Foster wallace commencement speech. GA 456 2022-11-05
Foster wallace commencement speech
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In 2005, author David Foster Wallace delivered the commencement speech at Kenyon College, entitled "This is Water." In this speech, Wallace reflects on the importance of being mindful and aware of the present moment, and how this can lead to a more fulfilling and meaningful life.
One of the key themes of the speech is the idea that we all have the power to choose how we interpret and respond to the events and circumstances of our lives. Wallace uses the example of a mundane task like grocery shopping, explaining how easy it is to become lost in our own thoughts and assumptions about the people around us, rather than being present and engaged in the moment. He encourages the graduates to think about the choices they make in their own lives and how they can choose to be more mindful and aware of the world around them.
Another important aspect of the speech is the concept of "default settings," or the automatic, unthinking ways in which we approach and interpret the world. Wallace argues that these default settings can often lead us to a narrow and self-centered perspective, and encourages the graduates to challenge their own assumptions and beliefs. He encourages them to seek out new experiences and ideas, and to be open to the possibility that their understanding of the world may be incomplete or flawed.
Ultimately, Wallace's message is one of hope and possibility. He encourages the graduates to embrace the challenges and uncertainties of life, and to use their education and experiences to create a more meaningful and fulfilling life for themselves and others. In this way, the speech serves as a reminder that we all have the power to shape our own lives and the world around us, and that by being present and mindful, we can create a life that is truly rich and meaningful.
David Foster Wallace Commencement Speech Analysis
Once we realize that, and begin to think differently, that is when we truly have real freedom. This is not a matter of virtue. Think about it: there is no experience you have had that you are not the absolute center of. And it commences: now. Stated as an English sentence, of course, this is just a banal platitude, but the fact is that in the day to day trenches of adult existence, banal platitudes can have a life or death importance, or so I wish to suggest to you on this dry and lovely morning. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you.
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This is Water by David Foster Wallace (Full Transcript and Audio)
Lots of us do. But it hasn't yet been part of you graduates' actual life routine, day after week after month after year. He uses everyday examples to set the right tone and keeps everything casual throughout his speech. To be just a little less arrogant. The nonreligious guy is so totally certain in his dismissal of the possibility that the passing Eskimos had anything to do with his prayer for help. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing. But most days, if you're aware enough to give yourself a choice, you can choose to look differently at this fat, dead-eyed, over-made-up lady who just screamed at her kid in the checkout line.
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"This is Water" by David Foster Wallace speech transcript
His speech is not the same as regular commencement speeches he is informal as if he was speaking to a friend. Finally, Wallace uses logical and emotional appeal to make the listener question the ability to perform critical thinking, and changes in perspective. You haven't had time to shop this week because of your challenging job, and so now after work you have to get in your car and drive to the supermarket. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www. Effortlessness is a myth. So the checkout line is incredibly long, which is stupid and infuriating. It is my natural default setting.
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David Foster Wallace Commencement Speech
Murray discusses how young children are much better at memorizing facts than adults are, to support his position that kids should be memorizing this core knowledge at a younger age Murray 224. Another reason why this point of view was a better choice than using third person point of view, is because instead of the audience being spoken to as a generalization, they are given more of a one on one situation. 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. That is being educated, and understanding how to think. It is about the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over: "This is water. Through the argument, it becomes evident that the decisions by various individuals not to pursue college due to the inability to raise funds for the fee but instead opt for a liberal education has continuously been looked down upon Murray 236-238.
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David Foster Wallace: Kenyon Commencement Speech
But if you really learn how to pay attention, then you will know there are other options. There is no such thing as not worshipping. It is more than the knowledge we learn but more about simple awareness. Everyone here has done this, of course. And look at how deeply and personally unfair this is.
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Analysis of David Foster Wallace’s Speech “This is Water” Essay Example
Because he became president during the Great Depression, the speech focused on his plans to improve the state of America and claimed that the country could escape its economic crisis. The point here is that I think this is one part of what teaching me how to think is really supposed to mean. But if you really learn how to pay attention, then you will know there are other options. I think that as human beings, we are all narcissistic to a point. So the checkout line is incredibly long, which is stupid and infuriating.
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David Foster Wallace on Life and Work
The point of the speech was to be realistic with the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College, and that is precisely what he did. True, there are plenty of religious people who seem arrogant and certain of their own interpretations, too. Though i do not agree with this method that he used, i do believe that he saved the speech by discussing the ways the ways that different people can have different views of reality. There is no such thing as not worshipping. This sets us up to turn our attention from fishes to humans.
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The 12 Best Commencement Speeches of All Time
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 and maybe unwind for an hour, and then hit the sack early because, of course, you have to get up the next day and do it all again. Here are our picks for its most important lessons: 1. The future of our country and our world will be shaped by you. He uses logical reasoning to show how we, as humans, can have multiple changes in perspective. So let's talk about the single most pervasive cliché in the commencement speech genre, which is that a liberal arts education is not so much about filling you up with knowledge as it is about quote teaching you how to think.
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