American Literature / Unit 18 AML 1737 short lesson, about 20 seconds
David Foster Wallace and Narrative Excess
Captions available
The idea
The witness offers Wallace's essay "Consider the Lobster" as a good example of the narrative excess found in postmodern literature: a visit to a festival turns into a history of the lobster and then against the organizers, spilling into twenty long footnotes that are little essays themselves.
In practice
An essay that outgrows its own form.
Where people slip
The footnotes are the argument, not an appendix.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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