ENG 120 Grossmont College This Is Water by David Foster Wallace Discussion

Step 1: View and Read

• DO a Google search on David Foster Wallace to provide context for him and “This is Water.”
• READ and LISTEN to “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace
  • David Foster Wallace: “This is Water” (the PDF of “This is Water is at the bottom of page 15.2)

Step 2 – Post your response to the discussion board on Friday by 11:59 pm (6 points)

This Discussion Post is set up like a reading guide. You have several questions to respond to about David Foster Wallace and “This is Water.” Read each question carefully.

Please number your response to each question !!

1. What did you learn about David Foster Wallace in a Google search that helps you to better understand his message in “This is Water”? Share one item of contextual information here.
2. What does the “fish story” symbolize in paragraphs 1-2?
3. What does Wallace mean by “default setting” (first mentioned in para. 8 and then referenced throughout). To support your response, include a piece of quoted evidence from “This is Water.”
4. What is Wallace’s “average adult day” example (begins in para. 13) evidence for — what claim does it support? To support your response, include a piece of quoted evidence from “This is Water.”
5. WHAT does Wallace mean in paragraph 25: This, I submit, is the freedom of a real education, of learning how to be well-adjusted. You get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn’t. You get to decide what to worship.” In your response, focus specifically on what Wallace means by “worship.”
6. WHAT would you consider to be the “golden lines” from this text? Golden lines are significant sentences and/or passages in the text that illuminate an author’s main message. To support your response, include at least two pieces of quoted evidence from “This is Water.”
7. WHAT does Wallace mean by “this is water” — this is the title of his speech and he also repeats “this is water” in his conclusion?
8. WHAT is Wallace’s main message/major claim (THINK about his themes of education, awareness, choice, empathy…)
9. HOW does Wallace’s main message relate to our other discussions this semester — on community, race, justice…