Infinite Jest Lesson Plan

You Can't Pinch An Inch

Kind of Activity:

Classwide Discussion

Objective:

Students will discuss the significance of Infinite Jest's physicality - i.e., why Wallace felt the need to write such a long, heavy book.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1

Structure:

Before delving further into the thematic and figurative content the takes place within the actual text of Infinite Jest, it is worth noting that the central concepts of attrition and labor not only apply to the labor of living, sport, and sobriety, but also to the actual physicality of the book itself. One adage of great art is: "You can't pinch an inch." In...