



David Foster Wallace is known as a very deep and meaningful author, and this can be seen in his commencement speech, “This Is Water.” Wallace uses emphasis on certain words, various rhetorical devices, and multiple types of writing to further develop the overarching theme of his speech. This theme is that a person must be aware of themselves and their surroundings, and must deliberately go against a human’s default setting to think they are the center of the universe in order to truly experience a fulfilling life. Throughout the passage examples of Wallace’s purposeful emphasis of some words, use of rhetorical devices, and varied types of writing can be seen.

Wallace’s emphasis of certain words and phrases in the passage are meant to highlight the key points of his speech. One example of this emphasis is, “The world as you experience it is there in front of YOU or behind YOU, to the left or the right of YOU, on YOUR TV or YOUR monitor” (Wallace XII). He emphasizes the word “you” or “your” in order to drive home the point that humans are naturally selfish, and the immediate  instinct is to only consider his/her point of view. It is a human’s default setting to be like this, Wallace wants his audience to be more mindful of the world around them in order to avoid being stuck on their default setting. Another example of his emphasis is in the excerpt, “the Hummer that just cut me off is maybe being driven by a father whose little child is hurt or sick in the seat next to him, and he’s trying to get this kid to the hospital, and he’s in a bigger, more legitimate hurry than I am: it is actually I who am in HIS way” (XV). In this example Wallace uses an emphasis on a certain word in order to show the importance of observing and thinking about the world around you. He does this to further explain that no one person is the center of the universe, and that people should not assume that they are going through the hardest day, and have the most difficult life possible, because it simply is not true. There is always someone who is experiencing harder times and are tending to more pressing matters. A third example of emphasis is, “The capital-T Truth is about life BEFORE death,” and, “your education really IS the job of a lifetime” (XVII). In these cases Wallace is not trying to prove why the audience should act and think a certain way, rather he is further explaining his point that life is about being aware and truly experiencing it. Wallace wants the graduates to live a fulfilling life, and the only way to do so is to be aware of their surroundings and understand that education and knowledge is a key part to that. All of his points of emphasis refer to the greater theme of his speech, to be conscious of the world around you, and to not fall into the default setting.

 Wallace uses many different rhetorical devices, these include anecdote, and metaphor. An example of anecdote is the story of the old fish and the two young fish. In this story the two young fish respond to the old fish’s comment, “How’s the water?” with, “What the hell is water?” (Wallace X). The young fish’s response is used to show how many people are unaware of their surroundings, and that people in today’s society care about themselves more than anything else. This anecdote serves to tell his audience how not to act in the real world, he wants the graduates to be cognizant of the world around them. This is because no one person is the center of the universe, and we must constantly remind ourselves of this, or get drawn into the default settings of life where one trudges along unconcerned with what is happening in the universe. A recurring metaphor in the speech is water, it represents our surroundings, something that is commonly ignored and easy to forget the importance of. At the end of the speech Wallace says, “We have to keep reminding ourselves over and over: This is water. This is water” (Wallace XVII). He reminds his audience that they need to be aware of their environment, and to always remember what can so easily be forgotten. It is necessary to be conscious to the world around us, and to react accordingly to the situations we are in.

Wallace also uses multiple types of writing, including dialogue, short stories, and an extra explanation of his ideas. He uses dialogue to have somewhat of a conversation with his audience. This is important in the setting of a speech because if he simply talked at the audience, they would become uninterested with what Wallace was talking about. Because of this the greater meaning of Wallace’s speech would be missed, and ultimately useless. The use of short stories also factors into keeping the attention of the audience. They are a more thought-provoking medium for his ideas to be conveyed. After a short dialogue, or a story Wallace usually has a short explanation to further develop these ideas. These various types of writing all serve to relay the theme, and make sure his ideas are understood, this shows that Wallace indeed wants the best for his audience. He even uses the structure of his speech to explain his points, such a style of writing invites the audience he has.

The style of writing and syntactic patterns in “This Is Water” serve to further explain Wallace’s ideas and advice to the graduates he is speaking to. Their usage is essential in this speech because it goes beyond giving the audience a little life advice, it gives examples of what they may encounter, and demonstrates ways to go about handling similar situations. Furthermore, a common theme throughout the speech is that no single person is the center of the universe. Wallace is also adamant that someone should not go through life on their default settings, but rather be conscious about their surroundings and react accordingly.


