Rhetorical Analysis Of The Damnation Of Canyon, By Edward Abbey

The essay “The Damnation of Canyon,” by Edward Abbey, channels the emotional impact that the damming of a canyon river can have on a person. By telling this story the author utilizes many different rhetorical strategies that include personification, visual imagery, and first-person narration, all to help convey his point on why the commercialization and industrialism of nature should be avoided and stopped. He not only points out the wrong in the situation, but Abbey also gives a solution to the problem to better the canyon for all people. He tells of how many of the environmental pollution, habitat loss, and commercialization could be fixed if people stopped trying to make the canyon better for some people, the rich, and just let it be enjoyed by those who want to see its natural beauty. The fastest solution to this problem is to get rid of the damn and let the river run its course. As Abby tells of his many endeavors down the canyon stream, he personifies the canyon and describes it as if it were a person. This helps to establish many emotions within the essay because when the canyon becomes damaged, and when the dam gets built the audience can feel hurt and empathize with Glen Canyon. The personification of the canyon is apparent in many different instances

By describing in detail how the canyon looked before after the dam was built, the audience can fully grasp the dramatic effect the damn had on not only the natural wildlife and landscape of the area but also how it affects the lives of the people who lived there. All the details that the author puts into describing how the land looked before the damn came, makes the argument seem much more credible since it rhetorically asks the audience why the people of Colorado would want to demolish such a naturally beautiful place? It makes the reader think if the pollution and destruction of the natural ecosystem is much too high a cost for to allow people to see the