In his commencement speech, “This is Water,” David Foster Wallace uses syntax, capitalization, and short sentences to support his claims on self-awareness, self-centeredness, and virtue. Wallace’s use of syntax helps him share his ideas on education and the “capital-T truth” about life. 

Wallace uses sentence structure and comparison to get the reader to understand what he thinks is the truth about knowledge and education. In the third paragraph, he starts using this sentence structure to compare, which sets the tone about expressing his opinion for the rest of the speech; he says, “liberal arts education is not so much about filling you up with knowledge as it is quote teaching how to think” (Wallace XI). Wallace shows another example of comparison through sentence structure in the same paragraph; “the really significant education in thinking that we’re supposed to get in a place like this isn’t really about the capacity to think, but rather the choice of what to think about” (Wallace XI). In these examples, Wallace introduces two ideas in the reader’s head: what his argument is and what it is not. The sentence structure causes the reader to question why the speaker chooses to include an example of what he is not arguing in the first place. The reader can assume Wallace’s goal is to make his claim stronger. While the structure accomplishes this goal, it makes text harder to follow. 

One might argue that there is no significance in the syntax, and this is simply just how Wallace worded it. However, a later use of this style proves to enable the reader to have a deeper understanding about his argument because it puts new ideas into a bigger perspective. To share his final generalized opinion about education he states, “It is about the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time” (Wallace XVII). This example shows Wallace did not just word it this way for no reason. Including both knowledge and simple awareness in his argument causes the reader to independently consider the two in relation to education. Then, when Wallace goes into detail about his argument on simple awareness, the reader is able to have a better understanding of his claim. 

Wallace also uses capitalization as a style to put emphasis on certain words and meanings to strengthen his argument to the reader. The speaker discusses the idea that everyone is self-centered because it is a natural, “default setting.” To introduce this opinion, he starts, “there is no experience that you are not the absolute center of. The world as you experience it is there in front of YOU or behind YOU, to the left or right of YOU, on YOUR TV or YOUR monitor” (Wallace XII). The capitalization of the word “you” obviously emphasizes his claim of the world’s self-centeredness and way of thinking. In a different paragraph, Wallace again refers to the selfishness in everyone: “About MY hungriness and MY fatigue and MY desire to just get home, and it’s going to seem for all the world like everybody else is just in my way” (Wallace XIV). This quote also shows how people only think about what benefits themselves and do not care about others around them. Wallace then changes the tone of this capitalization away from self-centeredness when he explains the situation the man in the hummer might be in and says, “it is actually I who am in HIS way” (Wallace XV). This example is the first time he uses capitalization to refer to someone else’s struggles and has a thought that goes outside of what is best for oneself. All the times the speaker uses capitalization it emphasizes the meaning of the text and holds the reader’s attention on what is being said. 

Short sentences throughout the speech help Wallace elaborate on his claims. This writing style works to introduce a long explanative statement and makes it easier to follow the speaker’s idea. Wallace starts his paragraph with one complete sentence, shadowed by short sentences to go into greater detail. An example of this style is when he says, “The point here is that I think this is one part of what teaching me how to think is really supposed to mean. To be just a little less arrogant. To have just a little critical awareness about myself and my certainties” (Wallace XII). The two infinitive fragments in this quote elaborate to the reader what “teaching me how to think is really supposed to mean.” The fact the phrases are worded this way and separated into different short sentences is significant because it causes the reader to have time to stop and think about what he is saying and puts a more powerful connotation on what it means to be “just a little less arrogant.” A subtler example of this is seen a few paragraphs later when Wallace states, “This is not a matter of virtue. It’s a matter of choosing to do the work of somehow altering or getting free of my natural, hard-wired default setting” (Wallace XII). The short sentence introduces a long run on sentence and sets the tone to explain what it is a “matter” of. One might dispute this thought that the short sentences are explanative and attention holders; however, in another area of the text Wallace says, “Let’s get concrete” (Wallace XIII), in the middle of the paragraph, it becomes clear this is going to introduce an idea and keeps the reader interested in what he is about to say. From these examples, the speaker is able to express his feelings about how to think and virtue in everyday life. 

In “This is Water,” Wallace’s writing style undoubtedly portrays his points on a liberal arts education and the capital-T truth about adult life. The speaker’s choice of syntax, capitalization, and short sentences aid him in the clarification of his claims. Not only do his examples clarify, but also grab the reader’s attention to keep him from losing interest. Without these techniques, the reader might be lost in his examples, and his evident extreme consciousness of the adult world. 