How do you open an essay?
David Foster Wallace introduces the Maine Lobster Festival by listing off an absurd amount of detail. He loops through geography, events, food, and souvenirs.
Let's break down the beginning of Consider the Lobster:
PLACES:
We start by building a mental map of Maine in the summer. Notice all the Capitalized names (in green), where he mentions towns, roads, parks, and bodies of water. These "insider terms" (geographically specific) are balanced with universal visuals (in yellow).
EVENTS:
Next, we get a high-resolution glimpse of the commotion inside the festival. Again, there's a mix of wonky, specific events (the William G. Atwood Memorial Crate Race), and more general terms (parades, carnival rides, midway attractions, food booths).
FOOD:
Then he shows all the variations in how they serve lobster. He starts with a quick list, but then unpacks the last 3 examples in more detail. Again, in this third set of things, he's mixing Uppercased Specific Named foods with lowercased general foods.
SOUVENIER:
Fourth and final set: he closes on a short list of (lowercased) lobster-themed souvenirs (shirts, bobblehead dolls, pool toys, hats).
And finally, after four consecutive *lists,* he breaks the pattern.
He switches to more open prose, and he finally writes himself into the scene. We see him there with his girlfriend & parents, taking in this excessive festival for tourists.
The first 1.5 pages have 48 "objects." It's a sensory overload that let's us visualize this place. He lodges us in the festival with placemaking before he gets into the core of his argument.