Analysis Of Richard Louv's Last Child In The Woods

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Since the beginning, humans have lived off nature, depending on it for survival. But, slowly, humans began to control and take advantage of nature. Richard Louv asserts in “Last Child in the Woods,” that today, man’s connection with nature is scarce and is rapidly decreasing. Louv argues against the separation of man and nature, utilizing a series of rhetorical strategies: including an anecdote, hypothetical example, and imagery, exemplifying “how cities and nature fit together was gained in the backseat.” Since this opportunity is lost in the youth, they are missing out on the experience of nature due to technology.
{To begin, Louv incorporates an anecdote along with hyperboles-- recounting a friend’s story of being pushed to buy an in-car multimedia system-- in order to create a dramatic effect on the reader.} The result of his description, affirming “the salesman’s jaw dropped” when the women refused to buy a backseat television for her daughter, leads the reader to experience the same annoyance felt by the customer in the anecdote. Also, by expressing a shocked emotion of the salesman, the author addresses how prevalent technology is in today’s society and indicates societies …show more content…

Louv’s hypothetical example demonstrates how prevalent this is in society: the reader is frightened by the truth. Even today, grandparents tell their grandchildren about a childhood without TV or internet. The shocking realism of this hypothetical example forces the reader to examine the immediacy of the issue and the pace at which the it is progressing, exemplifying the alarm caused by the separation between man and

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