An Analysis Of Weisman 's The World Without Us

The boundaries between maintenance and the expansion of humanity should be known clearly by everyone, because nature is so unpredictable yet fragile that we should not be continuing to develop and expand blindly. One individual who shares such sentiment is Michael Pollan, in his book “The Idea of a Garden” he talked about a massive tornado which devastated a familiar forest of pines in New England. In the aftermath of this natural disaster, there was a debate about how they were going to clean up such a mess. Two solutions were provided, the first was to let nature as it is and not bother to replace anything that was lost. The second solution was make a huge overhaul, and cut down everything in the forest in order to plant new trees, as a result their descendants can enjoy the radiance that once was. The common theme was that

As human beings we’re all affluent to live on this fascinating place called earth. We live everyday normally just as every other human, animal or insect. But we eradicate insects and animals as if they aren’t as important as we are. Nature is being inherently demolished by humans who are oblivious to know that all living things on the earth have a purpose . However, Annie Dillard, well-known for her ambiguous nonfiction books help support the importance of nature and why we shouldn't intrude upon it. For example, Dillard’s excerpt from “The Fixed” about a Polyphemus Moth uses countless rhetorical strategies to construct a compelling message about the peace and beauty of nature, but it also illustrates how easily mankind can destroy it. Therefore, a part of nature is to be naturally

“The End of Nature,” by Bill McKibben is a startling book of non-fiction depicting the future in store for the environment and humans. His somber yet hopeful approach allows readers to sense the real intensity of this situation of mass environmental changes whilst remaining expectant of the advancements in the

Throughout history, humans have had a strong reliance on nature and their environment. As far back as historians can look, people have depended on elements of nature for their survival. In the past few decades, the increased advancement of technology has led to an unfortunate division between humans and nature, and this lack of respect is becoming a flaw in current day society. In Last Child in the Woods, Louv criticizes modern culture by arguing that humans increasing reliance on technology has led to their decreasing connection with nature through the use of relevant anecdotes, rhetorical questions and powerful imagery to appeal to ethos.

Nowadays, society is full of abundant materialistic stuffs, which makes human to be isolated to each other and even the nature. A writer, Richard Loux, established a book Last Child in the Woods in 2008 to argue about the separation between people and nature to all people, especially parents who have children. Loux adopted a persuasive tone throughout the passage to reach his purpose---make comparison between movie on the television and the “drive-by movie” out the car window in order to emphasize the importance of nature---by employing rhetorical questions nd some short sentences.

Since the beginning of time, mankind has depended on nature for survival. Although, throughout the years society has learned to manipulate nature for their own selfish advantages. In the passage written by Richard Louv, he utilizes rhetorical questions, repetition, and a tone of nostalgia to stress that sad truth about the separation of mankind and nature.

Many people today rely on technology like it is indispensable. The pathetic desire for electronics has consumed how people think and how people live. Richard Louv writes to his generation of the increasing disconnection of humans from nature in his book, Last Child in the Woods. Louv takes a stand against the separation by including personal anecdote, rhetorical questions, and visual imagery.

In this passage, he begins to bring about his idea that businesses are turning the focus off of nature and onto ads, which result in money. He has a tone of passion by subtly condemning the people who “use nature as ad space (lines 14-15).” He uses forceful syntax including “stamp their messages (lines 9-10)” and “simulating nature (line 14).” He later on asks two great rhetorical questions with a tone of confusion toward the parents who say they do not want their children to watch so much TV, yet they provide many opportunities for the children to watch TV.

In “Last Child in the Woods” the author Richard Louv argues how americans are being separated from nature and why we should stay more involved in nature. He uses several rhetorical strategies to prove his point using imagery and rhetorical questions to convey his message.

Val Plumwood in her essay “Paths Beyond Human-Centeredness,” illustrates the impact that humans have on nature and non-animals when it comes to preserving environments. Understanding that nature has it’s living properties that let it thrive among its resources allows for people to grasp the complexities that come about when construction companies destroy the environment in which they work. Plumwood uses the term dualism to refer to the sharp distinction between two classes of individuals. There is the high class, which is considered as the “One.” In contrast, the other side of the division consists of individuals that are classified as lower and are subordinates to the “One” as “Others.” This account on dualism allows the reader to understand how humans can significantly alter the environment because of the way they perceive its resources and inhabitants. Plumwood defines five characteristics that illustrate the oppressive actions that change the connection between human relations and the relationship between humans and nature.

First, Weisman expounds to the reader how homes would be unrecognizable in a matter of time. He touches up on the fact how the old structures of buildings and houses would last longer than some of the modern structures. No matter how

As the story develops, it’s easily noticed how nature in this period of time is pure and beginning to change due to mankind. As an illustration, how the story explains “Home lay some three miles distant, across a copse, a meadow, and a piece of woods,--the woods being a fringe on the skirts of the great forests that stretch far away into the North”(1). This leaving very clear that where nature ran freely and owned all territory humans came and constructed homes using nature itself. Notably including, “That home was one of a dozen log-houses lying a few furlongs apart from each other, with their half-cleared demesnes separating them at the rear from a wilderness untrodden save by stealthy native or deadly panther tribes”(1). Which is the most compelling evidence on how humans came and disrupted nature’s world.

In Merchant’s work, it was stated by Bacon that “nature itself” could be perceived as a machine that could be repaired and reconstructed from outside by a human mechanic,” (Merchant, 736). This mentality has positive aspects in that it led humans to the idea of repairing nature; however, it is faulty in that it neglects the ideas of environmental determinism. Thomas Malthus, an English scholar, defined environmental determinism as the idea that there are environmental limits of humans power, agency, and free will due to specific environmental factors (Malthus, 196). This idea of environmental determinism can be seen in Theodore Steinberg’s Do-It-Yourself Deathscape: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in South Florida, where the idea of environmental determinism is not understood or taken into account by those soliciting construction. In Florida, there is a human-made beach, Miami Beach, that experiences severe weather due to its geographic location. Buildings are crafted to “withstand winds of up to 120 miles per hour,” and people no longer fear the weather because they have ‘built up and immunity to it,’ (Steinberg, 419). Although the weather persists, and many continue to die in response to it, more measures like building protocols become increasingly stricter as the weather becomes progressively more severe over

“Human houses should not be like boxes, blazing in the sun, nor should we outrage the Machine by trying to make dwelling places too complementary to Machinery. Any building for humane purposes should be an elemental, sympathetic feature of the ground, complementary to its nature-environment, belonging by kinship to the terrain.”

Nature is merely our instrument of conquering one another. By manipulating what already exists, we create everything from nuclear warheads to high speed internet. The continuous competition between men feeds off of our technological advancement—none of which would be possible without the resources Nature provides for us. And rather than being grateful for the unequivicable power so generously offered us by our environment, we instead mock its existence. We distract from the cunningness and cruelty of our efforts toward mankind by relabeling our target ‘Nature’ rather than ‘each other’. By convincing ourselves we are somehow beginning to have Nature within our control and understanding, we forget that Nature is really only the means, not the end of our conquest. We will not be satisfied until we have defeated ourselves. As Lewis puts it, “Human nature will be the last part of Nature to surrender to Man. The battle will then be won… But who, precisely, will have won it?” (The Abolition of Man, 421)