David Foster Wallace

Let's turn our attention to the prolific post-post-modern writer David Foster Wallace and his commencement address to the graduating class of 2005 at Kenyon College.

In this commencement speech Wallace addresses and poses a few questions for his readers/audience.

Consider these questions as you read the speech, and prepare for a collegiate discussion of the text in a future class period.

• How do we understand the ‘real world’, if we only live it through our own immediate experiences and point of view, where we are the ‘center of the universe’?

• How much of the task of adapting our world view actually involves or requires ‘higher education’?

• How do you construct meaning from experience?

• What is the difference between ‘teaching you how to think’ and ‘learning what to think about’?

• What is the role of higher education in your everyday life?

• Towards the end of the speech, Wallace claims that in the day-to-day routine of daily life, “there is no such thing as atheism; we all worship.” What does Wallace mean by this statement? Can you give examples from things you have experienced or seen?