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.