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The View From The Midwest David Foster Wallace Summary

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In the essay The View from the Midwest (2001 issue of Rolling Stone), novelist David Foster Wallace gives a detailed account and explores a different angle of the September 11 attack. In this passionate piece of writing, he discloses personal experiences and vividly describes what he goes through on the day of attack and the day after, piece by piece through a labyrinth of narratives. He talks about his next door neighbor, a retired CPA and vet, and about his best friend’s mother, Mrs Thompson. Through his essay, Wallace tries to spotlight the patriotic stigma and the terrifying undaunting faith people have in the system. In this paper, I confer about Wallace’s view that is, the failure of the general public to follow through with the transformation …show more content…

In the second paragraph, Wallace starts out by directly mocking the people’s attempt to exhibit patriotism without speculating what it actually symbolizes. Wallace talks about his next door neighbor, Mr N and highlights how Mr N prides about the meticulousness of his flag’s details. Mr N advertises patriotism rather than doing something concrete which is illuminated by his statement - "Why" (after a brief interval of giving me the same sort of look he usually gives my lawn) "to show our support and empathy in terms of what's going on, as …show more content…

Wallace ridicules the american doctrine of materialistic patronage and insists that such beliefs only exacerbate the situation. He prompts the people to have notions that are more consequential and assert people to comprehend the core of the problem. Simultaneously, Wallace illustrates the trauma and innocence of people when they go through such a shock. He explains how people stopped paying attention to the peculiarities of what they were watching not because of their ignorance but because of their innocence as he

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In his “9/11 Address to the Nation” the 43rd President of the United States of America, George W. Bush assures that America will not be affected by the unruly and evil attacks carried out on September 11th, 2001. The President drafted this speech to resist the impending fear and questioning that American citizens around the country would soon be consumed by. Because 9/11 was the most impactful, yet devastating terrorist attack on the United States to date, Bush was not able to derive his thoughts from others’ ideas and speeches, thus he was forced to dig deep and extract the emotions and thoughts aroused by the “despicable acts.” Much like any great leader, President Bush wanted to stress the importance of instilling a sense of pride and resilience in the country and fellow countrymen and women to come together and remain as one. As the head of the “brightest beacon of freedom and opportunity” President George W. Bush declares that the United States of America will “remain strong” and appear unaffected as the country continues to build and rebound from the senseless acts of terrorism and hate.

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David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech “This is Water” at Kenyon College is often thought of as one of the most influential speeches because it calls the graduates to observe the world around them through a different lens. However, he does not accomplish that by calling the graduates to action, but instead challenges them to use their education. He also appeals to the students’ emotions through his use of ethos, logos, and pathos. Although people mostly only remember the antidotes, it is the message associated with reoccurring emotions and literary devices throughout the speech that moves the reader into action. Wallace is able to captivate his audience and persuade them to view the world without themselves at the center through his tactful use of rhetoric.

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In the reading of “Authority and American Usage” by David Foster Wallace we are provided with information from “A Dictionary of Modern American Usage.” After I read this I was able to classify Wallace as a prescriptivist that would follow all of the rules of writing in his classroom. He is a linguistic conservative that goes by the norms, and uses SWE (Standard Written English). In a writing class of Wallace’s the main purpose and function would be to write context that is grammatically correct, that uses SWE, and use dictionaries to make writing language meaningful and clear. Wallace also classifies himself a SNOOT; one that considers himself always correct and is a critic.

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All of this pure anger and hatred for the English likely came from one of four deaths. Wallace 's father was said to be killed in a skirmish with English soldiers, Wallace murdered a noble Englishman before joining the resistance and he was then constantly hunted as an outlaw by the english, his love interest Marion was murdered by englishman, and his uncle was murdered in retaliation to Wallace 's actions against Edward I. Though seen as a hero with a brutal death, he may have been one of the cruelest and darkest characters in Scotland

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