From squirrels to elephants, from dolphins to birds, how much of photographs are real? The answer is, not much. Photographing animals have changed immensely from the past as people began to manipulate animal surroundings and behaviors to help photographers capture the perfect moment. Bill McKibben goes into detail in “Curbing Nature’s Paparazzi” comparing photographed wildlife and reality, in hopes to change photographer's negative impact on animals and the public’s view of these unrealistic images. McKibben uses compare and contrast, effective diction, and multiple rhetorical questions to help inform and persuade the audience.
In McKibben’s piece, he uses compare and contrast as a writing mode to show the similarities and differences between photographed wildlife and reality. For example, McKibben says, “After a lifetime of exposure to nature shows...surprised when the parking lot does not contain a snarl of animals mating and killing one another” (268). Using this mode not only helps make the audience aware of such distortion in pictures, it also creates pathos, like confusion and concern. It successfully plants questions into their heads, wondering if his statement is true or not. Most likely, the
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audience will realize it is harmful to manipulate animals to create these flawless pictures, which is exactly what McKibben wants them to believe. Diction is essential within McKibben’s piece because it sets the tone and image he wants the audience to have.
For instance, he uses the word “pornographic” (268) to describe animal horror videos and shots from a “Natural History” magazine. The word “pornographic” frequently makes people uncomfortable and disturbed, which is pathos. With or without the context, the audience will want to avoid the word and its meaning. The reason for this is because of the word’s connection to other inappropriate ideas. Another example is when McKibben uses "harass" (267) to describe what photographers do to wildlife. As a result, the audience relates this idea to violence and illegal activities. People can better understand the harm and destruction photographers have on
wildlife. McKibben uses rhetorical questions throughout his work to build a connection with the audience. These questions ultimately show the audience what is the obvious choice and what is expected. This can be seen when he says, “Do we really want any new taboos?” (271) or “Aren’t we ethically impelled to…into public and widespread practice?” (269). This implies that we should not want new taboos and are ethically impelled to try new ways. The author makes us the deciders who are choosing the “right choices”. As the reader, we feel the need to make matters right and somehow make the difference. The wrongdoings of photographers are exactly what McKibben wants us to believe. In conclusion, McKibben utilized various rhetorical techniques to convince the audience of his claim that photographed wildlife and reality is very distinct. People should realize this difference and hopefully try to change they way photographer’s work. The modes of writing, the specific terminology, and the rhetorical questions all pointed towards McKibben’s final claim and call-to-action. Now, everyone will forever understand the true impact of photography on animals and human minds.
However, it is much more rewarding to try and look for the less obvious differences and find out why they are there and what they mean. For example, one less obvious difference is the bird choice and it happens to represent something larger, in my opinion. In “The White Heron” we see a big and majestic bird that is looked at as a specimen or the epitome of beautiful. However, in “A Caged Bird”, the way the author describes the bird as “an old canary that flits and sings” could possibly be purposeful to the way the author wants us to view it. I personally think that the author wants us to see the bird as old to add meaning to the fact that it is still happy and chipper after all of these years if being caged. The obvious differences between the types of birds that the author used to portray these stories could have more meaning to them then just an image. For example, maybe the author was trying to say that smaller birds, or people who say within themselves and try to make themselves smaller, tend to get caged whereas large and majestic birds, or people who open themselves up to the world, tend to be sought after and viewed as a magnificence. Now, I realize that this does not support the reasons behind either of the birds’ attitudes, but it does give good
The author tries to stir up the reader's pathos appeal, giving scenarios that knock up their emotion. Opening up the article, the author talks about a Canadian teen who filmed himself acting out a fight scene from a well known movie series, Star Wars. The film was posted online and shined to the public causing a “viral frenzy”(113). People from around the world even edited the video, enhancing it with “music and special effects”(113) to ensure the film was more entertaining and amusing to the premature, sinful minds of the general public. Another scenario that resulted in internet harassment formed when a South Korean student refused to pick up her dogs feces in a local subway in Seoul. Someone caught this faulty act on video and decided to post it on the internet which of course attracted multiple numbe...
One of the literary techniques most prominently featured throughout the passage would be that of imagery. The author takes great care to interweave sentences comparing the traits
William Faulkner overwhelms his audience with the visual perceptions that the characters experience, making the reader feel utterly attached to nature and using imagery how a human out of despair can make accusations. "If I jump off the porch I will be where the fish was, and it all cut up into a not-fish now. I can hear the bed and her face and them and I can...
In her article entitled “Ode to a Four Letter Word” Kathryn Schulz says, “Writers don’t use expletives out of laziness or the puerile desire to shock or because we mislaid the thesaurus. We use them because, sometimes, the four-letter word is the better word—indeed, the best one.” Her grounds behind this claim are that all profanity is contextual. Writing is an expression, which like all forms of art, approximates reality or the author’s take on reality. That being said, profanity has an appropriate role in writing, insofar as it accurately represents how humans truly interact. That standpoint does not approach the argument that “bad” words are sometimes “good,” but rather that sometimes “bad” words are real. With that in mind, Ramifications should publish the untitled “fat kid” poem because the poet’s literary techniques open a valuable discussion concerning prejudice toward the obese.
