Blog #4
The first time I had ever read anything by David Foster Wallace was in the 11th grade, and it was a portion of a 2005 commencement speech that was later published into a novel in 2009 called “This is Water.” He quickly became one of my favorite writers (though not one of my favorite persons, as is the case with Salinger and Hemingway and Poe, who, despite being spectacular writers, are decidedly not spectacular people) due to his tone and style of writing. Most notably, he uses multi-clause sentences and heavily utilizes footnotes and endnotes to explain things. Wallace is regarded highly by many, and author David Lipsky best explained why: “We think a thousand things at a time, and David found a way to get all of that across in a way that’s incredibly true and entertaining at the same time.”
“Consider the Lobster” is about what I’d expect from Wallace, though I would definitely consider it more of a research paper than some of his other pieces. It’s readily apparent from the information given in the beginning of the article that it’s a research paper, but the way in which Wallace writes it differs from a typical one. His research easily transitions from the lobster festival to talking about lobsters and ethics while still managing to focus, at least in part, on the lobster festival he was sent to write about. It also isn’t just a research paper, as it has elements of a personal narrative.
Wallace gives a new perspective for writing a research paper, because his research is layered and not concentrated on the festival, though it is tied back to the festival, and mixed with anecdotes. It’s an interesting take, and a format that is worth considering following when we have to write our own research papers.