This is Water Analysis

 In what ways could Wallace’s theory about education be applicable to the writing of Alice Munro? Justify your conclusion.

David Foster Wallace was known for being an American writer and university instructor. One of his most intellectually instigating and inspiring commencement speeches is commonly known as This is Water and was published in 2009. In this speech, Wallace aims to address the reality of education towards intellectuals specifically, seniors in order to provoke a thoughtful response about our own human nature.

 In the beginning of the speech,Wallace uses a parable as he depicts an image of two fish swimming in the water. When the old fish meets up with the young fish, one of them replies with: "What the hell is water?" To justify, the young fish are symbolic of the guileless youth as we are unaware of the striking reality and the "default-setting" that we are not cautiously aware of. Instead, he intensively expresses how adulthood will not discourage you to think out side the box, but rather conform to this realm of operating through your default-setting. We know this because, he further showcases the notion of a typical "day in day out" day in America, where most people go through the same struggles in life as they all face "boredom, routine and petty frustration.". This is apparent as he creates a realistic image of daily encounters at the supermarket that almost everyone endures after a tiresome working day where he's "worked really hard all day and is starved and tired and can't even get home to eat and unwind because of all these stupid god-damn people." Moreover, Wallace's blunt and frustrated tone establishes an aggravated mood in order to reinforce the importance of cautious decision making. 

There is no doubt that Wallace essentially champions the idea of being cautious about our surroundings, thoughts and actions due to the fact that we as humans, perceive freedom as: "being able to truly care about the people and to sacrifice for them, over and over again". This ultimately contradicts to what is seen as the default setting, in other words the "rat race" that is known as the endless, self-defeating and aimless pursuit of life we end up living. Obviously, most adults end up getting lost in their own bubble, completely brain washed by their own brain ,their default-setting. However, his whole purpose of delivering this speech is to address the sad reality of adulthood in order to convince seniors at Kenyon Collage to be cautious about their choices, specially when it comes to education.

This brings Wallace back to his opinion towards schooling, specifically, the importance of choosing the correct system. He continues to manifest the essence of our human nature coinciding with real education, which really has no correlation with intellect. Instead, it has to do with our awareness and cautiousness with our surroundings, but most importantly, being cautious of our inner thoughts and well-being. This can be further supported by an article published by the New York Times, titled: For Better Social Skills, Scientists Recommend a Little Chekhov. In this article, the writer Bellock addresses the importance of literary fiction that enables students to have a creative imagination of which stimulates better emotional intelligence. Of course scientists recently discovering the value of emotional intelligence in fields like medicine, law and engineer thus, encourage the preservation of literary fiction and are in a journey to encourage such books across all schools. 

Ultimately, Wallace's theory about education can be applicable to the writing of Alice Munro due to the fact that Munro also writes about human experiences. This means that her variety of short stories such as: Royal Beatings, Passion, Boys and Girls, Moons of Jupiter and Runaway all hold great value in regard to human relationships within literature as the readers are able to experience the characters lives as well. This is because her distinct style of writing where she writes about our own human nature enables readers to spiritually and emotionally associate their own personal lives with the experiences/conflicts of the characters. By doing so, Munro inevitably stimulates a chance for readers to acknowledge the value of literary fiction on an empathetic and emotionally intelligent level. This essentially allows them to apply such stimulating knowledge to the real world. To justify, this palpable social perception enables readers to reshape their own thoughts, values and ideas in the real world as they are now socially aware of their surroundings, shapes them to make cautious and well-rounded decisions.   All in all, the coexistence of such shared humanities of both literature and education re-invents the way we perceive certain circumstances. This is because both Munro and Wallace's ideologies  exchange with one another that undoubtedly, transcends between contexts, thus re-inventing the function of literature. 