This internal conflict between how society characterizes bears versus the natural behaviors of wild bears is exemplified in the documentary Grizzly Man, by German film-maker Werner Herzog. The documentary analyzes the life and death of Timothy Treadwell, a want-to-be filmmaker, who spent the later years of his life living amongst wild bears while compiling footage of wild bears that aimed at educating the public about bears and how to preserve bears and their habitat. Unfortunately, Treadwell and his girlfriend are later mauled to death by the bears he was attempting to protect. In the film, it is immediately evident that Treadwell’s perspective on wild bears is abnormal; he treats the bears as if they were harmless animals by petting them, turning his back, reading to them, and giving each bear a nickname. However, throughout the film it is apparent Treadwell is fighting with an inner struggle, shown by baby-talking to the wild bears, yelling at them when they get too close, and then immediately apologizing for yelling and professes his love of the bear. In an interview Treadwell states that bears are misunderstood, and that people should not harm wild bears. In one scene, Treadwell films himself in his tent, cuddling with his favorite teddy bear, so it is apparent that the concept of virtual bears has clouded his beliefs about wild bears. In For the Love of Nature: Documenting Life, Death, and Animality in Grizzly Man and March of the Penguins, Jennifer Ladino describes Treadwell’s view on nature, “The fact that he frequently occupies the frame alongside the bears undermines the tendency of the wildlife film to draw a stark line between animals and humanity” (Ladino, 75). While Herzog conveys the message that wild nature is indifferent to humans, Treadwell is
Obscenity was taking many shapes in many things that most people get their hands on, ranging from books to magazines. As the world became more industrialized and as globalization took place access to materials that were consid...
...and an equally indifferent relationship between humans. These styles are blended in the story by Crane’s varied role of Nature and humans throughout the story and the use of symbols and different imagery.
Time has a way of exposing frauds, and such was the case with these deceitful photographers. Over the decades, genuine researchers and photographers sprung up. Because of the beginnings of their profession, they came under much scrutiny and still do to this day. But in the current
Beauty is all around, people just have to go out and snap the picture. Works Cited "Digital cameras inspire young naturalists: Minnesota program encourages teachers, kids to explore the outdoors. " Birder's World Apr. 2011: 13. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web.
For example, in "A Walk in the Woods" Bryson states, "They make you feel small and confused and vulnerable, like a small child lost in a crowd of strange legs". When you think about what Bryson is contemplating, you can use a sense of imagery to understand just how much the woodland frightens Bryson. On the other side of the spectrum, is the blog writer. In the blog the writer exclaims, "Being out in the middle of nowhere is not at all terrifying. It's navigating big city traffic or shopping in a big box store that do me in". Reflecting back on these two quotes, you really start to realize just how different these two outdoor enthusiasts
Photojournalism plays a critical role in the way we capture and understand the reality of a particular moment in time. As a way of documenting history, the ability to create meaning through images contributes to a transparent media through exacting the truth of a moment. By capturing the surreal world and presenting it in a narrative that is relatable to its audience, allows the image to create a fair and accurate representation of reality.
In Sontag’s On Photography, she claims photography limits our understanding of the world. Though Sontag acknowledges “photographs fill in blanks in our mental pictures”, she believes “the camera’s rendering of reality must always hide more than it discloses.” She argues photographs offer merely “a semblance of knowledge” on the real world.
Newton, Julianne H. The Burden of Visual Truth: The Role of Photojournalism in Mediating Reality. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001. Print.
Photography has created an outlet for the masses to story tell. It has a way of speaking without words like most art forms and is a manner of expression in itself. To eradicate photography from humans would be equivalent to taking away a limb from humankind. Our society has grown an immense amount of dependency on it. Photography has become almost a daily menial task such as brushing your teeth; where we must take pictures of the things we deem important or equally unimportant, even more so with the invention of social media outlets such as Instagram and Snapchat, where photography is the main source of communication between people who use them. Susan Sontag offers the basis of what taking pictures can undertake in both our daily lives and moments that are not part of our daily lives, such as travel. Traveling to places where one is not accustomed can flare pent up anxiety. A way to subdue that anxiety could be through taking pictures, since it’s the only factor that we have total control over in a space where we don’t have much, or, any control of our surrounding environment. On the other hand, taking photos can also be a tool of power in the same sense as it allows for it to be a defense against anxiety. With the camera in our hands, we have the power to decide who, what, where, when, and why we take a picture. This in turn also gives the person who took the picture power over those who later analyze the photos, letting them decide the meaning of the photo individually, despite the intended or true meaning.