Sandra Steingraber Despair Not Summary

For Better or Worse?

The world around us, as we know it, is ever changing. The question is, is it for the better or the worse? As Sandra Steingraber speaks out in her essay “Despair Not”, we must not look at how bad our world may be polluted or trashed by us humans, and just give up. We must look at the positives, quit feeling sorry for ourselves, and do something about it. Do not lose hope. We are our own cure to this problem. We are the ones that can make a difference. We are hope. Yet, at the same time, can we change what has been done and turn all of our mistakes around? Or is hope just the beginning for the better or the worse?

The world around us, as we know it, is ever changing. The question is, is it for the better or for the worse? As Sandra Steingraber speaks out in her essay “Despair Not”, we must not look at how bad our world may be polluted or trashed by us humans, and just give up. We must look at the positives, quit feeling sorry for ourselves, and do something about it. Do not lose hope. We are our own cure to this problem. We are the ones that can make a difference. We are hope. Yet, at the same time, can we change what has been done and turn all of our mistakes around? Or is hope just the beginning of despair?

Just as Steingraber said in her essay, we must fill ourselves with the spirit of Elijah Lovejoy and take the environmental crisis head on, not for ourselves, but for those who will follow us.

The human race may well be suffering from some sort of “Well-informed futility”, as the psychologist Gerhart Wiebe would say. Or perhaps we are living in denial as contemporary risk communication expert Peter Sandman would have us believe. Maybe we are all watching the same horrific car crash over and over again, we are able to stop it, but at the same time we are frozen and refuse to do so. It’s odd that Sandman’s name is “Sandman”, because all humans are having the same nightmare, but we refuse to wake

up.
I find it telling that Steingraber talks about the extinction of species like whales, polar bears, bees, and butterflies, because of the interconnection of them all. I think of the “Butterfly Effect” which is basically a fancy name for a theory of cause and effect. That is essentially what has caused the problems we face today. Sunburns are linked to the stability of the ozone layer, which, in turn, is being diminished by the use of pesticides, those same pesticides are depleting the population of many insects. The death of these insects then negatively affects the food chain, which then leads to other problems.
She appeals to logic by using all of the statistics she uses. For example, she lists off statistics dealing with asthma, early development, and autism. It is logical, and appeals to the readers that thrive more on factual evidence instead of other types of persuasion. After the readers read Steingraber’s logos part of the essay, they tend to feel worried and feel like they need to change, which helps to support Steingraber’s argument.
I think Steingraber used pathos all throughout her essay, not in one pinpoint spot. She implants a fear into her readers, and the readers feel scared in that way after reading her words. She does this by talking about the looming doom of our futures because we haven’t taken care of our planet. She scares parents into thinking: Will my kids be safe? Should I be doing something? Also, at the end, she implants hope and makes the readers feels hopeful as if they can change.
In that was said, I believe that she also connected emotionally with the reader, or by using ethos. Steingraber had some very positive connections, and one example is, “These facts impressed me as a child” (p.744). This was a positive example of ethos, because the author is giving background about herself, and sharing her feelings that will probably relate to a lot of other people. Point of view and personal examples helped the author here. Another example that really stood out was “When my son Elijah…” (p.745). This was a positive example as well, because the author is sharing more about herself, making her more relatable to the audience and readers. Here, she shares about her son, and how she might have to tell him someday that polar bears are going to be extinct.
When an individual looks at all the environmental issues that the world and humanity face it does seem insurmountable, and “Well-informed futility” and denial seem like appropriate responses. But if you look again all of these problems that effect man, were created by man. Maybe man can undo, alleviate or eradicate them. Not all at once, but we could follow the example of our friend the butterfly and the theory named after it. As Paul Stern, of the Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Climate Change at the National Research Council said, individuals’ homes and vehicles are responsible for 38 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. We don’t have to hope for politicians to help us out, or for major corporations to grow consciences and care more about the world instead of their bottom line. In the words of Elijah Lovejoy we could “come up to the rescue, and let it be known whether the spirit of freedom yet presides.”