The two speeches "This is water" and Toni Morrison's Nobel lecture compare by the introductions they both have. "Once upon a time there was an old woman. Blind, but wise" Morrison goes on to tell a story about young children who visit her and ask if a bird in their hand is dead or alive. Wallace uses the fish story to begin his speech. The purpose of the introductions are to warm you up and to give you an idea of what the author is like, personality wise.
On the other hand the two are different in many ways. One way being the whole idea they both have. In this is water, Wallace gets straight to the point and tells it how it is. He makes it clear that he puts himself before everyone. The way the two view other people are very different as well, Wallace doesn't really care at first sight then takes a step back and looks at the bigger picture. Morrison likes to give people a chance, at the beginning of her speech she used the young children as an example. The children came up to her to "mock" her and ask if the bird is dead or alive. She explained to them that she didn't know if the bird was dead when they found it or if they killed it, and if it was alive it is their responsibility to determine what to do with it!
I do not completely disagree with you concerning your standpoint as to why Morrison and Wallace included their introductions, but I do not completely agree with you either. I believe the purpose of the introductions, especially in Morrison's Noble Lecture, was to add a deeper understanding for the listeners and pull the overall message together in a deeper, more insightful way. Especially since the theme of Morrison's story at the beginning carried on throughout the whole lecture and eventually tied together the whole speech. The same is with Wallace's This is Water.
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