In this unit, we have been studying close reading. Close reading is a type of analysis that looks at the language, style, and form of a piece of writing. The tools used for close reading are to first establish the meaning and then look at details such as genre, theme, diction, point of view, tone, imagery and symbolism to name a few. I chose to do a close reading of "This Is Water" ,by David Foster Wallace, because I found the grocery store scene most compelling and most interesting out of all of the other stories we've read so far in this unit. "This Is Water" is a commencement speech, given by David Foster Wallace to the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College. The general message he gave to the graduates was to "get out of their own minds and think outside the box" (pg. 12). Wallace uses the term, default system, to represent the natural, automatic, self centered way that our brain portrays the world around us. I believe the most compelling part of the speech is the grocery store scene. The imagery and sentence structure Wallace uses in this section of his speech help the reader relate to the actual meaning that he, the author, was trying to get across, which is to think outside of your default setting.

Imagery is a literary device that authors and writers use to stimulate the readers senses. In "This Is Water", Wallace uses imagery profusely throughout the grocery store example. When he describes the average day of waking up, going to work, coming home, and then doing it all over again the next day puts a montage of different scenes in my mind. A series of photos show a bland looking man frozen in the frame while the background changes from him in front of the mirror brushing his teeth, to him sitting in his car in traffic, then sitting in his boring brown cubicle, then back to being in his car sitting in traffic, and then him laying in bed. I see these photos quickly repeating themselves to represent the man just going through the motions of his average and dull life. In the grocery store, Wallace describes the " bright fluorescently lit grocery store isles" that cause your eyes to quickly readjust and the "big bulky carts" that never seem to go the direction you are trying to push it in (pg. 14). He also describes the people you would see in the store. The old people slowly pacing through the isles trying to find their cornbread mix, the spacey people that don't exactly know the location of what they're looking for, and the ADHD kids who are darting between you and your cart attempting to find their favorite box of cookies. Then, he makes it to the checkout line that is a mile long, and describes the frantic checkout lady who is trying to keep her cool, and the mother yelling at her obnoxious children (pg. 14). Wallace uses these descriptions because every reader can relate to it. Everyone has, at one time, been in a grocery store during rush hour and experienced all of the recently mentioned situations. The harsh lights, crowded isles, ponderous carts, and other pestering customers, etc. We have all been there and know how unpleasant it is. The importance of  Wallace use of imagery is to make us feel, see, and hear the annoying, frustrating, encounters the main character is dealing with while trying to get in and out of the grocery store. 

Another way Wallace helps the reader relate to the meaning is through sentence structure. Throughout the grocery store example, Wallace uses a number of lengthy, tedious clauses. He does this to make the reader physically feel how long, tiring, stressful, and unnecessarily dragged out the main characters grocery store experience is. He also uses negatively descriptive words to describe everything in the store. A few examples are, "the junky cart," "hideously, flourecently lit aisles," "tired, hurried people", "creepy, flimsy plastic bag", and "crowded, bumpy, littery parking lot" (pg. 14). Another example of Wallace's use of long clauses and negative diction used to describe things and people are on page 15 when the  main character is stuck in traffic. He describes the cars using words like "huge, stupid, lane blocking, wasteful, selfish forty gallon tanks of gas Hummers and SUV.s." He describes the people driving these vehicles with words like, "disgusting, hideous, selfish, ugly, inconsiderate, and aggressive" (pg. 15). The importance of Wallace's use of clauses and diction is to help us, the reader, physically feel this scene so that we may understand the meaning of the speech itself.

Through the imagery and sentence structure Wallace uses throughout the grocery store example, the reader is able to relate to the mindset of the main character, who is thinking through his default setting. He believes everything and everyone in the store and on the highway are an inconvenience and an annoyance to him. If the main character were to think outside of his default setting, he would realize that maybe he was in their way. Maybe the old person walking slowly in front of his cart had dementia and didn't even remember why they were in the store. An example Wallace gives is the woman yelling at her children in the checkout lane. Maybe her husband is dying of a terminal illness and she was up all night taking care of him and now she doesn't have the patience to control her children in the store (pg. 16). These literary devices affect the work as a whole because they are used to make us mentally and physically feel the tediousness and annoyance of the main character and show us what life is like for someone who thinks using their default setting.

If you are looking out into the world with a selfish point of view, you will always see what other people are doing wrong and how it is negatively affecting your life. By thinking outside of our default setting and caring and sacrificing for others, you will begin to notice more of the good things in life. If you realize that other people may be going through the same thing or even worse than you, you will feel compassion and be a happier person because you know that you're not alone and will stop feeling bad for yourself because you don't have it so bad.  

Wallace used imagery and sentence structure to help the reader relate to the actual meaning of thinking outside of your default setting so we can learn to live a more selfless and happier life.

