What makes a good text great is the ability to support an overall theme with solid evidence and a strong dialogue. A good example of a sound and well-worded text would be “What is Water”, by David Foster Wallace. In this speech, Wallace uses a unique combination of dialogue and strong supporting evidence to back up his theme and wrap the text together. Although not clearly stating it, Wallace directly relates all the forms of evidence in “ What is Water” to the overall focal point of the text, which is realizing that there is more than a single way to interpret any situation and we mustn’t become a slave to any one outcome. The focal point or main idea of the text is described by using specific dialogue that includes multiple words that make multiple appearances in order to get a point across. Wallace also uses specific examples as supporting evidence to his claims in the text.

In this text, Wallace uses multiple words such as worship or cliché in different situations. Some of these instances even have the word representing a separate meaning. For example, Wallace uses the word worship multiple times while describing how people should follow their own path. How Wallace uses this term in multiple ways reflects how Wallace wants the text to be interpreted, by allowing the reader to make the connection of the different meanings of the word. It is this type of writing that allows a reader to understand and fully comprehend Wallace’s work by seeing the full message that Wallace is painting with words. Wallace does something different in the same text with the word cliché. The word means the stereotypical choice or mainstream, and is used by Wallace when he explains how clichés are all similar. In this paragraph Wallace states, “This, like many clichés, so lame and unexciting on the surface, actually expresses a great and terrible truth.” (Wallace, XIII) The context that Wallace uses this term in can be described as suggesting against it. Wallace’s tone is easily picked up upon as he uses the term similarly in the same paragraph, which allows his point to come across as firm and supported by multiple examples. These examples are what make Wallace’s point so very strong and relatable in this text, and what allows the reader to draw a connection, allowing the reader to understand his strong points.

Wallace’s speech starts off at the beginning of the story with a strong example, the simple story of the fish. Although the story seems so mainstream, it leads the way for Wallace’s following points. This is an example of a good hook because it immediately gained the reader’s attention, as it is not what was expected. Wallace found the perfect balance between gathering the reader’s attention and being able to begin the pathway for the entire text. The fish example lined up the text to transfer to the theme of how important perspective is, and then was linked by the religious and atheist example. This example provides a very good situation where both instances could be a possibility, which again creates a great pathway to the next example of the mindless lifestyle that is adulthood. In this example, Wallace goes into great detail about a period of adult life that is just controlled by repetition and routine. It is in this example that Wallace says, “ The thing is there are totally different ways to think about these situations. In this traffic, all these vehicles stopped and idling in my way, its not impossible that some of these people in SUV’s that some of these people have been in horrible auto accidents in the past” (Wallace, XV). The SUV’s that Wallace is referring to are specific to the example and refers to him normally being angry at those in SUV’s, but he changed his perspective and realized that their could be other logical reasons for their actions. Given the recent forms of examples, it is clear that Wallace has written the text to string together the specific examples; each one has a relationship to the last one. This form of writing almost tells a story and makes it easy for a reader to interpret the text much easier, allowing them to follow along with the connections. The last example of that Wallace uses is the worship example. Wallace not only uses the word worship multiple times in different contexts, but also uses it to explain how everyone should worship in their own unique way. 

`Throughout the speech, Wallace uses multiple words that have separate meanings that allow the reader to understand the text and be able to completely comprehend his points. Wallace also uses multiple examples in the form of stories that string together and link his focal points. It is these examples that allow the reader to relate to the text and by making this connection, it again permits the reader to fully understand and recollect the points that Wallace is trying to make. 