- Analyze the consistency of style between the stories: the purposeful lack of dialog, the different ways of emphasizing words in sentences. Is David Foster Wallace successful in creating narrators through narrative structure, and the constant addition of non sequitur?
- Discuss the story “Incarnations of Burned Children,” which in only three pages allows paints an exceedingly painful picture. How does this qualify for a short story – what makes it more than a story about a burned child?
- Does DFW try to shock us more than teach us something? Compared his writing to Chuck Palahniuk, Johnathan Safron Foer, and other contemporary male writers who have distinct writing styles; how much of it is shtick?
- Discuss the story “The Soul is not a Smithy” which united comic book imagery with the powerful characterization of a middle school class: discussed the uniting of themes through the intertwining of seemingly disparate stories; what was DFW trying to tell us in the story?
- Discuss the title of the collection and the story “Oblivion” - was DFW just giving up on story development when he ended this particular piece? Discuss the evenness of the collection and the quality of the structure of the collection. Which stories can qualify as favorites and why?
Sunday, May 4, 2008
David Foster Wallace: Oblivion
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