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Rachel Carson Silent Spring Rhetorical Analysis

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Occasionally problems in society are suppressed, made worse, or even outright ignored. Some problems could never be addressed until one day a person or group of people decide to challenge the status quo, and to present to masses a problem that they themselves may have never really thought about before. One particular issue addressed by Rachel Carson is the use of pesticides. Rachel Carson wrote the book Silent Spring to combat and question the use of these pesticides. In the excerpt of her book Silent Spring, Carson employs the use of rhetorical questions, a cynical tone and militaristic diction to emphasize that due to the thoughtless actions of farmers and authoritarian figures who have used pesticides carelessly, we are seeing collateral effects on the …show more content…

When looking at that specific phrase it’s clear to the reader that Carson is insinuating that killing is becoming a habit of humanity, an idea that while may be true, isn’t usually made outright. Carson defies normal standards and isn’t afraid to confidently share her own opinion. In the sentence “[Animals] were doomed by a judge and jury who neither knew of their existence nor cared,” Carson continues to set a cynical backdrop that depicts humanity as evil. Now, while her tone may not be able to single handedly convince people to change their opinions, what it does do instead is contributes towards her claim that this is an irrefutable problem that requires decisive action. Her tone does this by inciting emotion into the reader. Specifically associated with her tone is a feeling of anger towards the people who have been careless and have suppressed the issue. Her criticizing tone also connects to her use of rhetorical questions to get the readers to be on her side, questioning the status

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The third rhetorical device, Abigail Adams uses is logical repetition. Mrs. Adams was a logical woman and used this to drive the point that her son has great things that lie ahead of him. She mentions the word “great” a series of times to lift her son up. For example, she says that he has been endowed with “greater advantages” that he hasn't come to realize yet. Such as his parents, education, and that he has been taught that everything isn't about him becoming who he wants to be.

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Josie Appleton’s piece opens with her introducing the fact that body modification has lost its mark of being taboo. Appleton then transitions into describing the different kinds of people that modify their bodies and why they do it. The fact that people used to mostly use tattoos to identify with a group and are now using them to define themselves is heavily enforced. The rest of the piece describes in great detail the different ways people use piercings and tattoos to better understand themselves and mark important milestones. The piece concludes with Appleton claiming that body modification should only be for fashion, because bringing significance to it causes problems.

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In July of 1988, Dorothy Ann Willis Richards, the Texas State Treasurer at the time, gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. The room was filled with democratic supporters to whom Richards emphasizes the need to for American politics to "do better." Her speech was intended to persuade the audience to vote for the Democratic party in the upcoming election, rather than the Republican party. Richards attempts to persuade the audience through her use of humor, repetition, and personal anecdotes. Richards kicks off her speech with the humorous statement ,"After listening to George Bush all these years, I figured you needed to know what a real Texas accent sounds like.

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Pratt’s Rhetorical Analysis Stanford college professor, Mary Louise Pratt, spoke on the “Arts of the Contact Zones” in 1990 to collaborating professors in an effort to change the teaching of multi-cultural literacy. Drawing the idea of cultural literacy from an ideological standpoint, she desired to criticize the traditional approach to teaching and embrace what she calls “contact zones.” Pratt has done studies on what she defines contact zone as, she remarks that contact zones are social spaces were two cultures meet with each other. Her aim, however, is very clear that she wants to convince a group of educators to help create a new standard in education that is student-centered and has the intentions in what she calls the contact zone. Pratt

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Writing a rhetorical analysis on a specific text is something that I have never had to do before in prior classes, so when I found out that I had to write an entire paper on a rhetorical analysis on a text of my choosing I was a little worried. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to give lengthy and accurate descriptions at a college level. Once I read in the textbook what a rhetorical analysis exactly was, my worry was overcome with ease to say the least. I decided to do my analysis on a speech written by one the most inspiring people in my life Gloria Steinem. Gloria Steinem is an American feminist and social political activist who wrote an article in the New York TImes “ After Black Power, Women’s Liberation” which brought her fame as

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Emma Marris uses many types of persuasive elements in her essay “Emma Marris: In Defense of Everglade Pythons”. In her writing she persuades her readers that the pythons should be allowed to be in the everglades since it is not their fault that they are there in the first place. She uses metaphors to relate to the reader and word choice to enhance her writing.

