“Can anyone believe it is possible to lay down such a barrage of poisons on the surface of the earth without making it unfit for all life? They should not be called “insecticides,” but “biocides” (Carson, 2015, p.607). Rachel Carson, a marine biologist and conservationist, writes about modern society’s heedless contamination and destruction of the planet and how it affects humanity in “The Obligation to Endure”. This essay is one of many from her book Silent Spring, which was published in 1962. It is a compelling essay calling for agricultural reform. Carson uses all three appeals of argument to persuade the reader. First, the ethical argument stems from the fact that Carson is an influential author, employed by the government. Carson then uses a logical argument to lay out the facts about the …show more content…
destructive chemicals that are being used as pesticides. Lastly, her emotional appeal is to the public to make a stand before it is too late. As a marine biologist and the editor-in-chief of all publications for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, Carson is an expert in her field. She uses her authority to gain the readers trust and attention. As an environmentalist and activist, she used her position within the government to bring to light society’s dangerous agricultural practices. Through the position that she holds with the government it shows a degree of credibility and unique qualification to make this argument. Logically it doesn’t make sense to continue introducing these unnatural chemicals into the air, soil, and water. As Carson says: These sprays, dusts, and aerosols are now applied almost universally to farms, garden, forests, and homes---nonselective chemicals that have the power to kill every insect, the “good” the “bad,” to still the song of birds and the leaping of fish in the streams, to coat the leaves with a deadly film, and to linger on in soil” (Carson, 2015, p. 607). These pesticides are not just killing a particular insect and disappearing.
They are killing everything that they can and then are passed up through the food chain. The intertwined relationship between living beings and the environment is precarious. Humans are the only inhabitants that are altering it, and the current practices of society are ensuring Earth and Humanity’s shared destruction. She uses facts like, “The United States Office of Plant Introduction alone has introduced almost 200,000 species and varieties of plants from all over the world,” and “nearly half of 180 or so major insect enemies of plants in the United States are accidental imports from abroad, and most of them have come as hitchhikers on plants” (Carson, 2015, p. 609)” to help solidify her appeal to the reader’s logos. This is where her emotional appeal comes into play. If humanity understood that they were destroying their homes and themselves, they wouldn’t continue with these damaging tendencies. The idea that an entire species of insects can be eradicated without any detriment to the environment is an ignorant point of view. She says perhaps the public doesn’t know what is happening
because: How could intelligent beings seek to control a few unwanted species by a method that contaminated the entire environment and brought the threat of disease and death to even their own kind? (p.607). She pleads with her audience to not turn a blind eye, that the public must become aware of what is happening. The obligation that is due to future generations is to learn everything possible and make a rational choice from there. Carson appeals to a reader’s logic, empathy, and morality in “The Obligation to Endure”. Her use of analogies and powerful imagery make this argument very persuasive. As a professional in the environmental field, she has the authority to speak about this topic. She uses scientific fact to explain how pesticides are contaminating the environment and what kind of damage is being done. Once all the facts have been laid out she closes her argument by begging the reader to take this information into their own hands, learn what they can, and make a decision. For her reasoning, she quotes Jean Rostund at the end of her essay, “The obligation to endure gives us the right to know” (Carson, 2015, p.610). References Carson, R. (2015). The obligation to endure. In A. T. Rottenberg & D. H. Winchell (Eds.), Elements of argument (p. 605-610). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.
Silent Spring is one of the most important books of the environmental movement. It was one of the first scientific books to talk about destruction of habitat by humans. As a result, one can imagine that Ms. Rachel Carson needed to be quite persuasive. How does she achieve this? In this excerpt from Silent Spring, Carson utilizes the rhetorical devices of hyperbole, understatement, and rhetorical questions to state the necessity of abolishing the practice of using poisons such as parathion. Carson starts out by using the symbiotic nature of hyperbole and understatement to paint the whole practice as dangerous and unnecessary. She further strengthens her argument by using rhetorical questions to make her readers see the ethical flaws and potential casualties caused by deadly pesticides.
In 102 Minutes, Chapter 7, authors Dwyer and Flynn use ethos, logos, and pathos to appeal to the readers’ consciences, minds and hearts regarding what happened to the people inside the Twin Towers on 9/11. Of particular interest are the following uses of the three appeals.
Throughout the course of this novel, Ishmael Beah keeps the readers on the edge of their seat by incorporating interchanging tones. At the beginning of the novel, the tone can be depicted as naïve, for Beah was unaware to what was actually occurring with the rebels. Eventually, the tone shifts to being very cynical and dark when he depicts the fighting he has endured both physically and mentally. However, the most game changing tone is towards the end of the novel in chapters nineteen and twenty. His tone can be understood as independent or prevailing. It can be portrayed as independent because Beah learns how to survive on his own and to take care of himself. At the same time, it is perceived as prevailing and uplifting because Beah was able to demonstrate that there is hope. Later in the novel, Beah travels to
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
Saukko , Linnea.“How to Poison the Earth.”The Brief Bedford Reader. Bedford/St.Martin’s Boston: 9th edition ,2006.246-247.
