David Foster Wallace

One of the first pieces we read, David Foster Wallace’s essay Consider the Lobster, is about an annual state lobster festival. Although an inane subject, Wallace was able to dance around and through the topic while going on tangents that were sometimes pages long. Our first essay of the year had to follow the same style but the topics were totally…

One of the things that I enjoyed most was our readings. Incarnations of Burned Children by David Foster Wallace, Lobster Night by Russell Banks, and Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman are three short stories that impacted me the most from these stories. From Incarnations of Burned Children and Binocular Vision I learned that a story does not have to…

Having self- confidence in writing is essential and it never crossed my mind that I would found myself struggling with writing throughout the semester. While I started the class feeling confident, but was quickly humbled to the point I lost a bit of my confidence along the way. I like the peer reviews as it provided a chance to look at other students work and gain encouragement or provide insight on what was required. I think the way the class is structured is just right and the essays used for…

Film makers spend countless hours studying what makes a film a success. “FX Porn” is an article written by David Foster Wallace in the article he explains how all big producers go through the same strategic route to make a new film that they’re working on a block buster hit. We are walked through the process and given great examples, weather it be through famous actors, cliché scenes, or big budget actions clips it shows that they all do the same thing. Although I do love the big scenes filled…

Be Considerate In the article This is Water by David Foster Wallace he talks about our daily lives, as he says, “day in and day out”. He also explains how we as humans think selfishly without actually taking the time out to rethink situations we come in contact with everyday. Not that we do this on purpose, it’s that we are programmed this way. Learning how to think around the annoying, irritating, and foolish circumstances in life is one way to control what we think and how we feel. I did not…

From the story Good People by David Foster Wallace, I feel Lane A. Dean Jr. experiences a change is perspective faith, love, fear, and courage as it relates to his girlfriend, Sheri Fisher, becoming pregnant. He struggles with wanting to take the easy path and support Sheri in aborting the baby, yet his heart and soul is weighting heavy on him that abortion is wrong, a sin, and does not go with the values of Sheri, himself or their families. Due to this, he begins to question his on faith and…

“This is Water” by David Foster Wallace is a short writing that challenges the reader to think in a different way in order to bring one back to the real world that surrounds them. He explains that the way we all currently think leads to a self-absorbed mind that ultimately leads to a stressed and unhappy life. “The “Banking” concept of Education” by Paulo Freire is another short writing that informs the reader of the problem with our current education system. He calls the current system of our…

1. In David Foster Wallace’s 2005 Commencement Speech “This is Water,” he talks about a default setting, which is something people do automatically. It is the concept of going through life without actually considering what is going on around you. He gives an example about going to the grocery store and becoming irritated by a woman and her child she just screamed at in the checkout line, saying how you may think this is just an annoying experience, but when you actually become aware, your…

Wallace effectively led both readers on and made them think that he was bias to one side before he stated facts going each what each group believed. He managed to stay in the middle of the debate and made the readers think about why the opposite group believes what they believe. His essay is subversive by putting possible doubt in the readers mind and made them actually listen to other viewpoints. When I say “other viewpoints” I am speaking about the viewpoints of people who think it is…

cause their readers to question the way they have been looking and going about things. David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech to Kenyon College graduates has received praise because of his ability to break the set pattern of commencement speeches. All are filled with “helpful” advice that are meant to inspire kids to go the distance. To follow their dreams. To not stop in the face of adversity. Wallace speech doesn’t do that. He realizes that the kids have already heard this one too many…