In-class work for DFW’s “This is Water”

Fifteen minutes of individual work:

In your notebook, I asked you to write about which passages you would choose to include in a hypothetical short film based on this commencement speech. Look at those passages and draw from them three major themes or idea categories that you would want to hit on in this hypothetical film. Also in your notebook, list them in short phrases (no more than ten words; a single word is fine) and choose a one-or two sentence quotation that you think illustrates each of them especially well. Spend about five minutes on this.

Now shift gears for ten minutes, putting the film idea on hold and writing in response to this prompt: David Foster Wallace says “In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.” What do you worship now, as a not-yet-adult, and how do you feel about that? And what do you aspire to worship as an adult, five years out of college or so, and beyond? (It’s okay if the two are the same. It’s also okay if either or both answers might make you look good––or bad––in the eyes of others. Try not to judge your own answers too much; just be as honest as you can).

Fifteen minutes of group work:

Back to the film idea. Get into a group of between two and four and share your ideas about a film based on “This Is Water,” which passages you would want to include, what ideas or themes you would want to highlight, and what visual strategies you might use to bring them to life (as well as music, typography, special effects, and any other tools filmmakers have at their disposal). Agree on a rough and preliminary vision, and create a fewer-than-120 word pitch for a short film, along with a working title. Record your group members’ names, your pitch, and your working title in the favorite sentences doc. (The title can’t be “This is Water.”)

If there’s any time left over after all of the above, feel free to rest, daydream, or do anything else that’s quiet and peaceful for the remainder of class.