Rhetoric devices are techniques used by authors to give their piece more style and organization, they assist in conveying main points while playing with the listeners: ethos, logos, and pathos. The commencement speech “This is Water” given by David Foster Wallace uses many literary techniques in order to prepare the 2005 graduates from Kenyon College for their upcoming debut into the American working world. Wallace challenges the students to change their perspective by giving someone elses point of view a chance, he challenges the graduates to become less self-absorbed. By looking at the rhetoric devices David Foster Wallace uses throughout his speech, we can conclude that although Wallace does not target the correct audience, his punctuation and didactic stories contribute to his overall message to the Graduates. This is important because Wallace successfully uses writing techniques throughout his speech to appeal to the audiences’ logos.

One of the overarching ideas Wallace continually tries to introduce is the idea that the soon to be graduates should try to think about the world in a new perspective. He begins his speech with two fish swimming in water, “eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes ‘what the hell is water?’” (8) This is an instance where Wallace uses a didactic story to help illustrate his main point to the audience, appealing to their logos. Fish live in water, swim in water, and breath water, water surrounds them and it is the only thing fish know. The water in this instance is meant to represent perspective because an individual’s perspective is the only thing that person is accustom to. Wallace wants to challenge the graduates to look beyond their own water, he no longer wants the graduates to eat, swim, sleep, and breath “water”. This technique benefitted his speech because the didactic story broke down Wallace’s main point in an entertaining way, the two fish swimming made the story more relatable. The students can compare their own perspective to the water and realize that there is more to life than just water, if an individual is always swimming through water they may be missing something on land. 

While Wallace was giving his speech he did not have the appropriate audience in mind, the graduating students were his primary audience, however, Wallace spends most of his speech making points and jokes that only the elders in the crowd would understand. This is shown when he says, “One such part involves boredom, routine, and petty frustration. The parents and older folks here will know all too well what I’m talking about.” (119) Why would Wallace include this example in his speech if his targeted audience does not have an understanding of the routine he is talking about? The main idea of his speech is to challenge the graduates to change their perspective, his jokes do not support his argument because the graduates do not understand the jokes being made, meaning he did not achieve a strong sense of ethos. The routines Wallace is trying to describe are created when an individual is stuck in the same mindset, this example is not giving them any inspiration to think outside of their comfort zone because the young audience members cannot relate to what he is trying to persuade. This rhetoric device does not help the targeted audience because they do not understand the jokes being made, Therefore, it will not broaden their perspective.

The punctuation Wallace uses throughout his speech is interesting because he does not use punctuation in many of his paragraphs. This is demonstrated in the 16th paragraph when he is discussing the characteristics of society and the irony of how selfish people behave, he explains in depth the irritating qualities these people possess. Wallace only uses two sentences while disputing his argument, this is against any English rule taught, periods are a necessity when trying to separate ideas, however, his lack of punctuation adds an irritated tone to his argument strengthening the emotions his speech provokes. Due to his lack of punctuation, there are not many breaks for the audience to pause and think about what Wallace is saying, this makes it seem as if Wallace is annoyed by selfish individuals in society because his lack of punctuation creates a hurried tone, almost as if he is ranting to the audience. This technique is successful because he is sharing his own daily frustration with the audience to inspire them to avoid this type of annoyance in their own daily lives. The speaker uses a similar structure during his 13th paragraph when describing the “typical” American routine; he shares his typical day but uses a run on sentence, this sentence could be broken down into multiple statements. Wallace’s intent in using incorrect punctuation creates a tone which conveys a stressed and irritated feeling to what he does each day. Since he uses minimal sentences when describing his day, it makes it apparent to the audience that he is describing his own daily routine. Wallace is so familiar with the activities he does on a day-to-day basis he no longer thinks about what activity follows. By using this example along with the tone he is speaking in, it convinces the audience that they should attempt to break out of their own daily routine. He challenges the audience to become aware of the repetitive activates they do, he challenges the audience to become less self-absorbed and to step out of their comfort zone. In doing so, the students will have a broadened perspective, they will create many new opportunities for themselves and the people surrounding them. 

In conclusion, Wallace uses many rhetoric devices to persuade his audience to change their point of view. These devices help keep the audience involved with the speaker but they also illustrate main ideas. Wallace’s devices may not always be directed to the correct audience

because he uses specific references that the target audience can not relate to. However, the other devices he uses do contribute to the overall message described in the text. His incorrect use of punctuation creates a hurried tone in his piece which helps the audience grasp an irritated tone from his daily schedule, he wants the graduates to break out of this daily routine and put other individuals’ thoughts and concerns before their own. Furthermore, his use of didactic stories helps convey the main points he is trying to make, it is a creative way to keep the audience engaged in what the author is attempting to speak. Without rhetoric devices Wallace’s speech would not have been so successful because Wallace heavily relies on the use of these devices to play on the audience’s logos. Overall, his message was received well and the Kenyon College graduates are ready to make their debut into the American working class.
