David Foster Wallace On Language Essay

Wallace’s essay is a pretty intriguing, considering half of us really don’t wonder “Hmm, what’s the proper way to say ___?” or “Shouldn’t she

Talking Black In America addresses how advanced, unique, and culturally important African American English is (Hutcheson and Cullinan, 2017).

Published in April of 2001 by Harper’s Magazine, David Foster Wallace’s essay is both a review of A Dictionary of Modern Usage by Bryan A. Garner and an interjection into the present day “Usage Wars.” Wallace’s thesis for his essay is stated after a list of grammatical errors that are overlooked on a daily basis and a few paragraphs defining SNOOT. His thesis states, “Issues of tradition vs. egalitarianism in U.S. English are at root political issues and can be effectively addressed only in what this article hereby terms a “Democratic Spirit.” A Democratic Spirit is an attitude a person can have only by being fervent in his/her beliefs while also recognizing and respecting the beliefs of another.

The English language is particularly complex in almost all aspects. Many of the words in the English language have different meanings for the same word. This is not unlike the definition of the different levels of usage. McCrimmon defines the three levels, formal, moderate, and colloquial, by their sentence structure, diction, and tone (McCrimmon 193). ¹ Using McCrimmon’s definitions, authors can determine what type of writing is applicable to each of the three levels. For the formal writings, an adequate example of where readers can find it is in a professional journal, and an appropriate place to find an example of the moderate level is in a weekly news magazine. Also, the best place to look for an example of the colloquial level is in certain sections of the newspaper. All of the levels of usage apply to these different types of writings and assist in defining what each level involves.

George Orwell’s essay, Politics and the English Language, first published in 1946, talks about some “bad habits”, which have driven the English language in the wrong direction, that is, away from communicating ideas. In his essay he quotes five passages, each from a different author, which embody the faults he is talking about. He lists dying metaphors, operators, pretentious diction, and meaningless words as things to look out for in your own writing and the writing of others (593-595). He talks about political uses of the English language. Our language has become ugly and the ugliness impedes upon communication. Ugly uses of language have been reinforced and passed down in the population “even among people who should and do know

David Foster Wallace’s sarcasm and seemingly neurotic writing entertained me throughout the entire essay. I enjoy realism, and noticing miniscule things about people. I could picture myself in his shoes, noting the fact that the stewardess returns to his room in a matter of minutes after he leaves. His occasional footnotes also provided more comedy, especially when he is describing other people on the cruise ship.

Wallace establishes a humorous tone in the first section to convey his argument. “There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, ‘Morning, boys, how's the water?’ And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, ‘What the hell is water?’” (233) This anecdote introduces the fact the many people don’t understand what is going on around them and why Wallace believes it is important to be conscious of what is happening around you. “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 through this lens of self.” (233) Wallace argues that it is hard to get into a state of awareness because humans have their “hard-wired default-setting”. People need to get out of their own self-centered habits and see things in a different point of view. By using a humorous tone, Wallace can effectively get people on his side of the argument.

In James Baldwin's “If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” and George Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language” it is evident that both of these authors have their own interpretations, and understanding of language as a political instrument. In spite of their differences they also have a few similarities. For Baldwin language was a powerful tool giving blacks a voice, allowing them to express their uniqueness and empowering them, whereas for Orwell believed that language controlled thinking and writing. Both of these authors had different perspectives towards the topic of language but the same desires when it came to expressing their perspectives. They both believed that the powerful could use language, to control the powerlessness.

Section #3: Literary Element Charles Halloway had many tones through out the book some of the tones included outrage and compassion. In the novel Charles Halloway says, “And I saw then and there you take a man half-bad and a woman half-bad and put their two good halves together and you got one human all good to share between.” (Bradbury, 136) This shows Charles’ compassionate tone by indicating how he tells his son that he is a good person all around. Mr.Halloway tells his son this because he realizes how mature Will has turned out to be.

