As generation x’s, and millennials, we are constantly thinking about new ways to improve our lives, rarely considering the fact that the way we have decided to expand our species is destroying several others. Biologist Rachel Carson in her book Silent Spring took on the chemical industry and raised important questions about humankind's impact on nature. In a portion of the book she writes specifically about how human agricultural practice is deeply affecting the natural world. Her purpose to convince the reader that the ways humans are choosing to expand their species is having a detrimental effect on nature using macabre diction and rhetorical questions. Carson first uses macabre diction to explain how humans are negatively affecting many other species. She uses words like, “killing’, “death”, “and “casualty” to clearly point out the wrongs of society. By using an extreme like death, she can drill through the heads to the readers that the things they do daily is a part of the many ripples …show more content…
Humans are never going to be able to have the power to control exactly what happens in nature. Farmers aim to kill the insects that eat their plants, but end up dooming other species. She writes, “Who has decided-who has the right to decide-for the countless legions of people who were not consulted that the supreme value is a world without insects, even know it be also a sterile world ungraced by the curving wing of a bird in flight?”(Carson 56-60). She groups nature together as a whole, all the way down to the last insect, so she can effectively explain that while humans think that they are just hurting one part of nature, they are actually hurting all of nature. She uses rhetorical questions to allow the reader to reflect on their own choices, making the passage more
Jonathan Kozol revealed the early period’s situation of education in American schools in his article Savage Inequalities. It seems like during that period, the inequality existed everywhere and no one had the ability to change it; however, Kozol tried his best to turn around this situation and keep track of all he saw. In the article, he used rhetorical strategies effectively to describe what he saw in that situation, such as pathos, logos and ethos.
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
By citing credible organizations and offering her own eco-friendly alternatives, she proves to the reader that she takes a particular interest in the environment and is educated to speak on it. Pairing powerful understatements and hyperboles to contrast with one another show the reader that the practice is both needless and selfish. These rhetorical techniques have a powerful impact on the reader, whose ignorance prior to reading the excerpt can no longer suffices to excuse the lack of action. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is a deeply persuasive book that not only advocates for an end to pesticides but also speaks to the obligation humans hold to protect their
Pollan’s article provides a solid base to the conversation, defining what to do in order to eat healthy. Holding this concept of eating healthy, Joe Pinsker in “Why So Many Rich Kids Come to Enjoy the Taste of Healthier Foods” enters into the conversation and questions the connection of difference in families’ income and how healthy children eat (129-132). He argues that how much families earn largely affect how healthy children eat — income is one of the most important factors preventing people from eating healthy (129-132). In his article, Pinsker utilizes a study done by Caitlin Daniel to illustrate that level of income does affect children’s diet (130). In Daniel’s research, among 75 Boston-area parents, those rich families value children’s healthy diet more than food wasted when children refused to accept those healthier but
The history of life on earth could be thought of as a record of living things interacting with their surroundings; for most of history, this has meant that life molds over time by the environment it inhabits; however, very recently, humans have become capable of altering the environment in significant ways (Carson 49). Marine Biologist, Rachel Carson, in her environmental sciences book, The Silent Spring, documents the detrimental effects on the environment by the indiscriminate use of pesticides. Carson argues vigilantly in an attempt to persuade her extremely diverse and expansive global audience, under the impression that chemicals, such as DDT, were safe for their health, that pesticides are in fact detrimental for their health. Through
The movie trailer “Rio 2”, shows a great deal of pathos, ethos, and logos. These rhetorical appeals are hidden throughout the movie trailer; however, they can be recognized if paying attention to the details and montage of the video. I am attracted to this type of movies due to the positive life messages and the innocent, but funny personifications from the characters; therefore, the following rhetorical analysis will give a brief explanation of the scenes, point out the characteristics of persuasive appeals and how people can be easily persuaded by using this technique, and my own interpretation of the message presented in the trailer.
Silent Spring describes many unethical practices such as massive spraying operations, the campaign against the Japanese beetle and gypsy moth, and the mass killing of birds and salmon (Carson, 1962). There is also reference to insects developing resistance to insecticides that further enhances the need to stop their use. The irresponsible use of man-made chemicals is highlighted and brought to home by describing the human maladies and problems caused by them. For example, the book links cell damage, cancer, mutations and Down’s syndrome to insecticide poisoning (Carson, 1962). The ending of the book is devoted to alternative methods such as introduction of natural enemies, diseases and parasites to control insects as safer and less costly to environment and
Silent Spring is one of the most important books of the environmental movement. It was one of the first scientific books to talk about destruction of habitat by humans. As a result, one can imagine that Ms. Rachel Carson needed to be quite persuasive. How does she achieve this? In this excerpt from Silent Spring, Carson utilizes the rhetorical devices of hyperbole, understatement, and rhetorical questions to state the necessity of abolishing the practice of using poisons such as parathion. Carson starts out by using the symbiotic nature of hyperbole and understatement to paint the whole practice as dangerous and unnecessary. She further strengthens her argument by using rhetorical questions to make her readers see the ethical flaws and potential casualties caused by deadly pesticides.
