Paul Bogard Let There Be Dark Rhetorical Analysis

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Environmental concerns are very prevalent in today’s society, ranging from climate change to endangered species to the ever-shrinking supply of fossil fuels. With so many issues trying to gain attention, it is often impossible to choose the most important. Paul Bogard’s “Let There Be Dark” is a compelling argument begging readers to reduce light pollution and explaining light pollution’s harmful side effects. By utilizing scientific studies to provide a strong basis for his argument and including anecdotes and cultural references throughout the essay, Bogard constructs an airtight case that appeals to both a reader’s logic and emotions. Evidence is the backbone of every strong essay, and “Let There Be Dark” is no exception. Throughout his paper, Bogard includes …show more content…

In fact, Bogard opens his paper with a story from his childhood. “At my family’s cabin on a Minnesota lake,” Bogard writes, “I knew woods so dark that my hands disappeared before my eyes.” In addition to peaking the reader's interest, this anecdote serves as an important tool. It establishes Bogard as a real person, as someone the reader can trust and relate to, not just a faceless name on the paper. He’s an everyday guy, this anecdote proves, who wants to tell others about a case that’s important to him. Immediately, the audience wants to believe him, effectively getting them on his side. In addition to the anecdotes, Bogard also alludes to topics the audience will recognize. In paragraph five, Bogard asks the audience “in a world awash with electric light… how would Van Gogh have given the world his ‘Starry Night’?” Starry Night is a famous painting, known to all. The symbolism of a lack of stars in such an iconic painting is jarring to the audience, and impacts them much more intensely than if Bogard had simply said that the world has become more full of electric

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