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Commencement Speech Kenyon College Analysis

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Throughout reading “Commencement Speech, Kenyon College”, I found this short story very inspiring to read as I found myself doing more research for this essay because I was so interested in it. Wallace was very reluctant to give this speech because he wasn’t sure he was ready to talk in front of 400 graduates and what if what he had to say was ordinary not something that would stick with all these students the rest of their lives. Reading this speech through the first time the tone particularly stuck out to me, a direct yet casualness in the way he made his argument really made this go from ordinary to extraordinary. Starting off with water and ending with water tied the essay into one big loop with many messages within it but a central message central the main idea water. Water comes within many forms like ice, evaporation, solid liquid, colored or even clear and so many more. The idea isn’t water is cool or everything is water but that life is everything and everywhere. Life can be happy, depressed, lonely, and uncontrollable but it still is life and that life is your and your life is precious and should be used like it was the last drop of water on the planet. David Foster Wallace uses his mindfulness to be bring about the ideas of our freedom and power in our own lives. For example, …show more content…

He speeches was written to everyone in the audience but also himself. “a slave to your own head” (310) and “its about making it…without wanting to shot yourself in the head” (313), his words weren’t evidence to his own life since he did commit suicide yet it serves as truth that he wishes all of them will live through the words he couldn’t anymore. He wanted to influence others to consciously go through life and live it up, and though it’s hard to live in the moment and always be happy especially to others approach life with excitement because, it won’t be easy but……just keep

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