Compare and Contrast Between Both Speeches

  After reading, "This Is Water" by David Foster Wallace and "Noble Lecture" by Toni Morrison, I believe both reflect more differences than similarities than we thought. In Wallace's speech, he talks and mentions how people can be so selfish by making themselves the "absolute center of the universe" and focusing only on their own perspective and not others. "There is no experience you've had that you were not at the absolute center of." He also states though, that that kind of attitude is considered our "default-setting" and only we have the choice to either focus on only ourselves, or to be considerate of other people's problems and needs. If we choose to focus only on ourselves, it seems like people are in OUR way but if we think about it from another person's point of view, WE may be in THEIR way. David Wallace explains this in his example of the Hummer cutting him off in traffic.
  Toni Morrison's lecture by the way, describes the importance of language. She denounces the quality of language, of words that can be used to hurt people. From her point of view, language was too important to humanity to abuse it in that way. "We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives." We must use the power of language for good and change the way it has been used throughout the past.
  The main similarity between these two speeches are that we have the right to make choices on how we see things and use our language to either help or hurt people.

Compare and Contrast

The speech "This is Water" by David Foster Wallace and "Nobel Lecture" by Toni Morrison are similar to each other because they both express that it is up to us to interpret our lives and what we can do to live a fuller life based on how we go about changing our natural way of thinking. In "Nobel Lecture" Morrison uses the story of the blind woman and the bird to express the point of the speech. Morrison says that it is our choice, our responsibility as to whether we use our language for the good or bad of the world. Morrison wants us to use language to express ourselves instead of using violence. Morrison explains that without fully using language we become less human in how we talk along with others. In "This is Water" Wallace uses the story of the fish in the water to correlate what he means throughout the speech. Morrison says that we can learn to think that we are not the center of the world, that there are others here that are living along with us. "It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from your experience." We need to be able to live along with others and understand that it is up to us to change the way of natural way of thinking. The speeches both share ways in which we can make our lives better based on the choices we make.

There are differences between the two speeches, they have different ways in going about the choices we make. In "This is Water" Wallace explains that to change our choices are to think about others and how your choices effect them and not being so self centered in our lives.  In "Nobel Lecture" Morrison wants us to cherish our language and use it to be more human. An obvious difference is the medium in which they use to convey their message. In "This is Water" the author uses the story of fish swimming in water to show that they are apart of a bigger thing then just themselves. In "Nobel Lecture" Morrison uses the story of the blind woman and the bird to show that language is up to use to stay alive by how we should remember to live our own lives and not follow society's way of thinking.

Comparison

David Foster Wallace's commencement speech, "This is Water", and Toni Morrison's Nobel Prize Lecture spoke about how "the most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about" (Wallace 1) Wallace speaks about the power of the mind and escaping the "autopilot" mode that our minds start to switch into whereas Morrison talks about the power of language and its effects on society. 

Wallace wanted the graduating students to understand that if they do not force themselves to pay attention to their lives and the decisions they make, they will soon find themselves stuck in a monotonous routine built around avoiding risks and the "hard-wired default-setting, which is to be deeply and literally self-centered, and to see and interpret everything through this lens of self." (Wallace 2)

Morrison wanted the people hearing her lecture to understand that misused language and communication will seriously effect both the user and all those that use the language in a very real sense. Morrison uses the analogy of a bird's life in the hands of a child to show how the use of language, even if used carelessly and playfully, can have drastic effects life altering effects. She tells us that words are not just words and "Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge." (Morrison)

Both David Wallace and Toni Morrison wanted to warn their audiences against the abuse of some of the things they take for granted every day, their thoughts and their words. Both wanted their audiences to be aware of the effects their decisions have on others and to act with compassion towards others.

The speeches are different because Wallace focused on the positive effects of making an introspective change whereas Morrison focused on all of the negative things that are currently in our world due to people misusing language. "There is and will be rousing language to keep citizens armed and arming; slaughtered and slaughtering in the malls, courthouses, post offices, playgrounds, bedrooms and boulevards; stirring, memorializing language to mask the pity and waste of needless death. There will be more diplomatic language to countenance rape, torture, assassination." (Morrison)

Speeches are similar..

