Rhetorical Analysis Of Let There Be Dark

Paul Bogard an advocate for the preservation of natural darkness from the article from the Los Angeles Times “Let There Be Dark”. Paul uses logos that make the reader actually stop for a second and think about it, how the reader has never thought of wasted light, that nights are getting brighter, and that there is an average increase of light in the sky by about 6%. This makes the audience feel as if Light Pollution is a big deal and that many people are clueless or careless about the entire situation. The purpose of Bogard’s article is to enlighten us about light pollution, and how sacred natural darkens is because the world depends on it, the nocturnal animals, and also states that if it wasn’t for natural darkness, Van Gogh would have never given the world his famous painting of the “Starry Night”. Paul Bogard’s tone is very questioning and blunt, he asks many questions for the readers to think about, but also says what he means with no hesitation.

Paul uses never ending syntax, and blunt diction.

Bogard uses long sentences with a lot commas, it’s as if he will never stop talking and you are sitting in a lecture. His sentences are very informal and give insight on all claims that he’s making. For example, he talks about nocturnal animals and gives examples of the animals, he uses specific evidence when talking about Paris being the city of light, but they shut their monument off after 1 a.m. , and they will also require shops’ lights to be turned off after 2 a.m. He also mentions that in the photographs from there is a dramatic difference in the light seen from the sky in the 1950s from no light, to now where there is a blanket of

light.
The diction being used in the article makes the reader feel as if they should just sit there and listen to what’s being said and that’s that, there is also a tad of desperation at the end of the article where he states “we will never truly address the problem of light pollution until we become aware of the irreplaceable value and beauty of the darkness we are losing.
The world needs darkness for so many reasons, for religious reasons, for the adaptions made by the nocturnal animals, the inspiration of so many philosophers for example, if there was no darkness how would have Copernicus studied and came up with the Heliocentric theory which states that the sun is in the middle of the universe. These discoveries and milestones are owed to the darkness.