This is Water in Alice Munro

In what ways could Wallace’s theory about education be applicable to the writing of Alice Munro? 

In Wallace's eyes, education and experience shape an individual to become more self aware and aware about the life that they are surrounded by. The way that he views educated people is that they have been through enough experiences in life to have learned values and principles, and simply how to see the world for what it is, the very reality we are living in. Furthermore in Wallace's speech he accentuates the essence of human nature which is to live and learn and then look at things in a different perspective, as for him IQ is not really that important if one does not have an EQ. 

Regarding literature, it develops empathy and emotional intelligence simply becauses reading realistic books and stories are another form of getting experience since the story is about someone's life and not something fictional that would never happen, therefore the audience perceives the story through the narrator's view and the reader lives the experience in the book/story together with the characters. When reading a nonfiction story it is easy for the readers to sympathize with the characters as they are being put in a realistic situation which the people can also imagine themselves in. Furthermore, some stories can even make the readers reflect on their lives if what has happened in the story has happened with them, thus generating empathy which leads to emotional intelligence.

When it comes to nonfiction stories and books, the ideas and themes in it are much more complex to be identified and even such aspects as archetypes are hard to be identified as it the story portray real lives and not some magical experience. Within complex ideas and relatable stories, comes the awareness of human interaction and the interpretation of human beings. 

Alice Munro is a great example of an author whose writing as consistently nonfictional as she explores human relationships in different circumstances and situations which are all realistic.In many of her stories such as in Passions and Runaway realistic ideas are being explored and integrated within the story. In Passions for example Alice Munro explores the loss of innocence, how easily people can get lured in and influenced through bad intentions and how female sexuality is something that should be talked about. All of these ideas are real and still present in today's day. Another example would be the story Runaway where ideas such as dysfunctional marriages which are out of control, seeking attention through lies and dominant over other people are explore and again are realistic and present in today's day. 

To answer the prompt, Wallace's theory about education is somewhat already implanted in Alice Munro's stories as she explores realistic and complex ideas.