Persuasive Essay On This Is Water

Commencement speeches are meant to be these happy and optimistic things that are supposed to motivate the listener, since they will be moving onto a new and important phase in their life. These speeches are not supposed to warn them about the horrors of freshman chemistry, or that their boss will have to lay them off because the company is suffering, or that when they realize their childhood is gone, they’ll want it back but will never be able to. “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace is a commencement speech that does exactly the opposite of all commencement speeches.

The speeches are not supposed to warn the listener, because for the occasion, the listener does not want to hear those things. They instead want to savor the moment, because

they had worked so hard to get there. The listeners are choosing instead to look at their world in an unengaged and disconnected way, because it is the most comfortable and safe way and it is not frightening. Looking at the world in an engaged and thoughtful way shows the world the way it is: tough but full of its own unique beauty that is simply waiting to be discovered.
In order to be able to see the world in a beautiful way, the harshness and rough edges have to be overlooked. Critical thinking can allow someone to do just that. Similar to when reading a book, the reader takes away what they want. They could take away something that the author did not intend to be a part of the message of the story. It is all simply dependent on perspective, making life so unique and interesting. We will all take away different perspectives from our lives, and viewing the world in an engaged way can show more of the beauty present. Wallace’s entire speech focuses around this idea that the world may be full of struggles and annoyances, there is some beauty in it. The beauty can only be found if the world is encountered in this engaged way.
In High-school, the classes are organized towards the goal of passing the class, through passing a test.

The American High-School system has flaws, the major one being that critical awareness is not heavily emphasized. The curriculum tends to focus on simply passing and moving onto the next course. The end goal of high-school is to move onto college. The end goal of college is to get a job. With the modern and technological 21st century, the careers are no longer focusing on someone who can pass a test and move on, they want someone who can think with this sort of critical awareness because the modern century demands it.

The goal of going to college is to be prepared enough for the outside world, to be “successful.” So far, all of the classes I have taken have forced me to view the world with this sort of critical awareness. This critical awareness helps free you from ignorance and prejudice because you are making your own opinions from the world presented to you, rather than making your opinions from the opinions and thoughts of others.

With this idea of critical awareness and critical thinking, Wallace’s speech makes a lot of good points about life and being able to enjoy life, despite the reality of it. His speech, while it is presented in this somber

tone,