         In my opinion, "This is Water" by David Foster Wallace is an inspirational article because I've put myself in this situation; I always say I'm having the worst day ever when in reality there are people out there that are having it worst. Wallace stated, "Learning how to think" really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think." he responded by saying "...being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience." Basically saying double think about what you're focusing on, because your situation might not be as bad as others may have it. 

On the other hand my opinion toward Morrison with her, “Nobel Speech” is a lesson due to the fact that language is important but many people take language for granted. In Morrison’s text it states, “Being a writer she thinks of language partly as a system, partly as a living thing over which one has control, but mostly as agency - as an act with consequences.” The article talks about how the children found it funny to make a joke out of the blind lady, not clearly realizing that she still had a say so (importance of language).  This made me realize that after losing one sense, your other senses become stronger. Even though the blind lady knew there was laughter behind it all she remained calm.

Both of these articles have made me realize the importance of things we take for granted and our perspective of life. We tend to take everything we have for granted, and only like to think about ourselves, not realizing that it can be taken away rarely quickly. In addition, we look at life in only our “view” of the way things work. We base off our experiences and not the experiences of others. We should learn from many and what they go through instead of focusing on ourselves because it will only direct us to many obstacles we can avoid.

Purpose and Audience Reflected in Speech

          Both speeches "This is Water" by David Foster Wallace and the Nobel Lecture given by Toni Morrison scrupulously reflect their respective audiences as well as deliver substantially profound points. In "This is Water," Wallace's audience is a group of young adults who are not the verge of transition into the reality of adult life. His speech is marked with the goal of warning and advising this group of individuals the power of choice in often subconscious thinking and perception. On the other hand, Nobel Lecture was given after being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Morrison uses a short narrative to metaphorically depict the implications of abusing language.
          Wallace captures his audience's attention by comparing fish and water to people and mundane principles and benchmarks of life. By organizing his speech to include several anecdotes, he makes it more relatable for his audience. Also, Wallace clarifies several times throughout his speech that it's not intended to teach morals or any sort of ethics. Rather, simply: to have the freedom to choose to remain conscious in life post-graduation in order to avoid being fatigued or dulled by the norms of daily life. Wallace's speech was enthralling as he ensured it was clear and offered somewhat concrete examples to clarify ambiguous ideas.
          Morrison extends her wisdom in the form of an allegory and only partially explains what she is implying. Thus, leaving the audience to decipher what the rest of the allegory means. In her speech, she goes on to explain what the bird the young people have is representative of language. Since the bird is in their hands, it is up to them what the fate of the bird will be (supposing it's not already dead): they could either nurture it or kill it. That is the case with language: it can be used for the collective good or it can die alongside violence and oppression. When it is much later revealed that no bird ever existed in their hands, the group of young people go off on a tangent, but when they stop, the wise old woman is finally able to point out to them that the bird they have been discussing is "this thing we've done," implying communicating through language.

I Disagree

In the piece This is Water by David Foster Wallace, he speaks an awful lot about not being self centered and to not make everything about ones self, when at that exact moment he is saying how life should be spent and that he has the answers to a happy life. In one paper he has become more cynical than helpful by any means. In his attempt to show that live are to be lived positively and with free will, he has told readers everywhere exactly how to live they lives. Although he is correct in saying that being self centered is socially unattractive, he does not note that no matter how unattractive it is, it happens to everyone. The mind is designed to take care of its "flesh and bones" and is set to self defense mode. If we were to live our lives constantly worrying about others and trying to make everyone else happy, how are we to be happy? He speaks of wanting to come home after a long day and unwind and sleep, yet says to be patient with others and ask how their day went. If I'm tired and i want to sleep, I feel like I would be doing my friends a favor by just taking a nap and not forcing them to deal with my sleep deprived being. All in all, the point being how can you truly be selfless if you have no self worth. Although being self centered is frowned upon, everyone has been found guilty of it at one point or another and I feel that it is necessary to take care of yourself and your needs first before you can fully invest yourself in the needs of others.

