming the importance of life’s daily annoyances and becoming an aware and conscious being in a world of boredom. Maybe even boiling it down to just how …show more content…
When he starts the speech off with “If anybody feels like perspiring, I’d advise you to go ahead, because I’m sure going to”, he’s already using ethos to build a rapport with his audience, as if to say: It’s okay. I’m not here to lecture you or belittle you, or to tell you how to live your life. I’m here to show you what life is really about. He begins with revealing the gimmicky genre of the commencement speech by fulfilling a “standard requirement of US commencement speeches, the deployment of didactic little parable-ish stories”. His story is as follows: “There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes ‘What the hell is water?’”. By saying “I am not the wise old fish. The point of the fish story is merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about”, he is downplaying his authority. In reality he isthe “wise old fish”, so saying he isn’t is an ironic understatement. Wallace uses ethos yet again when he says “I’m not getting ready to lecture you about compassion or other-directedness or all the so-called virtues”. He knows how boring
His precise word choice and literary devices makes the theme and moral of his speech so much clearer to the audience. The devices explain his work so much better than blad old cliches while making it much more fun to read at the same time. It also adds a person message to the piece, as if he wrote it to enhance your life. Sometimes what we're looking for is right there for us but were too burdened to even try to reach for it, sometimes we have to remember that this is
Billy Joel is a musician and he is giving the commencement speech at Berklee College of Music in 1993. Berklee College of Music is the largest contemporary music college in the world. Billy Joel is an amazing singer and songwriter so even though he did not attend this college, it is still an honor to be able to speak there. His commencement speech has plenty of rhetorical literary devices such as ethos, logos, pathos, parallelism, antithesis, as well allusions. There are other literary devices such as metaphors, rhetorical questions, and similes.
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.
McCullough was keeping the audience attention by making a joke by tying it back into the graduation speech. He made sure he wasn't saying meaningless jokes just to make the crowd laugh. McCullough used some persuasive strategies within his speech. For example he used a lot of pathos. He was using a lot of emotional appeal within his speech to get the audience more involved.
David McCullough Jr., in my opinion, achieved his purpose for the speech. I believe that even though he was humorous and joyful at some points in his speech, he made sure that the students understand the seriousness of the future they have planned. If I were to give him a grade, he would absolutely get an
“Nobody cares how tough your upbringing was. Nobody cares if you suffered some discrimination. And moreover, you have to remember that whatever you 've gone through, it pales in comparison to the hardships previous generations endured - and they overcame them.” (Obama 6) In the speech Obama had presented at the graduation class of 2013 at Morehouse College, he wants them to remember their struggles and be able to overcome them to do what is right.
David Foster Wallace is an American writer. He spoke at the Kenyon Commencement Address in 2005, where he gave a speech to the graduating class of the year. David tells the graduates of Kenyon College what the true meaning of a liberal arts degree is, and how they should go about finding it. David Foster Wallace’s appeals to credibility, emotion and logical reasoning in his speech – “This Is Water” – to strengthen the idea that the meaning of education is learning how and what to think, independently.
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.
Rhetorical Analysis Essay: Consider the Lobster The lobster is a disgustingly beautiful creature, known for its delicate taste, menacing shell and controversy. In his essay, “Consider the Lobster”, David Foster Wallace describes the events and festivities of the Maine Lobster Festival and the history of the lobster to deliver a poignant message about the moral implications of killing and eating animals. Wallace is able to develop his position and vividly capture the audience’s attention through a strong use of humor, deliberate tonal shifts and a unique structure. David Foster Wallace, and “Consider the Lobster” in particular, are known for their footnotes- and for good reason.
He starts off by saying “I leaned through the basement window of the HUD house and kissed the white girl. ”(Alexie, 349) which is very dry and litteral. He then ends the seventh grade section with the statement “no one spoke to me for another five hundred years. ”(Alexie, 349) The end of the grade becomes very poetic.
In fact, Kennedy accomplished his goal and is still remembered today, as the best speech ever written and delivered. Kennedy presents his speech with strong Aristotelian appeals of ethos, pathos and the stylistic devices of alliteration and antithesis. Kennedy accomplished what every speaker strives for and surpassed it by capturing the hearts of the audience and inspiring the people’s trust. Ethos is a very important rhetorical device in speeches because it establishes a sense of credibility and trustworthiness with the audience. Ethos permits the audience to feel a sense of trust that is missing in some people’s speeches.
To me, his use of pauses really set the mood and was the most effective for making his point serious. He was well spoken but not word heavy. We can learn to follow similar techniques if are ever in position to speak to the nation and declare war with another country; or for giving a speech to on a smaller level like a classroom presentation. Thank you
The complexity of the essay relies on determining if Wallace is only against
The movie “Coach Carter” was based off of a true story. It was written by Samuel L. Jackson directed by Thomas Carter. A California high school basketball coach puts school grades above sports. His purpose is because he went against that success for young adults is achieved through the world of sports than the classroom. Being successful was to be a good role model and that is what the movie “Coach Carter” is all about.