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Summary Of The Sixth Extinction An Unnatural History By Elizabeth Korbert

1100 Words5 Pages

In “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History” by Elizabeth Kolbert, the author uses metaphorical analogies and textual references from her case study in order to illuminate how extinctions and natural disasters are a metaphor for human behavior. The author uses extinctions as well as natural disasters to illustrate human nature in terms of its function and actions. A pattern of oblivion and lack of care in individuals is conveyed through the use of specific analogies as well as natural disaster examples from Kolbert’s exploration. The behavior of the natural environment is crucial in understanding how the world and individuals live and function. For instance, the author reflects on how,“moments of panic are disproportionately important” in life as they aid in a thorough …show more content…

Kolbert’s specific inferences from the natural environment emphasize the urgency of the environmental issues and our importance for recognizing these shifts in order to make a necessary positive change in the world. To begin, Kolbert emphasizes this through the analogies and references that are used. Throughout the text, Kolbert mentions many examples, those of which provide the reader with a more comprehensive view of life, and helps us understand its literary significance. Kolbert begins her essay with an analogy involving a psychological experiment that was conducted on individuals involving flipping through a deck of cards that gradually added some unfamiliar cards each round. The participants failed to notice these odd cards at first, and when they did it was when many of the odd cards were already in the deck. Psychologists found this experiment “paradigmatic.[as] it revealed how people process disruptive information” (Kolbert, 93). In mentioning this analogy, Kolbert provides the reader with a first look into how we are directly affected

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