Foster Wallace, their research led them to tackle and explore issues that
interested and perplexed them, but gave a larger insight into controversial topics present in today’s world.
Errol Morris’s blog post “Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?” and David Foster Wallace’s essay “Consider the Lobster,” both use research to find information while writing in a way that is interesting to the readers. I
began to think of ways in which these narratives converge and diverge. Morris throughout his blog is trying to come to a conclusion about which out of two of Roger Fenton’s photographs came first. One photo displays
cannonballs that are on the road and the other where the cannonballs are off the road. Through extensive research by interviewing people, and even going to the exact site where the photos were taken, Morris works through the potential solutions to his question. There are differences in opinions
between different people he talks to as to which one came first, which leads
to a controversial issue in the field of photography: the altering of photographs with the use of technology. As Morris states, “By thinking about the Fenton photographs we are essentially thinking about some of the most vexing issues in photography” (Morris, 25). This idea of a controversial topic is also the essence of David Foster Wallace’s essay, where he researches and poses thought-provoking questions that go deeper than just cooking a lobster.
Wallace explores the idea of not only cooking lobsters at a big tourism attraction known as the Maine Lobster Festival, but also works through the vexing issues of how humane it is to cook a lobster alive when it can actually feel pain. The ideas he brings up go further into how humane it is to treat animals the way we do for their meat. The topic is controversial because like Morris it brings up vexing issues. Wallace poses these issues to the people who consider themselves “foodies” asking, “Do you think much about the
(possible) moral status and (probable) suffering of the animals involved?
(Wallace, 253).
These two narratives are talking about controversial issues, but they do it in a respectful way. Both Morris and Wallace have clearly taken their time and done ample amounts of research, while still including both sides of their topics into their narratives. They ask questions that not many people would ask, such as do photographers alter photographs with technology or do you
feel anything is ethically wrong with the way people treat animals for their
meat? Sometimes the answers to these questions are uncomfortable, but they are questions that while controversial still need to be brought into discourse in order to create a dialogue. The way that Morris and Wallace handle their topics in their narratives prove that both men went on extensive research journeys in order to find information that led them down a path of credibility with all the readers that may encounter their narratives.
I found the idea of working through a controversial topic with the power of research quite interesting because I learned through these two narratives not only how powerful research can be, but also that is can drive the narrative and bring up further questions. While Wallace jumps back and forth in his narrative from the story he is telling about being at the Maine Lobster Festival, he still ends up asking questions that readers have to dig deep in their minds to think about. In some cases this can be uncomfortable because no one wants to think about how animals are killed in order for us to eat their meat, especially for
those of us who eat meat on a daily basis with not much thought put into
it.
Morris’s question is a little less uncomfortable, but is still controversial in its own respect. He asks whether or not it is appropriate to alter photographs with the use of technology. I mean isn’t the whole of idea of photography to take a picture of something we see that strikes us because it takes us to another place and gives us an emotional experience? If we are altering photographs we are taking away the emotional experience that was originally brought on by seeing the thing we were taking a picture of in the first place. Morris has a more
fluid and sequential conversation through his narrative where one piece of
information or discovery from someone leads to another discovery and allows him to come closer to the solution to his perplexing question.
Both Morris and Wallace have done their research, but it is the people who read their narratives who can truly learn what research can do.
It is a powerful thing to know how to use research to discover something
and tackle a controversial issue. With research we can all learn something new and can all begin to explore our world a little deeper.
Morris, Errol. "Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg? (3 part blog) The
New York Times Opinionator. The New York Times. Web. 25 September
2007.
Wallace, David Foster. Consider the Lobster and Other Essays. New York:
Little, Brown and Company, 2005. Print.