Another way Wallace gets his point across to his reader is by using ethos He is writing about a subject which is largely related to emotions. Wallace gives specific details about how lobsters act like when they are being boiled alive. He states, “The lobster will sometimes cling to the container’s sides or even to hook its claws over the kettle’s rim like a person trying to keep from going over the edge of a roof” (Wallace, 1465). This intimidating quote gives the reader a sense of pain that lobsters experience when they are being prepared for consumer’s desire. Wallace shows how inhumane an overall cooking method can be through his descriptive writing. In addition to this, Wallace proves his point again when he states, “the lobster, in other words, behaves very much as you or I would behave if we were plunged into boiling water” (Wallace, 1466). This is an absolutely effective method to gain ethos by comparing an animal which most people consider food closely to human interaction. Yet again, Wallace gives pathos by playing off with people natural habits of feeling bad for the cattle by comparing the Maine Lobster Festival with Nebraska Beef Festival. He says, “At which part of the festivities is watching trucks pull up and the live cattle get driven down the ramp and slaughtered right there” (Wallace, 1465). This shows that

Language is the inevitable medium which people use as a means of communication. However, how that person uses the language that they have varies. Some view language as a persuasive political instrument and others view it as a means of expression and empowerment. In the essay “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” by James Baldwin, he was able to illustrate the history of the discrimination of language and how Black English is not accepted as its own language. Baldwin also shows that due to the lack of acknowledgement of Black English, it lacks the power it needs to empower the people who speak it. In the essay “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell, he was able to break down language and explain how language shapes reality. Orwell states that the he is not considering the literary use of language, but language is an instrument of expression and the promotion of cognitive deliberation and persuasion. Furthermore, both these authors agree that language is a political instrument, however, Baldwin uses this instrument to unite people and Orwell uses the instrument to persuade people.

The uniqueness and complexity of David Foster Wallace’s writing earned him a spot among the most influential contemporary authors of his generation. He is most well known for his immense, thousand-page novel Infinite Jest, published in 1996, which grabbed the attention of readers worldwide (Ericson). In addition, throughout his career, he published several other novels, short stories, and nonfiction articles. His most popular works include The Broom of the System, Girl with Curious Hair, Consider the Lobster and Other Essays, and The Pale King (Ericson). Wallace is known for the stylistic devices of footnotes, endnotes, abbreviations, and specialized jargon, and the literary techniques of metafiction, hyperreality, irony, and fragmentation (Ericson). Thematically, he focused on finding truth in a society where pop culture, entertainment, and technology have redefined humanity (Ericson). Although Wallace’s writing appears during the postmodern era, critics disagree over whether his work fits with this movement. Many writers refer to Wallace as reviving or re-defining postmodernism, calling him a post-postmodernist; however, this categorization is ambiguous. While elements of David Foster Wallace’s writing warrant analysis beneath an array of literary movements, a posthumanist lens is more appropriately suited to understand the larger theme across his work. Wallace’s short story “Everything is Green” helps to amplify this conclusion due to its conflict of

Also, as said before can really make a reader’s day more fulfilled. A good example of this would be, how someone writes about their uncanny love of Golf. Compared to how most say they hate Golfing in all Golf’s supposed glory. Just a change of scenery can be excellent I feel, and Roberts really brought this point home on taking the opposing side. I fully appreciated Robert’s idea on shaking it up a little bit.

The popular saying "actions speak louder than words" is upended in Amiri Baraka's play, The Dutchman, where words, or in this case language, speaks louder than the actions of the characters, Lula and Clay. Language governs the characters and their actions, and is therefore a prominent feature in shaping the identities of Lula and Clay. In the play, Baraka conveys the significance of Lula and Clay being enabled to change their identities by a simple change in the type of language they employ. Though it may seem that the characters have dominion over the language and can shape their own identities by a simple change in the language they utilize, through repetition of the concurring motifs of

Language is the inevitable medium that people use as a means of communication. However, how that person uses the language that they have varies from person to person. Some view language as a persuasive political instrument and others view it as a means of expression and empowerment. In the essay “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” by James Baldwin, he was able to illustrate the history of the discrimination of language and how black English is not accepted as its own language. Baldwin also shows that due to the lack of acknowledgement of black English, it lacks the power it needs to empower the people who speak it. In the essay “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell, he was able to break down language and explain how language shapes reality. Orwell expresses that he is not considering the literary use of language, but language is an instrument of expression and the promotion of cognitive deliberation and persuasion. Furthermore, both these authors agree that language is a political instrument, however, Baldwin uses this instrument to unite people and Orwell uses the instrument to persuade people.