"Born The Hard Way" is an efficient ad because it uses ethos, pathos, and kairos. This
Elie Wiesel’s “The Perils of Indifference” speech, discusses a point on how oppressed people should be considered as human beings and not just as outcasts in the world. Wiesel applies the pathos appeal, ethos appeal and logos appeal in his speech to prove to the audience that indifference is a problem not only in America but the whole world. He wanted people to change in a way for others to feel good about themselves. Each of the different types of appeals gives a reason to why he believes things have to change. Along with the appeals, Wiesel utilizes fallacies in his speech, such as the many use of an overly sentimental appeals and either or choices.
In 1962, the publication of Silent Spring Rachel Carson captivated the American public. Carson wrote about the harmful effects of chemical pesticides in the environment, and her writing was very reflective of the events occurring at the time. There is a strong connection between Carson’s writing and the Cold War. In fact, if it were not for the war, the American public may not have responded in the same way to Carson’s writing. Carson used tone and content as methods of getting her point across to the public. Silent Spring shined a light on the damage done to the environment as a result of the Cold War, and this issue was finally being recognized by American public.
In the article "The Obligation to Endure", an excerpt from "Silent Spring", Carson focuses on her major concerns with the environment. For millennia, Mother Nature was the lone modifier that possessed the ability to shape the environment. In turn, this caused species to adapt for survival. However, with the birth of man, the delicate balance has shifted. Humans now possess the ability to alter the makeup of their environment. This is a power that shouldn 't be taken lightly or abused. However, humans are often blind to corruption until it 's too late, and so the inevitable happened. Man abused its power and failed to see the consequences. This is an overarching concern of Carson, "The most alarming of all man 's assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials (Carson)." The chemicals dumped into rivers the pollution pumped into the air. The toxic radiation released from nuclear explosions in the form of Strontium 90. The endless pesticides sprayed on crops and trees. All of these are the weapons used in "man 's war against nature
“Carson used the era’s hysteria about radiation to snap her readers to attention, drawing a parallel between nuclear fallout and a new, invisible chemical threat of pesticides throughout Silent Spring,” (Griswold 21). She described radiation as the creation of human’s tampering with nature, and warned that similar dangers would become inevitable with the continued use of pesticides (Carson 7). Carson also knew that a large percent of her audience would be housewives, who she could use as example of those who found poisoned birds and squirrels in their gardens. She angled much of Silent Spring towards this audience, which helped her book become the catalyst for environmental change (Griswold
Julia “Butterfly” Hill’s life before the act not only betrays nature by conducting her life through unconscious decisions, it violates the ecosystem, leading to the ignorance characterized by humans toward the environment. From Don Oldenberg’s “Julia Hill Butterfly, From Treetop to Grass Roots,” we learn of her upbringing where Julia grew up “dirt-poor” and set her sights on making money with no aspiration to “making the world a better place.” Her “backdoor activist” attitude substantiates that nature wasn’t her first priority. Likewise, she was insensible to the consequences her lifestyle had on the ecosyste...
The cutting down on the uses of pesticides and fertilizers is one on the next great step we have to make as a society. It will take a long time to implement these changes and there will be Problems along this journey. The sooner we start this long journey. The longer we have to work out the Kinks in sustainable farming. We at least should think about the future generations that will live on earth. This is the one place we all have to call home and it’s our job to take care of it for the next generations. We can’t give them a problem that take a long time to fix because it could be too late to fix the problems in a generations or two. This is why we need to push the world to a sustainable farm
The message being conveyed, throughout this advertisement, “No Excuses”(NIKE), is that if you really want something bad enough you will do it as opposed to finding an excuse. This commercial can be used as a tool and provide individuals with motivation and inspiration. As humans sometimes we allow excuses to begin controlling our lives but we need to get up and work hard to achieve our goals and this commercial serves as the additional push we require in our general public.
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring revolutionized the American point of view concerning the environment. It rejected the notion that pesticides and chemicals are the right choice for “controlling” various animals that are seen as an inconvenience. Carson writes about the dangers of pesticides, not only to nature but man himself.
I remember when I first thought about the power one person could have to create change. I was a teenager growing up in the South when I read Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring”. This beautifully written book is a powerful indictment of the widespread use of pesticides. Rachel Carson criticized the chemical companies for claiming that pesticides were safe despite mounting evidence to the contrary. And she criticized public officials who accepted the chemical industry’s claims.