Summary Of David Foster Wallace's Graduation Speech
Examining the Key to Happiness In David Foster Wallace’s graduation speech, given to the Kenyon College graduating class of 2005, Wallace urges the audience to seek a more open minded perspective on the world. Arguing that societies “default setting” is that of pure self-centered thinking, Wallace strives to change the way we all view life before us. He states that liberal education teaches one, not how to think (as most believe), but rather teaches one the ability to choose how we want to think. We are presented with the choice to decipher every situation the way we want to view it; whether that be positive or negative, we are given the decision to choose how we would like to view it. This decision dictates how we see the world as a whole,
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Starting off by reporting the first person point of view, he sketches how the typical American will venture through life performing the same tasks day in and day out. He describes how frustrating life is going to be constantly running the same dull cycle day after day. Impatiently waiting in an overcrowded checkout line, selfishly only thinking about how “important” it is for you to get home in a timely fashion. I can attest that we all have been there. However, Wallace ties this story to his idea of how to think by bringing in another point of view to the situation. He transitions into the thought that one should take into account the lives of the people around them before becoming overwhelmed from the fact that you might be 20 min late getting home. He explains that this is the freedom that we all obtain. That we all “get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn’t. You get to decide what to worship.” (Wallace 207) Constructing his speech with both of these points of view, gives the listeners the ability to examine both sides of how to think and depict which one they would like more. I think it is incredible how Wallace made the audience think so much about themselves from stating his points in two different perspectives. This strategy of relaying his stance truly makes his argument relatable to the graduates and results in an extremely effective
Starting off by reporting the first person point of view, he sketches how the typical American will venture through life performing the same tasks day in and day out. He describes how frustrating life is going to be constantly running the same dull cycle day after day. Impatiently waiting in an overcrowded checkout line, selfishly only thinking about how “important” it is for you to get home in a timely fashion. I can attest that we all have been there. However, Wallace ties this story to his idea of how to think by bringing in another point of view to the situation. He transitions into the thought that one should take into account the lives of the people around them before becoming overwhelmed from the fact that you might be 20 min late getting home. He explains that this is the freedom that we all obtain. That we all “get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn’t. You get to decide what to worship.” (Wallace 207) Constructing his speech with both of these points of view, gives the listeners the ability to examine both sides of how to think and depict which one they would like more. I think it is incredible how Wallace made the audience think so much about themselves from stating his points in two different perspectives. This strategy of relaying his stance truly makes his argument relatable to the graduates and results in an extremely effective