The coexistence of art and language

Philosophically speaking, art is considered to be one of the oldest and most expressive languages to ever exist in history. Dating back to periods of time in Europe spanning from avant-garde, impressionism and fauvism, one can only comprehend so much. That’s what I thought too, until I visited the greatest, if not the best art gallery ever to exist. Located in the heart of Saadiyat is a place that every one should definitely consider visiting. As I first walked into the gallery, I felt serene, calm and in full tranquility with myself, right in front of the artworks placed on the high white washed walls. Ultimately, the first masterpiece that caught my attention is definitely one painted during the Renaissance Era. I guess it was the warm tones and hues of red that harmonizes with its juxtaposed colors, all balanced in a flare that would establish unity from within. No. No it was not that actually. It was the insignificant details of the painting, commonly known as the credits of the painting. I clearly remember it being said to enable viewers to experience an “instigate illusion”. To justify, the artist Frans Floris aims to enable viewers to experience an allusion. This is due to the use of mathematical and geometrical perspective, with a set of principles that’s supposed to give them that allusion. This was painted during the search and quest of illusionism through the help of Alhazen, an Arab mathematician during the 11^th century whom was one of the founding principles of European paintings. However, this exploration had been illustrated through the use of mathematical perspective that balances with our natural realm, comprising of human figures, pots and natural plants. This is only for the sake of finalizing the principles of illusionism whilst birthing a new artistic movement. Undoubtedly, this is commonly known as, or as I like to call it, “the coexistence of art and language”. 

With that being said, the development and improvement of artistic theories wouldn’t grow without it coexisting with another language, in this case, the language of math. To justify, the breadth and depth of a certain ideology is further intensified with the connection of another, ultimately harmonizing within one another to create coexistence. This brings me back to the short stories I’ve analyzed in detail, written by the one and only Alice Munro who shed the light on the theme of human relationships. Her basic purpose in almost every story is to demonstrate the ramifications of certain ideas (i.e.: love or fear) in order to provoke a thoughtful response about our own self-destructive human nature. Similarly, to the artist Floris, who aims to explore mathematical principles in order to enable viewers to sense an allusion. Although one is a writer and the other is a painter, both take similar pathways as they attempt to fulfill their aim through the coexistence of certain ideologies (1-Art and Math, 2- English and Psychology). All in all, one can unravel the power of a subject and language coexisting as it inevitably equips viewers/readers to have a well-rounded core that’ll re-shape their way of thinking.

Summer and its treasured memories

Completing grade 11 left me feeling not only astonished, but excited for what the future holds. As far as I remember, the last time I've visited my country Jordan with this much anticipation was probably when I was five... only because I was excited to celebrate my Eid holiday with my old friends. However, it was not the family reunions, sun glistening beaches and the mouth-watering meals that got me up at night this time. It was rather the ancient carved sandstone cliffs, Roman theatres and the old Museum’s found by the side of the Red port. As soon as I boarded the A380 plane, I began to realize how important it is to hold onto cultural values. Whether this is through visiting old museums, reminiscing childhood memories or even just re-educating yourself about the significance of certain landmarks. With the advantage of hindsight, I can admit that I had a bittersweet feeling towards going back, more of a sentiment of guilt. This was due to the notion of neglecting the essence of Jordan’s history since I never completely appreciated its antiquity. Although I knew I was going back, I still took this as an opportunity to reshape my historical and cultural knowledge, as I become a tourist in my own country (strangely).

The first site that I visited was by far one my favorites. It was located in the heart of downtown Amman, one of the busiest places to ever be in. I saw this as a chance to enjoy a musical show with friends whilst appreciating every corner of such a breathtaking theatre. The theatre was probably built around the 2nd century AD during the reign of Antoninus Pius (AD 138–61). This theatre comprises of three sections, known as the rulers, the military and of course the general public. But what caught my attention was the tiny shrine onto the seats that once housed a statue of the goddess. It almost reminded me of the architecture during the 1900’s; similar to when the novel Things Fall Apart by, Chinua Achebe was set in. All in all, I believe that I now acknowledge the feeling of relief and success, as Achebe once wrote: “A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness.”