Compare and Contrast

            In the speeches “Noble Lecture” by Toni Morrison and “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace, both explain how everyone has choices to make and depending on what choice you make the outcome will differ. In the speech “Noble Lecture” Toni Morrison states, “Whether it is to stay alive, it is your decisions in your responsibility.” It is up to us as individuals and leaders to decide what we want to do with the language we are given. If we want to slander and abandon our language, that is up to us but we can also be proud of the language we are born with and use it to better the world.  In “This is Water” Wallace talks about how it is our choice if we want to change our look on the world and our attitude. “It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from your experience.” If we choose to look at the world in a different way, in a way where we are not always the center of attention we will live a less stressful, happier life. Both author explain that the choice is up to us on how we wish to live our daily lives and how we go about our routines. If we were to not wanting to change our views on how we live we will slowly die inside of ourselves and become miserable. “How to keep from going through your comfortable, prosperous, respectable adult life dead, unconscious, a slave to your head…”

Although there are similarities between the two speeches, there are also differences. Toni Morrison is talking about how language is important and shapes who we are as a person. “it makes meaning that secures our differences, our human differences- the way in which we are like no other life.” The language we are born with, we decide what we get to do with it, however our language will always define who we are as a person. David Wallace’s speech is different than Toni Morrison’s because he is giving us a choice on how to change our attitudes and out look on the world, not a choice of language but a choice of how we view life in our heads. “This is not a matter of virtue- it’s a matter of my choosing to do the work of somehow altering or getting free of my natural, hard-wired default-setting, which is to be deeply and literally self-centered, and to see and interpret everything though this lens of self.”

Compare and Contrast

Mr. Wallace's "This is Water" and Mrs. Morrison's "Nobel Lecture" are in my opinion more different than alike. Wallace talks about how most people are very selfish and make themselves the center of the universe by looking down on others and getting annoyed by them easily, but he also states that that attitude is our "default setting" and that we have to make a choice everyday whether to be ignorant and put you're self on a high pedestal or to be aware of other people and their problems and their needs. People need "awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us that we have to keep reminding ourselves, over and over, "This is water, this is water." He also states that we all worship something whether it is the material, superficial things or the holy. If you worship the materialistic things than it will never be enough; "it will eat you alive".
Morrison uses metaphors and fables to describe her thoughts on how important language is and how we have the right to stand up and stop those who "loot" our language and the desire to express it. She also states that the art of language is what makes us human and separates us from the animals. “Word-work is sublime, she thinks, because it is generative; it makes meaning that secures our difference, our human difference – the way in which we are like no other life.” 
 That is why we must treasure it. I feel like her point was to say that language is in our hands and we must defend it and also use it for good. In the past language hasn't always been used in the right ways but now it is in your hands, make it better than what we never could. "Weather it is to stay alive, it is your decision. Whatever the case, it is your responsibility."
I feel the main similarities between these two speeches are that we all have choices to make. We must choose whether to be more aware of what reality really is or what to worship or how we use our tongue. Both pieces also use metaphors and symbolism to ask the topic questions. "What the hell is water?" or "Is the bird dead or alive?" and also have answers like, "this is water" and "the bird is in your hands".