The Letter from Birmingham Jail was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of several civil rights activists who were arrested in Birmingham Alabama, after protesting against racial injustices in Alabama. Dr. King wrote this letter in response to a statement titled A Call for Unity, which was published on Good Friday by eight of his fellow clergymen from Alabama. Dr. King uses his letter to eloquently refute the article. In the letter dr. king uses many vivid logos, ethos, and pathos to get his point across. Dr. King writes things in his letter that if any other person even dared to write the people would consider them crazy.
These changes, from difficult manual labor to chemicals and genetically modified products, are in his opinion a necessary and modern action. When faced with the duty of feeding the world it would be a hard pressed farmer who could be individually responsible for every plant and small field under their care, I agree. Pulling away from nature is not ideal in the least, but with such a large population and so few farmers it feels like we do not really have much of a choice in the matter. These advancements, however, do allow for farmers to made less of an impact on the nature around them, which is a positive since we only have a single world around us to live in. Destroying it is not really a solution to any problem, no matter how large. “…We have to farm ‘industrially’ to feed the world, and by using those ‘industrial’ tools sensibly, we can accomplish that task… while protecting the land, water, and air around us” Hurst explains, pointing out that it is a responsibility that every farmer must undertake to be sensible with these newer and potentially harmful tools and to have some form of forethought of the consequences (The Omnivore’s Delusion,
“The Obligation to Endure” chapter in Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring is a gripping chapter that is overwhelmed with vital information on chemicals and pesticides that everyone is subjected to each and every day. Carson’s chapter is explanatory, and she wants to inform her readers, the general public, the main problem of our population is the humans who contaminate everything they touch. These humans have created things that can build up inside the tissues of plants and animals and alter genetics beyond anyone’s beliefs (Carson 8). Carson strives to inform her audience that as humans, everyone makes mistakes, but the country has made such a drastic mistake now that it is slowly killing every person, plant, and animal in the process. Something as simple as a chemical to keep bugs off plants has turned into a toxic biohazard that can only be taken in by human bodies in microscopic amounts without risk of poison, sickness, or death. With her own knowledge from her past careers in zoology, marine biology, and being a pioneer in the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), she is well informed about the carcinogens and disastrous qualities of these pesticides. Carson gets her views across even with her incredible lack of objectivity. Her straight forward style and uncomplicated language in her rhetorical context help prove her own ethics and logical thinking, while organizing her quality of evidence to get an emotional reaction out of her audience to attest her beliefs.
Civilization began with agriculture, and agriculture continues to be an integral part of our lives. Civilization brought knowledge, knowledge brought technology, and technology brought chemicals and pesticides to “improve” our world. “The Obligation to Endure” is an excerpt from Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring,” a passionate and masterful work on the results of civilization’s efforts to control pests and insects. These effects include destruction of the environment, alteration of gene structures in plants and animals, water contamination, and an upset of nature’s delicate balance. This article is an impassioned plea to the world to understand the threat and demand the information necessary to make an informed consent on use of these deadly substances.
In 1729, Jonathan Swift published a pamphlet called “A Modest Proposal”. It is a satirical piece that described a radical and humorous proposal to a very serious problem. The problem Swift was attacking was the poverty and state of destitution that Ireland was in at the time. Swift wanted to bring attention to the seriousness of the problem and does so by satirically proposing to eat the babies of poor families in order to rid Ireland of poverty. Clearly, this proposal is not to be taken seriously, but merely to prompt others to work to better the state of the nation. Swift hoped to reach not only the people of Ireland who he was calling to action, but the British, who were oppressing the poor. He writes with contempt for those who are oppressing the Irish and also dissatisfaction with the people in Ireland themselves to be oppressed.
Rachel Carson’s “Obligation to Endure” is an informative dissertation about the hazardous effects implemented by the careless distribution of pesticides in an uneducated society. Carson states that, “The most alarming of all man’s assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials.” (Carson. Para. Intro). She exposes the dark side of these chemicals with an overall goal to raise awareness and regulate control of the substances by the government. First her goal is to make the citizens, pesticide companies, and government aware of this serious threat. Next, she hopes to not ban these pesticides, but to persuade a regulation on what amount is reasonable. Carson effectively conveniences her audience of the dangers of these chemicals by using her own credibility, apocalyptic tone, and logic.
"1 Matthiessen goes on to write that "one shudders to imagine how much more impoverished our habitat would be had Silent Spring not sounded the alarm. " 2 This is indeed a worthy claim by Mr. Matthiessen, but he correctly uncovers a bigger and more alarming truth when he says, "the damage being done by poison chemicals today is far worse than it was when she wrote the book. 3 In fact, since 1962, pesticide use in the US has doubled. As an environmentalist (or a "radical" environmentalist, as I am often labeled by members of the mainstream environmental movement), I feel it is my duty as a protector of the Earth's well-being to write this editorial as a means of bringing into the American consciousness a variety of frightening environmental issues.