Analyzing Paul Bogard's 'Let There Be Dark'

Paul Bogard is is an author who published "Let There Be Dark". In this text, he goes on to speak about the importance that darkness has in the world. Throughout many crowded, busy places in the world that keep lights on have an effect of damaging the darkness. The author's purpose for this piece of writing is to address the problems with having the lights on while it is dark out. The way he gets through with this purpose is by using figurative language and very sophisticated diction.

Seeing an increase in light pollution and a decrease in natural darkness, Paul Bogard in his essay “Let there be Darkness” uses logic to persuade the reader to preserve darkness. Opening the essay with a personal experience from the past, he convinces the reader of the danger of light pollution. The author uses statistics, pathos, and science to support his thesis.

Another point that Bogard brings to life is that “our bodies need darkness to produce the hormone melatonin, which keeps certain cancers from developing, and our bodies need darkness for sleep. Sleep disorders have been linked to diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression, and recent research suggests one main cause of “short sleep” is “long light.” By using information that touches on cancer and other disorders, Bogard creates a serious tone that concisely supports his beliefs on light pollution. With health correlation being used, there is a perspective of life or death that is seen if light pollution is not decreased. In spite of disagreeing ideologies, Bogard’s use of credible sources allows him to construct a powerful perspective that can be seen as fact rather than as bias.

In Holly Wren Spaulding’s essay, “In Defense of Darkness,” her main claim is that we have fallen away from darkness and immersed ourselves in a society of lightness. Furthermore, she claims this has lead humans to lose touch with basic human emotion as well as the sensual and spiritual experience true darkness has to offer. Spaulding makes this claim evident through exceptional use of personal testimony and copious appeals to value.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt works it’s suspenseful antics in a mystery filled book set in the 1980’s. Full of quirky characters and southern gothic tone, Berendt takes the reader through the community of Savannah, Georgia while portraying a life of illusion that surrounds the gossiping members. While there is intriguing description, which is portrayed in a strong narrative style, the excessive amount of characters takes away from this piece of literature.

In addition, his advice to all communities would be the limit on light. Meaning, that at a given time, areas turn off lights, thus contributing to the conservation of light. All can help when talking about the importance of natural light

In his newspaper article, “Let There Be Dark”, Paul Bogard tries to persuade his audience to stop light pollution by pointing out the negative effects light pollution is causing. He always tries to persuade them by using personal anecdotes to get on the light-hearted side of his audience. Bogard discusses the health issues that accompanies a lack of darkness to make his audience understand that the effects touch everyone and not just a certain group of people. By mentioning that our bodies need the hormone melatonin, and without this hormone our own bodies would soon begin to create a war with our health, he urges people to cut the use of too much light and embrace the darkness. This makes Bogard’s audience come to realization about the importance

In Paul Bogard's essay, Let There Be Dark, he discusses the decline of natural darkness, and it's effect on society and the world. One of the ways he tries to persuade the audience that natural darkness must be preserved is by using personal anecdotes to increase his ethos. He also does this by using statistical evidence, and by warning the readers of the dangers of decreasing natural darkness. In the end, he provides suggestions and possible solutions to the problem to help the audience realize that the situation is not hopeless. Bogard begins the essay with a personal account of himself at his family's cabin in Minnesota, where he experiences natural darkness.

Can you imagine surviving in a world where nighttime was just as it's viewed,”dark”. With no source of light other than the natural moonlight itself. Just imagine a montage as with every generation the productivity of light evolved, lighting up the night sky. But with more light source followed changes as well. The author of “let there be dark” persuades his audience that we are rapidly losing the night’s natural darkness before realizing its worth by using evidence, reasoning, and experiences.

With that, humans will tend to develop sleeping disorders that can lead to other health problems. Our bodies also need darkness in order to be able to produce melatonin. Without the production of melatonin, our bodies won't be able to fight certain cancers from developing. Nocturnal animals are the ones that will get severely impacted. For example, birds that migrate at night, sea turtles that come ashore to lay eggs,

In Derek Walcott’s From in a Green Night: A Far Cry from Africa, the author explains and dives into the topic of colonialism and self-reflection through his own experiences of being trapped between his Kenyan and British descent. Similar to Fanon’s concept of complicity, Walcott also understands both sides of the story in an unbiased manner. In his poem, he uses imagery to describe the violent past in which Kenyans and British people have committed to each other, the ‘savage’ nature of humans during colonization, and his own internal speech where he himself is confused of his cultural and social identity. This paper will explore the core concepts of Walcott’s writing and further explain it through Fanon’s lens to amplify the meaning of the poem.

The power of the poet is not only to convey an everyday scene into a literary portrait of words, but also to interweave this scene into an underlying theme. The only tool the poet has to wield is the word. Through a careful placement and selection of words, the poet can hopefully make his point clear, but not blatantly obvious. Common themes of poems are life, death, or the conflicting forces thereto. This theme could never possibly be overused because of the endless and limitless ways of portraying life or death through the use of different words.

“Good morning!” Ray said to his coworkers while walking into the office. “Morning Ray.” Many replied. Ray’s tall slender figure towered over his desk as he looked down on a ton of files. He grabbed his coffee, then got to work.

“The effective war film is often the one in which the action begins after the war, when there is nothing but ruins and desolation everywhere…”

Although, as a society, we discourage the process of not judging a book by its cover, we have all been guilty of doing it at some point. The first item we look at when we pick up a new book is the title and the cover as a whole. These are two key components when it comes to using our heuristics to decide if a book is worthwhile reading or not. With only two items to judge by, each has to hold significant importance in order to draw a reader into reading the novel. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad represents a mysterious title to draw readers into reading the novel, but hold a much more significant underlying meaning which represents many elements in the novel, while also symbolizing external concepts in the overall plot. The title represents many important elements such as the character of Mr. Kurtz and others, to the setting of Africa in the novel, and to the concept of the evil nature of imperialism outside of the novel. Through the title, Conrad has created significance for elements of the novel creating a very large impact on readers of the book.