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David Foster Wallace This Is Water

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Everyone has different interpretations on learning how to think, But I believe that David Foster Wallace’s is the closest from the commencement speech he delivered called “This is Water” his definition of “Learning how to think” is how learning is being able to exercise some control on what or how you think. Out of the whole speech that part where he speaks about it is what really grabbed my attention. Why? Because it takes me back to my sophomore year in high school and how that was the year I had decided to have a more positive outlook view towards school or in general rather than having negative ones.

Further explaining my sophomore year before that I would always give up so easily when I wouldn’t understand the material, so I would just …show more content…

It’s about having a strong mindset to help you remain on task and being able to always give the benefit of the doubt leaning towards more positive. My experience is somewhat similar to how he explains it in his speech, but the main focus is that regardless of what the situation is whether you apply this just to school like how I did or to everyday life; for example, if you encounter someone in a bad mood or acting a certain way to always assume they have a reason for the way they act only to a certain extent of course ,but the point is to have that positive view instead of that current situation affecting the rest of your day. “Important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about,” as David Foster Wallace says in his speech I agree with David I feel like everyone is so focused on being perfect without understanding that the perfect human does not exist everyone comes with baggage. Stress one word we all dread, but many are without realizing because it often leads us to think that we are the center of attention without realizing that we are being

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Wallace, David. "Water" Kenyon College Commenament Speech 2005. Water's new and different point of view instantly draws the readers attention and makes them whant to continuereading. Walter explain's how people instantly only think about their own needs and do not think about what the person next to them might be going through. Walter makes the reader think about their actions and their own life making them realize that they could be happy by only making the correct decion.

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This idea coming from the idea that students are but mere receptacles that oppressors can fill with their ideas. The students are taught to not challenge the idea

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Wallace concludes his speech by claiming the real value of education is not knowledge, but being aware of what is real. Wallace’s main claim about a liberal arts education, that it exists to teach students how to think, is incorrect; however, he is correct to say that the same experience can mean two different things to two different people, and that learning how to think is being aware of how to exercise control over how you

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In his commencement speech at Kenyon College in 2005, David Foster Wallace was tasked with the responsibility of imparting some wisdom onto the graduating class. Wallace’s message to a room of full soon-to-be college graduates at the precipice of the of their impending true adulthood, he offers them a message that cuts through the mess and concisely delivers a message that many would ironically overlook, which is for the students to realize that at times, imperative life lessons are not only the ones that they cannot conceive or believe, but the ones that are obvious but hard to acknowledge let alone discuss. The lesson in this is that no matter how instinctive that cynicism is, it is imperative that people must try to more honest and open

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We go through life with important, beautiful things hovering right below our nose in our reach the whole time yet for some reason we never seem to notice them they slip right out from under us like they were never there at all. We’ve been in water but never been able to distinguish it. David Foster Wallace touches on all the aspects of selfishness and belief in his changing speech to Kenyan students called This is Water David Foster Wallace uses vivid imagery, figurative language , and symbolism to enhance the readers/listeners experience well making the piece seem more personal. One literary tool that David Foster Wallace uses to invoke more feeling the reader is vivid imagery.

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I convey those concepts through analysis of texts and the usage of texts as examples, where you value your own survival over anything when it comes down to it and what your past can do alter your view. In the end, the message I want to spread is that your experiences in life can make you indifferent but there is things that you still care about so therefore you cannot be completely

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The speech "This is Water", is a speech delivered to the class of Kenyon College 2005. David Foster wrote this speech to inform the struggles and lifestyle of what happens after college. Foster uses his lifestyle on an everyday basis to give examples of the life after college. Therefore, David ends his speech with "It is unimaginably hard to do this, to stay conscious and alive, day in and day out." , he expresses this along with his examples to state the struggles of life.

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If the person in the conflict remains positive, he or she will affect their environment in a positive manner. Elevated mental energies are fostered as a result of a positive

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passion. C. Wallace provides a depiction of how people view everyday situations from a pessimistic perspective: D. “But most days, if you're aware enough to give yourself a choice, you can choose to look differently at this fat, dead-eyed, over-made-up lady who just screamed at her kid in the checkout line. Maybe she's not usually like this” (Wallace 20). E. Wallace’s description of the lady sounds plausible to the audience because one may have constructed similar thoughts about total strangers. By beginning his argument with the description of the lady, Wallace allows the audience to be emotionally connected to the situation, therefore, his argument becomes more applicable.

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Teaching the students self-control is important and takes time. Students will make mistakes but teaches need to make the mistake a learning tool by teaching the students a better way to conduct themselves. He writes “When we are unreasonable with students and humiliate them into submission, the benefit is really for the teacher and not the students”, this really hit home for me, I have seen that happen and the student shut down and he had a miserable rest of his year. We need to instill confidence in our students not talk poorly to them.

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David Foster Wallace is an American writer. He spoke at the Kenyon Commencement Address in 2005, where he gave a speech to the graduating class of the year. David tells the graduates of Kenyon College what the true meaning of a liberal arts degree is, and how they should go about finding it. David Foster Wallace’s appeals to credibility, emotion and logical reasoning in his speech – “This Is Water” – to strengthen the idea that the meaning of education is learning how and what to think, independently.

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Teachers have the power to determine whether their classroom will be a caring atmosphere or an authoritarian environment for the students. Teachers need to curb their ego and model empathy, positive attitude, and leadership skills. She believes that if teachers use positive attitudes when dealing with difficult students, the students will respect the teacher more; therefore, the students will have better behaviors. Showing empathy toward the students will result in the student feeling like someone understands them. Creating relationships with students helps them feel safe in their environment and comfortable talking to the teacher.

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Imagine going to school and really succeeding; you understand everything, you’re getting good grades and all the praise you can dream of from your parents and teachers. But then you move up and things get harder, you don’t understand everything, your grades are dropping and you are scared that you will no longer get that praise. You have two options, you can either take on the challenge and get back to where you used to be, or you can sit down when you feel threated by the hard work. In “Brainology” by author Carol S. Dweck, we are shown research concerning those two options or “mindsets” and how we can change them.

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We have all heard the phrase, “make yourself feel at home.” In Homeric times, this phrase was meant literally. Today, we have our own form of hospitality and although it may not be as extensive and as serious as it is portrayed in the Odyssey, today’s hospitality is still relatable to those times. Hospitality was expected of all guest and host relationships. Xenia held both social and religious importance, as it was believed in ancient Greece that any person could actually be a god in disguise.

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King has provided his opinion about education is building character. Dr. King uses his words to create an audience awareness to think for yourself isn’t the same as you may call it critical thinking. Against the common assumption that colleges should teach their students “critical reasoning,” Dr. King argues that critical thinking alone is insufficient and even dangerous. Teaching one to think critically is no small task. Most students learn by constructing knowledge based on an engaged learning process rather than by absorbing knowledge from passive sources.

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