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Silent Spring Thesis

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Silent Spring by Rachel Carson demonstrates the underlying environmental crisis that humans have created despite knowing how much we are harming nature, animals and our bodies. The ignorance of the human population is a largely identified topic in this book and Carson uses many examples of how we knowingly put poisons and toxins into our environment because its convenient for us and works right away. The use of pesticides, insecticides and herbicides are discussed a great deal because they are artificial chemicals that we have no problem spraying over our lawns, in the water and especially in other animal’s homes. Throughout the course of the book we see how these chemicals travel from the ground, to the water, to the fish, to the birds, and finally back into our bodies. These harsh chemicals cycle through the environment and eventually come right back to the people that put them there. The title of this book, Silent Spring, is quite appropriate as it portrays a literal quiet blossoming season do to the harmful chemicals we put …show more content…

The last sentence in chapter seven really makes you think about why we do what we do and what we can do to change that. “By acquiescing in an act that can cause such suffering to a living creature, who among us is not diminished as a human being?” The word acquiesce perfectly represents a recurring theme in this book. That is that the ignorance of the human population is represented by the fact that we knowingly put poison into the environment because it is a quick fix and is incredibly convenient. We do this, yet it is not a long term fix and we have to repeat to process many times. Humans are so impatient that we choose not to use an all natural, long term fix because it may take a little bit longer to work. God forbid we have a few beetles in our garden while we wait for milky disease to kick

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In the first chapter of “Living Downstream” by Sandra Steingraber discussed about personal experiences living in Illinois and discovering how much the landscape has changed over the years. In addition to the changing landscape, cancer, especially breast cancer, has increased in the prairies of Illinois and pesticides usage may cause. Much of the discussion first begin with the change of landscape as the prairies of Illinois has become a place for farming and pesticides. As farming became an important aspect of Illinois, pesticides were created to remove any bugs or insects from the product that is being farmed. A few pesticides formulas that came to be are atrazine, dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane (DDT), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

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Valley Forge is a place where the Colonial Army stayed during the winter. I would stay at Valley Forge because I would be fighting for my freedom. For example, in the book, ‘The American Crisis’ by Thomas Paine, He explains some of the reasons for staying. “These are the times that try men’s souls.” This tells us that it brings motivation to the colonists.

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While reading the book many epiphanies become visible such as people will turn away from even their family, the disbelief which slowly turned to fear, and most predominant, the strong urge for humans to fight for survival. As you read through the book

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Carson appeals to the arousal of the basic emotions, such as the arousal of fear in the public. Carson also appeals to pathos, or the emotions, by questioning the “highly intelligent” creators of these pesticides. Carson believes irrational bad decisions based on faulty evidence threaten the future existence of mankind. “Along with the possibility of the extinction of mankind by nuclear war, the central problem of our age has therefore become the contamination of man’s total environment with such substances of incredible potential for harm-substances that accumulate in the tissues of plants and animals and even penetrate the germ cells to shatter or alter the very material of heredity upon which the shape of the future depends.” However, the statement supports Carson’s intention to present a persuasive, and logical point of view without confusing the reader; suggesting she ment to go against a patient audience rather than an impatient one.

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Initially when reading the chapter, the reader would make the assumption that it is just about fruit. After some reflection, it is much more than that. This chapter is about humans playing god. They nurture and control their crops and then they destroy them because there are no buyers. Destitute people starve and are forced to watch food be destroyed before their very eyes.

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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

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Throughout the novel, the audience learns how often socially unjust acts are committed in this industry. For instance, the government inspector who checks slaughtered pigs for signs of tuberculosis often does not check several carcasses. These are extremely disturbing facts that the public is just now hearing of. The novel also shows how the lack of sanitation in factories lead to diseases in the product as well as its workers. These truly shows how corrupt the factory owners are.

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Jane Goodall, a primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist, explains that the greatest risk to our future is lacking enthusiasm and concern about its outcome. Considering Goodall is extremely environmentally keen, it is more than likely she is emphasizing this towards the future of the entire ecosystem, including plants and animals, rather than only the future of the human race. She explains that if the human race falls to a deficiency of caring about our environment, it can and will lead to a vast threat to the future of the world’s ecosystem. Often humans forget about the importance of the ecosystem and instead we become caught up in ourselves and our own individual needs. Goodall is stressing that if these egotistical human acts continue to occur, the future of our ecosystem is in jeopardy.

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In today’s world, there are many people creating new chemical substances that has negative effect to our world. Rachel Carson, in her article "The Obligation to Endure" argues that the pesticides and other chemicals we use are harmful to more than just the environment. I agree with Carson in her article, in that we should reduce most of the harmful chemical use and instead use technological inventions. Carson is a person who seems very passionate about the environment and is very concerned of its inhabitants. It is hard to believe that intelligent human beings would use bad chemicals substances that would affect the environment and themselves negatively.

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Imagine having so much pesticides in use that people and animals were actually dying from it. In the 1950’s the overuse of pesticides was a serious problem. Rachel Carson was an activist who was against the use and overuse for these pesticides. She wanted to address this problem to the government and the public and warn about the harmful effects pesticides have on the environment and the people. In “A Fable For Tomorrow”, Rachel Carson utilizes ethos, logos and pathos in order to bring awareness to the overuse of pesticides.

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In recent years, the topic of saving the Earth from Humans has shown itself in many conversations amongst the people of the public. Saving the World will be an issue we must solve in the near future because we are causing a mass extinction for animals, and we are harming and killing humans, but we can resolve it by using technology to reduce global warming and setting aside reserves. The most important thing humans must do in regards to this topic is begin to educate themselves and others on how drastic we must be in regards to it. The first major issue that must be made clear is the great peril animals are in, and what this means for the planet and humans.

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Review of Literature Environmental issues began to be discussed and debated only towards the end of the 20th century. Since then significant amount of literature has been penned down raising awareness about issues of pollution, deforestation, animal rights and several others however it has failed to result in major changes, ideas or even actions to save the environment. Several species of animals have become extinct; pollution level is at an all-time high, global warming is leading to severe climate changes all across the globe but these problems do not seem to alarm the decision makers. Leydier & Martin (2013) also states that, “despite the increasing expression of concern in political and media debates about issues such as climate change, pollution and threats to biodiversity, “political ecology” (operating at the confluence of scientific developments, political engagement and ethical debates) is still trying to find its bearings” (p.7). It is quite evident that environmental issues are not treated in equivalence to political, economic, social or even religious issues.

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