Will goes on to ask what would happen if a president delivered a speech like that today. The audience would quickly become confused, bored and restless. He concludes the path of distinguished communication through speech and writing has declined since 1789. He explains there were no televisions for world to watch the address but simply an audience in the room who had no difficulty following his words. This is because they learned complex structures and well formed sentences from very different reading materials than us today. They grew up on material such as King James Version of the Bible and Thomas Cranmer’s book of Common Prayer and John Bunyan’s “Pilgrims Progress”. There mentality, as he suggests unlike ours, “Has not gone flaccid from a steady diet of advertising, situation-comedy repartee and “see Spot run” journalese.”…
Wallace applies many rhetorical devices of persuasion to make his points sound convincing and his past experiences allows him to appeal to ethos, which highlights the speaker’s credibility. In the beginning of paragraph 2, Wallace tells his audience that “if you're worried that I plan to present myself here as the wise, older fish explaining what water is to you younger fish, please don't be. I am not the wise old fish.” By admitting that he is “not the wise old fish”, Wallace establishes his credibility in two distinct ways. First, he demonstrates that he knows what he is talking about and secondly, Wallace moderates his audience by not pretending to be someone that he is not. Another way how Wallace uses ethos effectively is stating that…
Wallace, David Foster. "This is Water." Kenyon college commencement speech. May 21, 2005. Wallace's speech gives a look at reality. The way an American adult's life is. The way how everything is routine, how if not "well adjusted," you will be self centered and in default setting. He describes the daily routine of an American adult, and how he goes to a supermarket, packed with more people. He gets frustrated and annoyed by all of these people; how they are just wasting his time. He then starts thinking how all of these people are going through the same thing he is going through; they have rough days just as he does. If someone was to think outside the box and actually focus on the beauty of this world, they will not be bored, annoyed, frustrated,…
Wallace could use credible statements of others to show that they have experienced the same emotions and beliefs as him. This would strengthen the logical appeal and show stronger evidence to the argument stated. Wallace uses these appeals to explain that people should to change their familiar way of thinking using their default settings and focus on other people besides themselves. He wants to teach the audience that people have the freedom in how they think, but they should be wise about the decisions they make and realize how the potential effect could impact their…
To be mindful, conscious and compassionate is a state of begin in life . You can't have one without the other because they all connected to our everyday life . Two essays that proves that mindful , conscious and compassionate is a state of begin in life is “Seeing” by Annie Dillard and “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace.…
David Mean’s short story “The Secret Goldfish” compares the unpredictable and constantly changing nature of human life to the ups and downs of the fish’s life inside the aquarium. Mean utilizes the symbols of the aquarium and the fish to show us reality, unpredictable and transient, and the outright will to live which guides drives us onward.…
In this essay I am going to do my best to give the reader the most informative explanation (within my constraints) of one of the most brilliant authors of the age, David Foster Wallace. He was the author of many great and insightful (at times, dark) works. Some of the more popular/well-known pieces being _The Broom of the System, Girl with Curious Hair, Infinite Jest, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, Oblivion_, and finally his incomplete novel, _The Pale King_. In all honesty, to even scratch the surface of an individual with this amount of depth would require a work similar in size and time to his "tree-killer" of a novel, _Infinite Jest_. That being said, I hold the belief that every free-thinking individual should at least know-this man's name in hopes that it may show them the way to his works on what it means to be "a fucking human being".…
4. “Under Water” has characters which are Anne Fadiman, Gary, the instructors, and the several other paddlers. The conflict is Gary drowning in the strong current. The motives of all the characters are to save Gary. The plot is Anne and the group going canoeing but a horrible mishap occurs, and they try their best fixing it but they fall short. The setting of this story is June of 1972 in western Wyoming on the Green River. This story is told in first person and there is no dialogue.…
“Ain’t no mountain high/Ain’t no valley low, ain’t no river wide enough/ Baby if you need me call me no matter where you are/No matter how far/ Just call my name; I’ll be there in a hurry/You don’t have to worry.” This words were sung by Diana Ross, in her 70’s hit single, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. This song illustrates the man in the water as he gives his own life, to the survivors of the plane crash that are in the frigid, Potomac River. As he responds to the crash, the man is willing to pass his lifeline onto the survivors as he jumps into the river. The short story “The Man in the Water” ,written by Roger Rosenblatt, shows how courageous, fearless, and caring the man is as he jumps in the river, rescuing those that need to be saved. However, man are born powerless, and yet…
logical, and eye opening. The statements made in his speech were in 1933, as they still are…
Throughout our history race, religion, and culture have split the U.S. ever since our framers defined our constitution. Since then we can find many examples which break us apart but also characterizes us as Americans. Even in today’s society, sometimes individuals tend to look at others who do not look similar to themselves as an inferior species. Due to these acts of racism and other prejudices against those individuals, many people have raised their voices and agreed that it is time to stop these immoral acts which only break us apart. In March 28, 2008 Senator Barack Obama addressed the nation with one of the greatest speeches ever given; it was not only a wake up call for America but also a starting of a new era. In “A More Perfect Union”, Senator Obama uses ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade Americans to forget the past and start a new chapter as a unified America.…
Right from the get go, reading Saunders speech, it was very easy to follow. The way he wrote it made it very clear to understand. In the speech there was detailed and solid context. Because of this, I feel like his speech could apply and help a more vast audience.…
The scientific understanding of life has been shaped with the guidance of intellectual breakthroughs in history. One of these breakthroughs is Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), a British naturalist born in Monmouthshire, England who gained a reputation of greatness upon exploration of Malay Archipelago. Unlike other great intellects like Charles Darwin, Wallace had dropped his formal schooling at the age of fourteen to start providing for his family as a carpenter. Later in life Wallace acquires a job at the Collegiate school of Leicester teaching, and it is here that he meets Henry Walter Bates, a naturalist who sparks Wallace's interest in nature.…
As Mark Doty passes the fresh-fish display in the grocery store, he specifically notices the organized layout of the Mackerel. This everyday experience gets Mark Doty thinking and reflecting. Eventually, he creates a deeply insightful poem out of this simple experience, a poem he calls “Souls on Ice”. As Doty begins the poem with a simple description, the metaphors guide and lead him throughout the end. Once a simple idea fell into his hands, Doty felt a moment of exhilaration.…
Long before you or I were born, there reigned, in a country a great way off, a king who had three sons. This king once fell very ill–so ill that nobody thought he could live. His sons were very much grieved at their father’s sickness; and as they were walking together very mournfully in the garden of the palace, a little old man met them and asked what was the matter. They told him that their father was very ill, and that they were afraid nothing could save him. ’I know what would,’ said the little old man; ’it is the Water of Life. If he could have a draught of it he would be well again; but it is very hard to get.’ Then the eldest son said, ’I will soon find it’: and he went to the sick king, and begged that he might go in search of the Water of Life, as it was the only thing that could save him. ’No,’ said the king. ’I had rather die than place you in such great danger as you must meet with in your journey.’ But he begged so hard that the king let him go; and the prince thought to himself, ’If I bring my father this water, he will make me sole heir to his kingdom.’…