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Foremost, Carson evokes pity towards the defenseless birds, and anger toward the farmers for their actions, with emotionally-charged words. The repetition of the word “killing” supports Carson belief that the destruction of birds is savage path farmers choose, because the word connotes evil. The evil, associated with the word, arouses anger at the farmers for their ill doing; additionally, the word

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The further you read into Roxane Gay article, you start to identify who her audience is. “Many of the people who advocate for freedom of speech with the most bluster are willing to waste this powerful right on hate speech” (Gay). This quote shows her audience is, the people use take advantage of our freedom of speech and use that speech for hate towards one another. “There is also this. “Those who mock the idea of safe space are most likely the same people who are able to take safety for granted” (Gay).

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The pathos Winfrey expresses creates a courageous and grateful emotion in the reader that convinces them to be just as fearless as

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In Beloved by Toni Morrison, the author often utilizes many different writing techniques to emphasize the story’s main idea that one cannot let past mistakes dictate one’s life and future. Morrison’s application of nonlinear exposition in Beloved helps convey the novel’s main theme by allowing the reader to witness Sethe’s journey to self-acceptance through her personal flashbacks and Paul D.’s point of view. From the beginning, the author incorporates a flashback to illustrate how Sethe is burdened with guilt from killing her baby daughter. Morrison makes it clear to the reader that Beloved is constantly on Sethe’s mind.

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In America’s history, child labor was fiercely criticized. Many activists of child labor laws and women’s suffrage strived to introduce their own viewpoints to the country. Florence Kelley was a reformer who successfully changed the mindset of many Americans through her powerful and persuading arguments. Florence Kelley’s carefully crafted rhetoric strategies such as pathos, repetition, and sarcasm generates an effective and thought provoking tone that was in favor of women’s suffrage and child labor laws. Florence Kelley uses pathos continuously throughout her speech.

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In 1962, Rachel Carson, author of the book, “Silent Spring” paints the image of a disgusting world filled with contamination that is not too far away for the citizens of America in 1962. A world filled with waste and chemicals due to the lack of knowledge that humankind has about the environment would hurt the air, Earth, rivers, and seas, causing both the environment and the human race to be in danger. Carson idealizes change in the environment through use of an abundance of rhetorical devices. Carson utilizes devices such as, imagery, logos, pathos through childhood, compare contrast organization, and shifts in persona. By using rhetorical devices, Carson reveals the truth about the contamination and waste in the environment.

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991 Words | 4 Pages

For a very long time, the voting rights of the citizens have been a problem in the US. It started out with only men with land being able to vote, and then expanded to white men, and then to all men. However, women were never in the situation, they were disregarded and believed to not be worthy enough to have the same rights as men. They were essentially being treated as property, therefore having no rights. But, in Susan B. Anthony’s speech, she hits upon the point that women are just as righteous as men.

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Throughout the novel Tuesday’s With Morrie, the author, Mitch Albom, reflects on his Tuesday meetings with his old professor, now consumed with a terminal illness, and, using many rhetorical choices, reveals “The Meaning of Life,” which they discussed profusely and divided into several categories. Topics such as Death, Emotions, Aging, Money, Culture, and more are all discussed in their weekly conferences, Morrie passing his wisdom on to one of his favor students. And Albom, writing about their talks, uses numerous rhetoric devices to discuss this wisdom. As Morrie Schwartz, dying of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), speaks with Albom, the two talk about Death.

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Carson applies ethos in order to show the right and wrong treatment of the town and how it will drastically impact the environment and the people. Carson asserts in her writing that the people of the town had done everything to themselves because they were the ones using the pesticides, “In the gutters under the eaves and between the shingles of the roofs, a white granular powder still showed a few patches; some weeks before it had fallen like snow upon the roofs and the lawns, the fields and streams. No witchcraft, no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new life in this stricken world. The people had done it themselves.” (5).

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