"This Is Water"-David Foster Wallace Meditation

When I saw that this video was an excerpt from a commencement speech delivered at a college, i was expecting the same, ordinary, run of the mill speech. I was expecting a somewhat bland reiteration of "inspirational" words about how anyone can go on to become the next innovator or world leader if they really put their mind to it.  In a way, I was pleasantly surprised. This was interesting and very new. I was totally unprepared for his point. He basically opened by saying adult life consists largely of mundane and boring tasks, and is very frustrating. Yet he continued to make what I believe to be a very worthwhile point: all of that seemingly annoying filler in our days is almost necessary to life. Without those times, we wouldn't truly appreciate the good in life. He also makes the point that we should try to make an effort to view all of those annoying situations from the other people's perspectives. However, while I think all of these points are fantastically conceived and well worth consideration, they seem more appropriate for perhaps a guidance or career counselor's office. They are a sobering picture of the true monotony of daily life. I find his method of getting these salient points across to be unnecessarily depressing. While I appreciate his points, and may even try to consider other people's lives more often, I prefer my commencement speeches inspirational, and I felt that this was framed in a depressing manner. As a senior in high school, I can honestly say that a life such as the one David Foster Wallace describes is most definitely not one I am particularly excited to begin living. I will certainly be sure to appreciate all the new experiences and people I am sure to have in college, and will be sure to keep my life monotony free for as ing as I possibly can. Hopefully, I can avoid the "water," as he puts it, for a long time.

No One's A Mystery: Moral Criticism

From a moral standpoint, No One’s a Mystery is a very compelling short story. It does not necessarily teach a lesson, yet the situations and dialogue contained in the story do provide a lesson in ethics for readers, regardless of the author’s intention in writing it. Jack is an older man, who by all reasonable assumptions should be content with his lot in life. He has a wife who is careful to take care of him and follow the rules of an ethical society. He seems to be well enough off financially, as his wife drives a Cadillac. He should have a happy home life. In spite of this, however, Jack leads a morally and ethically wrong life. Jack behaves quite recklessly. He regularly drives well over the speed limit, and even drinks while driving. But his most glaring moral flaw is his affair. He cheats on his wife. Not only is this wrong in and of itself, but he began his affair when his mistress was only sixteen years old. In doing so, he is actively corrupting the life, morals and worldview of an otherwise innocent young girl. Although Jack knows that what they have is merely a fling, he allows his mistress to falsely believe that the relationship will amount to something happy, lasting, and fruitful. As an affair, born out of discontent with another woman whom he is committed to, this cannot be the case. Due to the promotion of such heinous values through this story, from a morally critical standpoint, I believe this tale ought to be condemned.

No One's A Mystery: Stucturalism

From a structuralism standpoint, No One’s a Mystery is a very compelling short story. It is structured as an exchange of short choppy dialogue sentences between Jack and his unnamed mistress. Jack gives his eighteen year old mistress a diary for her eighteenth birthday. While seemingly insignificant, this diary will become the central focal point around which the plot hinges. A book is not the first thing that often comes to mind when an author is deciding what to base the entire story on. It is also not typically the first choice to be used as an item to structure a story. Both of these factors, in my mind, set off alarm bells that perhaps this was not going to be the most well planned or well written story. I was wrong. Tallent does an amazing job with such an odd focus. The diary not only serves as the driving force behind the action in the story, but also as the lattice upon which the entire story rests. Tallent uses the diary as the framework of the main confrontation or conflict in the story. Jack’s view of the future, represented by his theoretical entries, is somewhat cynical but realistic. His mistress, however, sees their relationship as ending in marriage. In this way, the diary also represents the parallel structure of innocence versus experience. Jack’s viewpoint, corrupted by his lifetime of experience, is harshly realistic. However, his mistress as a young and innocent eighteen year old girl, has a much more wildly romantic view of what is, in fact, just an ephemeral fling. Due to the masterful use of the diary, I believe Tallent has penned a master work.