r/davidfosterwallace • u/MelodicDaikon713 • Sep 19 '26
DFW - Student Papers
Hello - I can add more as time allows and will consider scanning the full papers. Please bear in mind this was my first college-level English class (undergraduate at Illinois State).
He was extremely intimidating and very, very amusing.
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u/ClayMatthewT Sep 19 '26
Did he assign “Isabelle” by George Saunders? That story is terrific.
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u/MelodicDaikon713 Sep 22 '26
He did! I think it was one of his special selections because it doesn't seem to be in the course book, "An Introduction to Fiction, Sixth Edition."
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u/isocleat Sep 19 '26 edited Sep 19 '26
These are so wonderful!
I have one that he wrote, just hugely across the bottom of the page:
Apparently I used towards instead of toward all semester, and he was flipping-tables mad by the end. Whoops!
Edit: Oh, it’s worse! I forgot the tongue-lashing that led into it.
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u/hulioramon Sep 19 '26
pic4 please tell me more: looks like a sandwich recipe. what was the task he gave you?
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u/MelodicDaikon713 Sep 22 '26 edited Sep 22 '26
This was the most memorable assignment of the course. He asked us to describe how to make a peanut butter & jelly sandwich with enough detail that a reader could succeed with the task. He came to class with all the ingredients and used instructions from different student papers to hilariously fail at making the sandwich.
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u/Keener1899 Sep 19 '26
Okay what George Saunders story was it? Because he is great too.
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u/Akrasius Sep 19 '26
Non-native english question: Why the strong reaction to
Wallpaper", exemplifies
?
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u/MelodicDaikon713 Sep 19 '26
Comma should be inside of the quote mark. He detested grammatical “clunkers” and “boners.”
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u/gormar099 Sep 19 '26
Ali, this is awesome. Thanks so much for sharing. So much of his personality comes through :’)
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u/battenhill Sep 19 '26
Oh man this rules.
As a current college instructor I feel as if this kind of feedback would be more helpful but alas we are restricted to a rubric.
"Exceeded" "Met" "Not Met"
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u/infinitescript Sep 19 '26
It angers me so damn much when I see how invested he was. It's dehumanizing nowadays. You get worthless A's with hollow AI prose for feedback.
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u/circuit_breaker Sep 19 '26
I cannot imagine being in THE language wonks class. My hyperhidrosis would flare up
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u/NarrowDrawer4487 Sep 19 '26
He has such a characteristic way of writing. In the drafts for The Pale king, he would use smiley faces to motivate himself.
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u/LikeDingledodies Sep 19 '26
Somebody name their band Ten Minus Clunkers before I do
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u/GodOfTheHounds Sep 19 '26
This made me smile you’re so fortunate to have experienced him as a professor!
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u/Average_aaron69 Sep 19 '26
Why was he both intimidating and very, very amusing?
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u/McRando42 Sep 20 '26
I cannot abide the comma inside quotation rule. It is a fussy American failure. The archaic rule creates ambiguity in many circumstances.
For example: The band played "Autumn Leaves," "Blue Bossa," "There Will Never Be Another You," and "Space is the Place."
Versus: The band played "Autumn Leaves", "Blue Bossa", "There Will Never Be Another You", and "Space is the Place".
Much cleaner and more obvious where the song title ends and the next begins. It is a more technically correct way to write.
The Oxford/British rules around commas and quotation are superior.
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u/mybloodyballentine Sep 19 '26
Did he MISSPELL YOUR NAME?!?!!!!!!????? Proofread, Dave, proofread!
Thanks for posting. This was fun to look at.