
David Foster Wallace’s This is Water is it a great example of using repetition, sentence structure, and diction to demonstrate symbolism and to emphasize the main purpose. The author uses these specific rhetorical devices to relate to the readers, further his main point by using real life examples, and comparing it to what he thinks should be reality. Wallace thoroughly explains it through a very descriptive scenario. Wallace takes his readers on hypothetical scenario to the grocery store where he explains the typical everyday life of your average adult. During this trip, readers quickly relate to this trip and begin to realize this is actually them at the grocery store. Only to learn that this one trip to the grocery store allows you to self assess and identify what is really important in ones everyday life. Wallace simplifies things and helps remind his readers to figure out what is really important to them. 

The main point of This is Water is to address the fact people need to look on the brighter side of things. The author constantly says phrases such as “in my way” or “in my own.” Making  it significantly easier for the reader to relate and instantly understand the authors main point and argument. After analyzing this reading, it was clear what Wallace had done, using simple sentences, phrases, and structure to progress his idea of the simple things in life. The simple things in life being the important things to appreciate, the things right in front of us that we speed pass, classify as unimportant and miss. The simple things we allow to slip past us that is within arms reach becoming overly pessimistic and negative towards. Being pessimistic about situations and circumstances we are placed in, and negative towards people who do not deserve it for many reasons that he discussed.

       When David Foster Wallace said “in my” he is saying that we are ultimately all naturally selfish. Wallace uses this simple phrase knowing that most people tend to say things of nature unconsciously. Being unaware and unable to self assess to realize the tendency that we all have to be selfish. People have a natural instinct to be pessimistic and look at things without any concern for others lives. That people naturally put themselves before others and think that their life is more important like in the grocery store. Then Wallace elaborates ever so slightly, adding just one simple word to the phrase, “in my way” which is the way most people think when in reality everybody else is just trying to do same thing. That naturally nobody thinks that others have things going on in their lives as well. Wallace using simple and specific diction displays how selfish people are and can be though these phrases. 

David Foster’s sentence structure also played a heavy role in his overall success of getting the theme across to his audience. He uses simple sentences, and within these simple sentences he usually makes a simple statement. Making it seem as if this is a easy concept to grasp. The structure the author uses is very important in how he emphasizes specific points. He also uses simple sentences with blatant topics, making his point obvious in the statement. Likewise, he also uses a lot of complex sentences for his more complex, less obvious points when he makes you actually think. For example, “This question gets tricky,” or “ Paying attention to what's going on inside me,” (Foster Introduction XII). Foster was very blunt and makes his point very clear. Here, “We rarely talk about this sort of natural, basic self- centeredness, because it's so socially repulsive, but it's pretty much the same for all of us, deep down. It is our default-setting, hard-wired into our boards at birth,” a complex sentence with a complex idea that makes us think (Foster Introduction XI). The structure of his sentences coincides with the structure or idea he is getting across when making a statement. Wallace uses his sentence structure to also symbolize whether that specific concept is simple or complex bringing him back to his overall idea of having the simple things play a big role in peoples everyday life.  

The authors diction and connotation also played a role of how his overall message was delivered. He spoke in basic terms, nothing too complex but also not too basic where it made the readers feel it was too simple to continue to read. It helped process his overall message because it made it easier to grasp the points his was trying to get across. Wallace using these simple basic writing skills, which you learn at a very young age, to ultimately progress his argument and main point across. This is a very complex, yet simple style of writing and persuasion that has been executed very well. “The point is that petty, frustrating crap like this is exactly where the work of choosing comes in,” it was basic, but got his point across and was easy for the readers to understand while still progressing a complex idea of simplicity (Foster Introduction XIV).

The phrase “In my” being used in so many different ways allowed the author to get his point across with ease. Wallace’s strategy to offer his opinion using different scenarios and interpretations gives the readers multiple chances to absorb the material and agree with his argument. Each way with different support and ideas to still bring it back to the central idea of the reading. The author does all of this while still using the phrase similarly each time to give it more of a backbone, giving it more depth and establishing more credit with the more support that was added each time. Doing this through his very descriptive and thought out diction, sentence structure as well as overall organization, and repetition of ideas and words. His argument only becomes more valid as he progressively incorporates one idea into the next to create his central idea. Doing this he was creating a very persuasive argument that is hard to miss or not understand through the many different perspectives he offered. 