On May 21, 2005, David Foster Wallace held a commencement speech for students and their parents at a private liberal arts school in Gambier, Ohio at Kenyon College. This speech has been titled This is Water, and in this speech Wallace's main proposal to this audience was that the purpose of them getting a higher education is to teach them how to perceive others, and also the world around them, and to learn how to live a compassionate life. This speech was first published in book form by Little, Brown Company on April 14, 2009.
In Wallace's, This is Water, he talks about learning how to have control over how you think. Meaning that we sometimes don't realize that the way think can come off as stand-offish, arrogant, close-minded, or simply self-centered. In the speech, Wallace states that "the same exact experience can mean two totally different things to two different people, given those people's two different belief templates and two different ways of constructing meaning from experience." This statement says that because there are so many different types of people in the world with different personalities, no one's interpretation …show more content…
I do believe that this speech was effective, and I do believe that his goal was accomplished. In my opinion, Wallace simply just wanted to send a message on how us as a people could make the world a better place, and he gave us examples on how to do it. After reading this speech I now understand even more, that the purpose of all of us being here is to help other people who may be in more need than we are. Also, to understand that not everything is about me, or
In Wallace's, This is Water, he talks about learning how to have control over how you think. Meaning that we sometimes don't realize that the way think can come off as stand-offish, arrogant, close-minded, or simply self-centered. In the speech, Wallace states that "the same exact experience can mean two totally different things to two different people, given those people's two different belief templates and two different ways of constructing meaning from experience." This statement says that because there are so many different types of people in the world with different personalities, no one's interpretation …show more content…
I do believe that this speech was effective, and I do believe that his goal was accomplished. In my opinion, Wallace simply just wanted to send a message on how us as a people could make the world a better place, and he gave us examples on how to do it. After reading this speech I now understand even more, that the purpose of all of us being here is to help other people who may be in more need than we are. Also, to understand that not everything is about me, or