As Dennis Weaver once said, “We don’t have to sacrifice a strong economy for a healthy environment.” One of the biggest problems of modern society is its ignorance for the crumbling environment. Everyday people all around the world pollute the environment whether it’s with cars or overuse of electricity. The popular novel, The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss talks about the environmental problems society faces today. The Lorax warns of the effects cutting down trees can have on an environment; coincidentally, Easter Island’s history warns society of the same matter. The Lorax and Easter Island’s story have many similarities and differences, but both show environmental issues society has been facing for centuries. Although scientists cannot agree on the …show more content…
By far the biggest mystery are the Moai Statues that stand 20 to roughly 69 feet tall and weigh at least 20 tons obviously a feet for pre-modern man to produce. These statues were made as a way to show dominance by the multiple tribes found on the island. The tribes competed trying to make their Moai statue better and taller than the next tribes. The mysteries of the Moai statue and the island’s history that bring fame to Easter Island are not as enigmatic as the fame brought to the popular novel and film The Lorax. The film tells the story of a boy who meets the Onceler who knew of a time when truffula trees existed. The Onceler tells his story of cutting down all the truffula trees in the forest to make Thneed, a new trending product, which made the Onceler rich, but The Lorax warned him to stop cutting down the truffula trees however he didn 't listen. When all the truffula trees had been chopped down, all the animals left the forest and the Onceler became poor and regretted not listening to The Lorax. In the end the Onceler gives the last tree seed to the boy and the boy plants
The island is about 4 square miles and is today a place for tourism in the great lakes. Many thousands of years ago though this was a little piece of land with bluffs reaching high above its surroundings and was a merely a small piece of land surrounded by water. It was because of these bluffs the appearance of the island resembled a turtle and led to it being named “The Great Turtle” (Piljac, 1998). Currently the island reaches several hundred feet above the lake and it’s because of this geography that many nations saw this as a perfect military post and would be used over and over again throughout its history as such.
“Forests are the worlds air-conditioning system the lungs of the planet and we are now on the verge of switching it off.”-Prince Charles. The study of literature and the environment from an interdisciplinary point of view, where literature scholars write about environmental concerns and use various ways literature subjects to put forth that movement. One of the ways authors get the point across is the quote “scare tactics” which the author negatively writes what is happening in nature. Like the famous Rachel Carson book The Silent spring. A good example of the storytelling outlook on nature is Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, because using his younger target market to exerate what could happen if society continues with mistreating the world the readers live in. The last way the authors grips the market is by the old Gene Stratton Porter way. She told the world how she viewed natured and everyone was thrilled to a women that passionate about taking pictures of the moths that by reading the book the reader becomes more loving of the nature around you. My question is does ecocristism actually work? Do people think differently of nature when you read one these 3 books?
Easter Island, or as some would call it “Rapa Nui,” was one of the most isolated islands in the world that was inhabited by humans. The island does not have a lot of wood and other resources and yet, when the first travelers discovered the island, it was full of huge carved stones statues. Around the twentieth century they discovered that when the first settlers came to the island, it was rich with resources and bountiful land. The first settlers also had a complex society with a hierarchy and sophisticated religious rituals. According to Barzin Pakandam, from the London School of Economics, The inhabitants of Rapa Nui are the descendants of a group of Polynesian settler colonists. It was estimated that at first there were only twenty to thirty settlers that arrived on the island. They arrived on large conjoined sea-faring canoes built for long distance travel. The settlers brought many traditional Polynesian staple foods with them including chickens, rats (considered a delicacy), taro, yam, sweet potato, bananas, gourds, paper mulberry, turmeric, and arrowroot. Archaeologists and historians assume that the origins of the Islanders are the archipelago chain of the Mangareva’s (Pakandam, 2009, p. 9). First, researchers were interested in how these settlers carved the statue and transported them all over the island, but they changed their focus to the theories of how the islanders was driven to collapse. The researchers came up with different theories as to why the islanders were driven to collapse and they are still debating which theory is the right one.
