J.P. Woodward
Block A
Unpacking “This is Water” What is meaning? To me, meaning is what is significant. Meaning is what drives you, what pushes you, what compels you. “This is Water” defines meaning as what matters to you in your life. The Glossary does a great job of visualizing David Foster Wallace’s words. His words are ingenious; yet having a visual to help understand them is extremely beneficial. “This is Water” uses ethos, pathos, and logos that draw in the viewer and establish a connection. The ethos of the video delves into the idea that this video applies to everyone. David Foster Wallace gives his speech to students about to go into the real world, while this video conveys its message to everyone. Whether it be a college …show more content…
The logos in this video are through the examples it gives as well as the on text animations. These animations provide definitions of words and facts that help us comprehend Wallace’s speech. Providing a visual sense of detail aids the reader to understand what David Foster Wallace is saying. The video shows the facts of long checkout lines, bumper-to-bumper traffic, and other details of monotonous adult life. The most important rhetorical aspect of this video is pathos. The pathos in this video is what truly grabs us as an audience and pulls us in. “This is Water” uses emotions like anger, fear, curiosity, and everyday emotions of most peoples’ repetitive lives. These emotions portrayed by the actors make us feel like they understand how we feel. How we are so quick to judge, so fast to get upset, so naturally set off by others. These emotions are sparked by visual aids to connect with the viewer. For example, when David Foster Wallace talks about the checkout line, we can visualize it in some aspects, but words can only do so much. “This is Water” portrays all the different kind of …show more content…
To these people, I can see where you are coming from. I can see that you think this video is too corny or too jam-packed. Yet personally watching Wallace’s speech, then watching the video, there is a bridge between the two. Wallace’s words are so strong and impactful yet for me it was tough to connect with him and relate to what he was saying through just words. Watching the video connected all of Wallace’s ideas and conveyed them to help the viewer comprehend his insightful words. The video inspired us through a parallel that we experience every day through visuals that we understand. “This is Water” exemplifies Wallace’s ideas through pure emotion. Your typical human is more likely to be inspired by actually seeing and hearing something rather than just hearing it. This paper in no way is pointing out Wallace’s speech’s flaws. All I am trying to prove here is that the “This is Water” video establishes a connection with the viewer that allows us to take in the message Wallace is trying to convey, and inspire us to carry it with us through our every day lives full of repetitiveness and monotony. And that through all this repetitiveness and monotony, the true meaning of life
Block A
Unpacking “This is Water” What is meaning? To me, meaning is what is significant. Meaning is what drives you, what pushes you, what compels you. “This is Water” defines meaning as what matters to you in your life. The Glossary does a great job of visualizing David Foster Wallace’s words. His words are ingenious; yet having a visual to help understand them is extremely beneficial. “This is Water” uses ethos, pathos, and logos that draw in the viewer and establish a connection. The ethos of the video delves into the idea that this video applies to everyone. David Foster Wallace gives his speech to students about to go into the real world, while this video conveys its message to everyone. Whether it be a college …show more content…
The logos in this video are through the examples it gives as well as the on text animations. These animations provide definitions of words and facts that help us comprehend Wallace’s speech. Providing a visual sense of detail aids the reader to understand what David Foster Wallace is saying. The video shows the facts of long checkout lines, bumper-to-bumper traffic, and other details of monotonous adult life. The most important rhetorical aspect of this video is pathos. The pathos in this video is what truly grabs us as an audience and pulls us in. “This is Water” uses emotions like anger, fear, curiosity, and everyday emotions of most peoples’ repetitive lives. These emotions portrayed by the actors make us feel like they understand how we feel. How we are so quick to judge, so fast to get upset, so naturally set off by others. These emotions are sparked by visual aids to connect with the viewer. For example, when David Foster Wallace talks about the checkout line, we can visualize it in some aspects, but words can only do so much. “This is Water” portrays all the different kind of …show more content…
To these people, I can see where you are coming from. I can see that you think this video is too corny or too jam-packed. Yet personally watching Wallace’s speech, then watching the video, there is a bridge between the two. Wallace’s words are so strong and impactful yet for me it was tough to connect with him and relate to what he was saying through just words. Watching the video connected all of Wallace’s ideas and conveyed them to help the viewer comprehend his insightful words. The video inspired us through a parallel that we experience every day through visuals that we understand. “This is Water” exemplifies Wallace’s ideas through pure emotion. Your typical human is more likely to be inspired by actually seeing and hearing something rather than just hearing it. This paper in no way is pointing out Wallace’s speech’s flaws. All I am trying to prove here is that the “This is Water” video establishes a connection with the viewer that allows us to take in the message Wallace is trying to convey, and inspire us to carry it with us through our every day lives full of repetitiveness and monotony. And that through all this repetitiveness and monotony, the true meaning of life