Paul Bogard's Let There Be Dark

What if the night sky was as bright as day? It may never be that bright, but in the future it may be close. In Paul Bogard’s “Let There be Dark,” he talks about how important the night is to the ecosystem. He also discusses how important it is to reduce light pollution in cities. Every year, the night sky gets brighter, and Paul wishes to end this. Paul’s argument is very persuasive, and he uses a variety of techniques to convince the reader.

As all good essays should have, Paul presents straight facts to the reader to highlight the importance of the night. He could write on and on about how we should preserve the night, but without any reason why, no one would believe him. In the paper, he states “Our bodies need darkness to produce the hormone melatonin, which keeps certain cancers from developing, and our bodies need darkness for sleep. Sleep disorders have been linked to diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression, and recent research suggests one main cause of ‘short sleep’ is ‘long light.’” In this excerpt, he uses factual evidence to scare the reader into understanding the importance of the night. Paul also uses facts to give the reader hope, as well. He gave evidence of cities like Paris who are creating measures against light pollution, and he shows how this has helped the quality of

the night. Factual evidence is key to writing an essay, and Paul nailed it.

To push his facts more, Paul adds in emotional appeal so that the facts can connect with us easier.

When talking about the night sky in the modern age, he says “ In a world awash with electric light...how would Van Gogh have given the world his “Starry Night”? Who knows what this vision of the night sky might inspire in each of us, in our children or grandchildren?” Paul uses this to bring an emotional connection to the reader. That way, when he talks about the dangers of light pollution, the reader is morally attached and the subject is brought closer to home. Presenting problems in a way that the reader can understand and relate to is crucial to proving a

point.

Lastly, Paul also attempts to appeal to the reader’s sense of reason through his word choice and presentation. Paul uses comparisons to the past to create a scale for the problems that he presents throughout his paper. For example, he makes connections to his past in Minnesota, or how Van Gogh would feel in the modern age. Not only does he set a scale with his facts and emotional appeal, he also creates good a good comparison from previous years to the current age. Once the reader gets a good look at the scale of the whole problem, they will begin to understand how important of an issue this is.

To synthesize, Paul Bogard uses these writing and presentation techniques to convince the reader of the importance of light pollution. From facts to emotion, Paul uses all the cards in his hand to convince the reader of the importance of the night. When writing an essay, one must always have a good combination of facts and emotional appeal. Paul has not only taught us how important it is to prevent light pollution, but he has also shown us how to write a proper essay.