By citing credible organizations and offering her own eco-friendly alternatives, she proves to the reader that she takes a particular interest in the environment and is educated to speak on it. Pairing powerful understatements and hyperboles to contrast with one another show the reader that the practice is both needless and selfish. These rhetorical techniques have a powerful impact on the reader, whose ignorance prior to reading the excerpt can no longer suffices to excuse the lack of action. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is a deeply persuasive book that not only advocates for an end to pesticides but also speaks to the obligation humans hold to protect their
It is generally agreed that modern environmentalism begins with ‘A Fable for Tomorrow’, the first chapter in Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962). The fairytale-like opening to the book begins with the words, ‘There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings’, painting a classic pastoral picture where she describes civilization far from modern ills coexisting with nature yet away from the perceived danger of the wild. However pastoral peace swiftly gives way to destruction- 'Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change. Some evil spell had settled on the community: mysterious maladies swept the flocks of chickens; the cattle and sheep
Ever since I was a little kid I loved the performing arts and I never thought that I would eventually fall in love with science . After an intense and challenging year of Chemistry my sophomore year, I was hesitant and nervous in signing up for my junior year science class. Toward the end of my sophomore year my chemistry teacher, Mr. Bowditch, told me he thought I would do well in Advanced Placement Environmental Science. I was in a state of disbelief because I was struggling trying to get a C in Chemistry and I was thinking how was I supposed to take AP Environmental Science class. After a conversation with my parents, they had persuaded me to sign up and we agreed if i didn't like it or it was too hard I would be able to drop the class.
In 1989, seventy five percent of Americans identified themselves as environmentalists, and the number has continued to grow since then (Walls 1). Environmentalism is now the most popular social movement in the United States, with over five million American families donating regularly to environmental organizations (Walls 1). Environmentalists today focus on what kind of world they hope to see in the future, and largely deal with limiting pollution and changing consumption rates (Kent 1 and 9). Modern environmentalists also have much different issues than those Carson’s America faced. With climate change becoming more threatening each year, protection of the natural world is needed more than ever. Pollution has caused the warmest decade in history, the deterioration of the ozone layer, and species extinction in extreme numbers (Hunter 2). It not only threatens nature, but also human populations, who already suffer from lack of clean water and poisoning from toxic chemicals (Hunter 16). Unlike environmental actions in the 1960’s, which were mostly focused on protection, a massive increase in pollution has caused efforts to be focused on environmental restoration (Hunter 16). Like in the time of Silent Spring, environmentalists are not only concerned with one country. Protecting the environment remains a global issue, and every nation is threatened by the
In the essay ¨Silent Spring¨, Rachel Carson, a noted biologist address the argument of those who poison the environment, shouldn't hurt the others. Using diction and strong word choice throughout the text, Carson develop connections and explain the reason individual's position towards the environment. Carson appeals to American to help transform their attitudes towards the environment. Carson speaks in mixed tones of objectivity and anger.
...unting Hurt or Help the Environment? Scientific American. EarthTalk, New York. Print November 10, 2009
Everyday Americans are lectured on the importance of taking care of the environment. Teachers, parents, celebrities, and even the President frequently speak about how essential it is to take care of the planet. Americans believe that the best way to reduce environmental degradation is to recycle, drive fuel efficient cars, or take shorter showers. This, however, is not the case. The leading cause of deforestation, air pollution, water pollution, and waste is, believe it or not, animal agriculture. Dairy and animal farming and its by-products produce 51% of greenhouse gas emissions, while all forms of transportation accounts for only 13% (“The Facts”). In terms of waste and water pollution, livestock produce
Withgott, J., & Laposata, M. (2014). Environment: the science behind the stories (5th Ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.
The world today is vastly different from what it was before urbanisation and industrialisation had taken its toll on the world. Since the turn of the new millennium the issue of the environment has suddenly evolved into a widespread issue which is greatly discussed throughout the world. No longer are humans living in a world where the environment is serene or stable but much rather becoming unrecognisable and diminishing before our eyes. The plants, trees and flowers are life forms which God has created for us to enjoy its beauty but it is now solely up to us and many other organisations to protect preserve and respect how fragile our environment really is.
The veil of mystery over Easter Island has been covering the island since we first stumbled upon it, the popularity of the island has grown immensely, and the mystery still encom-passes the island to this day. The History of Easter Island is one filled with prosperity and hardship, the inhabitants of the island experienced everything. The island is world re-nowned for the hundreds of giant statues called Moai, which are placed all over the island. The island is shrouded in mys-tery and due to this scientists, archaeologists, engineers, and linguists alike have hypothesized theories about the is-land. Over the years scientists have made many more intriguing discoveries about Easter Island, removing
Environmental philosophers are able to open up a range of different ideas behind our environmental crisis. They do this by not only looking at physical marks left by humans on the earth but also at the very humans themselves. Theories don’t only explain complex dynamics and structures but give us an opportunity to reflect upon our own behaviors and decisions in relation to the environment.
Efforts to improve the standard of living for humans--through the control of nature and the development of new products--have also resulted in the pollution, or contamination, of the environment. Much of the world's air, water, and land is now partially poisoned by chemical wastes. Some places have become uninhabitable. This pollution exposes people all around the globe to new risks from disease. Many species of plants and animals have become endangered or are now extinct. As a result of these developments, governments have passed laws to limit or reverse the threat of environmental pollution.