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Explain how Bogard builds an argument to persuade that natural darkness should be preserved. Analyze how Bogard uses features in the directions that precede the passage to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of his argument. Focus on the most relevant features of the passage. The battle between darkness and light has been fought since the very first days of humanity, before fire was even created, Bogard simply takes a different side to the battle than most. He argues in his essay “Let There Be Dark” that darkness affects the entire planet -the natural world, today’s population, and future generations- in surprisingly positive ways, and that it’s up to us to defend it. Overall, his arguments are powerful and likely to make any reader question leaving his or her lamp on, but this is largely in part to his great capabilities as a writer. Every part of his essay, even the title, is built to convince his readers of why they should preserve the darkness and the natural order of life. …show more content…
To anyone who has ever read biblical passages or studied any kind of advanced education, “Let There Be Dark” is a clear Biblical analogy, one with an ironic twist. This iconic phrase references a hand full of the first words in the chapter “Genesis” of the bible, “and god said ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light...”, to most church goers, this alone would likely bring to mind that even darkness was made by the same creator, and for others, at the very least, it brings to mind that even darkness is natural, in all its forms. Alongside leaving the readers with this thought, it also lays a tone of humanity, and a false one of
As society continuously expands, building new structures, light pollution becomes increasingly problematic. Paul Bogard addresses this problem and argues against the increasing light pollution in his writing, “Let There Be Dark.” Through his use of the ethos and pathos, Bogard attempts to persuade his audience of the beauty of natural darkness.
Humanity is ultimately dark, it’s just we don’t dare to admit it. Humanity is like a ying-yang, it comes with the dark and the light, but we focus on the light in dark times; we always try to hide away the dark truth. Hiding away the darkness, making society seem perfect; humanity is really terrifying, knowing about the darkness that we all try to hide, is even more alarming. We commit genocide, spend more money on war than peace, child abuse, domestic violence, suicide, and more. We created this place in which all this happens, but we don’t accept it, we shun it. Keeping it locked up, we pretend it doesn’t happen. We don’t acknowledge any of this. We choose to wear rose-colored glasses, rather than seeing the truth of it
It can be argued that the theme of light VS darkness is used to good
As a morality tale, the darkness is the ugliness of inner mind, such as jealousy and vanity, and the light would be the kindness and the
The possibility of evil by Shirley Jackson is a short story written in the time period of 1965. A great aspect of this short story is the fact that it is vague. It contains many themes that is seen from thousands of different perspectives. One of these themes is, “Where there is light, there is darkness.” This quote can be taken quite literally and figuratively. In a literal sense, where there is light, there will be shadows(darkness). In a figurative sense, it’s essentially saying that good have to coexist with evil.
"Darkness" implies that as the universe gets colder, humanity, in an effort to stay alive, burns the earth for warmth.
Altering an audience's opinion is a struggle that many writers face; it is always possible, however, to unite the reader with the speaker's position. In Paradise Lost by John Milton, the author attempted to persuade his readers into thinking that the theme of obedience to God will keep you in a blissful state and disobedience will keep you in a wretched state by the use of light in his books. God is associated with a radiant white light; while on the other hand, Satan is affiliated with a dark shady black. With this use of this contrast of symbolism of light and dark, there is a clear distinction that light is righteousness and more desired than the darkness, which is evilness and bad.
Throughout its entirety, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness utilizes many contrasts and paradoxes in an attempt to teach readers about the complexities of both human nature and the world. Some are more easily distinguishable, such as the comparison between civilized and uncivilized people, and some are more difficult to identify, like the usage of vagueness and clarity to contrast each other. One of the most prominent inversions contradicts the typical views of light and dark. While typically light is imagined to expose the truth and darkness to conceal it, Conrad creates a paradox in which darkness displays the truth and light blinds us from it.
"In the beginning when God created the heavens and the Earth, the Earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light."
Paul Bogard's "Let There Be Dark" provides a reasoned argument for the preservation of natural darkness. His claim is developed by the use of various literary elements, appealing to logic and emotion simultaneously. Throughout "Let There Be Dark", Bogard uses a potent concoction of factual evidence, anecdotes, logical reasoning, and simple persuasion.
To begin his article, Bogard recalls a personal story; his vacations at his family's Minnesota lake house as a child and the way that his “hands disappeared before [his] eyes”. By sharing his past experience he is intentionally making the reader remember their own experiences similar to his in which they were amazed and comforted by the similar feeling of darkness. This not only draws his readers in, making them want to delve deeper into the topic, it also establishes certain emotions that now correlate with the word darkness. Bogard then continues to strengthen his argument on the preservation of darkness by sharing broad and common instances in which further play on the emotions of the reader; “Consider how it brings us together with those we love, how we illuminate our most intimate experiences with flame or moonlight”. This excerpt not only installs a personal instance within the minds of the reader, but also establishes validity to his claims by doing so.
"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." Edith Wharton, a nobel prize in literature winner, once said in her poem Vesalius in Zante. Being the light in someone's life is something that I strive for. Every person has a choice. To be the light or be the darkness. We can also have our own light or darkness. We as humans go through things in life that dull our light and make us feel alone and sad, but others have the choice to be the candle and bring light to each other.
...story. However Conrad also challenges many assumptions of darkness being solely associated with evil, and light being solely associated with good, as throughout the novel the light of the white society is critiqued, representing the evil side of humanity.
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.
There is an old expression, “Mould grows in the dark”. In human culture, there are many reflections of dark being bad and sinister, and light being good and virtuous. Darth Vader from Star Wars is dressed in black, while Luke is in a light robe. Heaven is always pictured as being full of light, while hell is dark and evil. Imagery of darkness is very important in human life, as we tend to polarize things automatically. Shakespeare understand...