Thursday, July 17, 2014

Signifying Nothing by David Foster Wallace

Our story this week is "Signifying Nothing," by David Foster Wallace. You can find it in his short story collection, Brief Interviews With Hideous Men. A quick warning, maybe unnecessary, but maybe appreciated - this story recounts an episode of child abuse and the emotions that follow and how someone deals with that memory. It may be a trigger if you are sensitive to such topics. If so, please just come and drink the wine (this week's selection is drinking all the leftover bottles collecting in my apartment!) and listen in to how we reacted. This week's story also continues the trend of a very conversational narrator. David Foster Wallace is famous for his book, Infinite Jest; you may also have come across his commencement address about fishes.

1. How did the style of writing (POV, language, tone, etc.) affect your reading of this story?

2. General impressions?

3. Narrator's dealing with anger?

4. Thoughts in light of our Child Abuse and Neglect policy?

5. Role of memory and hearing a judicial case with multiple students involved who each report different details concerning what happened?

5. How free are our students to completely cut off contact with their parents?

6. How often do you feel like the mom in this story? Clueless, but aware enough to be concerned?


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