Consider the lobster

From reading Consider the Lobster, I could tell that it was written as a personal narrative, with elements form biographies and research papers.

The footnotes found throughout the article are used as a way to expand on thoughts or ideas that the may be helpful in understanding the subject matter, but that the author can use directly in his work since it might interfere with the flow. For example, Wallace uses his footnotes to give a more clear definition to the vocabulary he is using and their ontex, such as when he supplies his definition of the term preference

This article does shift topics, going from a description and history of the Maine Lobster Festival, to an existential discussion about the morality of eating lobster and the different ways they are prepared for consumption. So when the author says “Consider the Lobster”, he is really saying to consider that lobsters are living creatures that we should treat with the same respect and care that we do other living creatures.