3. Read over something you’ve written with an eye for the devices you’ve used to connect the parts. Working either by yourself or with a partner, do the following:

1. Underline all the transitions, pointing terms, key terms, and repetitions.
   1. See below.
2. Describe the patterns you see. Do you rely on certain devices more than others?
   1. I rely a lot on transitions and use a lot of the same transitional phrases. I definitely spend a lot of my word count on transitions and introducing my ideas rather than explaining them. Repetition is not used very much in my writing, which may be something to work on.
3. Locate a passage that could use better connections. Revise it using the devices introduced in this chapter. Is it easier to read now?
   1. See highlighted section for revisions.

David Foster Wallace agrees with my points on reciprocal human understanding in his speech “This is Water”.  The American author discusses the importance of being aware of others and how your own perspective is biased. Foster Wallace uses many stories and cliches to emphasize the importance of viewing other people’s perspectives and making the conscious decision of how to think. He discusses how each person is, “…the absolute centre of the universe… [and that] there is no experience you have had that you are not the absolute centre of,” with acknowledging the perspectives of others’ being a conscious choice (Foster Wallace). Foster Wallace emphasizes that thought is a choice; You have the choice and control of what to think, giving anything the potential to be positive or negative. Describing the crushing drawl of the “rat race”, Foster Wallace explains how minor inconveniences, like hold ups at the grocery store and traffic jams give you the chance to be present and appreciate the moment the fact that everyone is connected through these chores and unlikeable parts of life (Foster Wallace). Paying attention to the here and now, appreciating what is directly in front of you, and maintaining awareness of the hard truths in life is crucial to feeling fulfilled as a pioneer into adulthood. Another thing that helps emerging adults understand the world at large is acknowledging that there is, “…no such thing as not worshiping,” is a point brought up by Foster Wallace as he discusses that people always have things they will strive for but never be able to reach (Foster Wallace). Worship is our This default setting, the unachievable thing we strive for. This idea, in addition to a lack of awareness of others, puts us into a box of not appreciating the small things in life and prevents us from being a compassionate, decent, human being. 

Foster Wallace’s speech is packed with important insights, but what resonated with me the most were his views on human connection and his insinuated views on empathy. He describes how life can be fulfilling with the involvement of, “…attention and awareness and discipline… [how it is important to be] able to truly care about other people and sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day.” (Foster Wallace). Despite never directly mentioning empathy in his speech, Foster Wallace still makes many important insights on the quality. By outlining that empathetic thought takes effort, and can be developed through your experience, Foster Wallace describes how the world can be much more supportive of itself by recognizing the struggles others may be going through and trying to make the best of situations that may inconvenience us. In particular he mentions the importance of experience on shaping the way we view the world, and how much credence we give people. The story of Megan Phelps-Roper as written by Adrian Chen, writer and blogger for The New Yorker, in his piece “Unfollow” exemplifies DFW’s point that acknowledging that other people have struggles is critical to being a constructive human being; Phelps-Roper, a past member of the mass-hate group, The Westboro Baptist Church, interacted with people online who thought the best way to change her mind was, “…relating to [her] on a human level…to be really nice so that [she] would have a hard time hating [them].” (Chen). Showing this empathy online was the reason that Phelps-Roper left the majority of her family and friends behind in search of less hateful and harmful ideologies. It took awareness, attention, and discipline to develop empathy in Phelps-Roper, which eventually caused her to leave the church, and proves DFW’s points that, “… [how we take meaning from life is] automatically absorbed from culture… As if how we construct meaning is not actually a matter of personal, intentional choice.” (Foster Wallace). By looking at Megan Phelps-Roper’s story, we can see how empathy was crucial in the change of her mindset, or default setting as DFW would put it.