How the different occassions reflect on how each essay was written

3.
Both "This is Water" by David Foster Wallace and "Nobel Lecture" prepared by Tori Morrison were speeches given at two different types of events. Wallace gave his speech to a graduating class of college students while Morrison recited her speech after receiving a Nobel Prize in literature. Wallace's main purpose was to prepare the alumni of what was to come in their very new lives as they would put their degrees into action. He explained that they would soon be getting into a routine that they will go through "day in and day out" that might seem never ending and agonizing. Wallace connects with the reader by saying that it's easy to think that the world revolves around you and that when you're having a bad day, everything just happens to be negatively affecting you. The main point to his speech is that he's advising the students that you can either sulk on your bad days, or you can positively turn the situation around and be aware that maybe the world doesn't revolve around you and others around you could be having a tougher time in their lives. By realizing that you're not alone, you can spread positive emotions onto others and attempt to make each and every day better for yourself and others even when you've been affected by situations that you cannot control. Tori Morrison's Nobel Prize speech has a different audience with a much different message. Her award was given to her because of her literary achievements, so naturally her message was about how important languange is. She told a story about a blind woman who was approached by a few young people who asked her the question, "Is the bird I am holding living or dead?" Her response was that she didn't know if the bird was alive or dead, but it was in their hands. They later tell the woman that she was wrong and there was no bird at all and poke fun at the fact that her answer was no where close to correct and that she had amounted to nothing. Ultimately the kids end up going into great detail of a deep story about slaves savoring one of their last nights alive as their inevitable death was soon to come, but that was unimportant to them. What was important was that moment of peace. The blind woman finally could explain to them that by saying, "It is in your hands," actually was talking about the importance and power of spreading a message through language.

compare and contrast

The speech "This is Water" by David Foster Wallace and "Morrison Nobel Lecture" by Toni Morrison are similar because no matter what situation its your choice on how you see and handle what happens in your life. In "This is Water" Wallace expresses you have control by saying, "'Learning how to think" really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think." You can learn how to think about the positive things in life instead of the negative things and learn the difference between them. In "Morrison Noble Lecture" the old women says, "Weather it is to stay alive, it is your decision. Whatever the case, it is your responsibility." It is your responsibility to make the decisions in your life and to have control over it.
   In both speeches it shows how people follow what society is doing, instead of making their own decisions and thoughts about things. 
. ”How to keep from going through your comfortable, prosperous, respectable adult life dead, unconscious, a slave to your head and to your natural default-setting of being uniquely, completely, imperially alone, day in and day out,” Wallace explains how to separate yourself from societies expectations, and he demonstrates that people stay in their comfort zone instead of experiencing what they would want to do. “She is convinced that when language dies, out of carelessness, disuse, indifference and absence of esteem, or killed by fiat, not only herself, but all users and makers are accountable for its demise,” she is explaining that the languages that aren’t being used in society are dying because people are just thinking like society instead of for themselves.

      The speeches are different because Wallace is explaining that we need to be aware of the meaningful things in life, to not stress over the little things and to live your own life. “awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, that we have to keep reminding ourselves, over and over: “this is water, this is water.”’ Morrison is explaining that it’s your on outlook on language and how you should take things and our language makes us who we are. “Word-work is sublime, she thinks, because it is generative; it makes meaning that secures our difference, our human difference – the way in which we are like no other life.”

 

Welcome to College Writing I

This will be our class blog for the semester. You should have already received an invitation for how to join this blog as an author. You can find instructions on TRACS for setting up your account.


On days when a reading has been assigned, you are expected to come to class prepared to engage in a conversation with the text and your peers. To help you prepare for these conversations, I will post reading questions to TRACS under the assignments tab. You will be expected to respond to these questions with either a blog entry or a blog comment. Your assigned peer group’s schedule will dictate whether you are responsible for a full blog entry or only a blog comment. The peer group that has been assigned to lead discussion for the day will responsible for posting that week’s blog entries, while all other peer groups are responsible for responding with blog comments. Though these grades are largely for completion, additional points may be gained by more thorough and thoughtful responses, and points may be deducted for incomplete or sloppy work or for work that shows little to no engagement with the text. Blog Entries must be a minimum of 350 words. They must be posted by midnight preceding class. Blog comments must be a minimum of 250 words, and they must be posted by class time the day the reading is due. Blog entries and comments will make up a significant portion of the Drafts and Blogs grade. In order to receive full credit for these assignments, blog entries and comments must be posted to the class blog by their deadline as well as printed out in hard copy form to bring to class. Late blogs and comments will not be accepted for credit. I will also not accept blog entries or comments via email. 

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at shilohbooker@txstate.edu or shilohbooker@gmail.com.