A Rhetorical Analysis Of Swimming Through Garbage By Lewis Pugh

In the New York Times, on Sept. 28, 2014, Lewis Pugh writes an editorial called “Swimming Through Garbage.” He describes his experiences traveling into the seven seas and makes a claim to draw attention towards the health of our oceans. First, Pugh describes the litter, plastic bags, bottles, cans, shoes, and clothing on our ocean floor. However, Pugh was even more shocked about what he didn’t see, no sharks, no whales, no dolphins, all living life had been fished out (Para 4-5). Pugh says that over 100 million sharks are fished out of the ocean every year (Para 7). Pugh then proceeds to give an analogy about the Serengeti. He says if all the lions were removed then other creatures would multiply and all the grass would be eaten. Pugh draws

A clear examples would be when Pugh said, “I saw no sharks, no whales, no dolphins.” (Para4). This immediately gives the impression that we are murderers and were careless with God’s beloved creatures. The editorial stays this way for awhile until finally Pugh gives us a sense of hope. Pugh says when some countries ceased commercial whaling the population began to recover (Para 11). Followed on Pugh gives this idea of possibility of it is not over yet if we keep creating these protected areas they can recover (Para 13). Finally, Pugh end his editorial with a statement of empowerment, “I swam over tires and trash. In a few years, I hope to return, and swim over thriving coral reefs. With this ending statement it inspires the readers and grabs the feeling of going out and doing something about it. I believe this was a very well written editorial because of the smooth flowing transitions form topic to topic. Not only did it grab my attention and emotion, but also informed me as well. After reading this editorial I feel motivated to help with the health of our oceans. I have watched and read similar topics to this editorial and it is always something I believe it is something we need to fix. I hope the audience after reading this editorial feels the same as I do and will also feel the need to help with the health of our