Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Rhetorical Analysis

“Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land” is written by Former President Jimmy Carter in his response about the Arctic National Wild Refuge being preserved and kept safe. Carter is most definitely able to backup his point about this subject by using different forms of rhetorical devices such as logos, ethos, and pathos.

Senator Everett Dirksen once noted “The oilcan is mightier than the sword”. In today’s world, it is easy to see why oil can be considered the most important resource to hold. Without oil, many of the common day occurrences we take for granted would be impossible. Oil is used for almost everything; from the fuel used to drive our vehicles, to the plastics used in every facet of life, and providing the heat needed to live through the winter. In fact, the United States depends so much on oil that as a nation it uses over 20 million barrels a day. Importing oil increases the total costs because of the need to transport it from around the world. It is estimated

Carter begins by presenting his personal experiences with the refuge, describing the beauty he saw while on a family vacation. The second and third sentence of the second paragraph describe the scenery vividly “During bright july days, we walked along ancient caribou trails and studied the brilliant mosaic of wildflowers mosses and lichens that hugged the tundra. There was a timeless quality about this great land.” He also expresses the vast number of wildlife that was within this sanctuary, by describing the migration of caribou, noting “we had hoped to see caribou during our trip… witnessed

Jimmy Carter expresses his discontent with the destruction of “America’s last truly great wilderness” by mentioning the most important factor that will be affected, the wildlife. He tries to pull his audience’s heartstrings by mentioning his own personal experience with his wife,Rosalynn,

Jimmy Carter uses many techniques to persuade the reader that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should not be developed for industry. He uses specific word choices to catch the reader's attention. He uses evidence to show how his his argument is valid. Carter also uses emotional attachment to get the reader to become attached to this article.

In an attempt to preserve the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, former president Jimmy Carter hopes to encourage the American people to share his desire to protect the refuge . Carter planned to persuade the people by using mechanisms such as imagery, diction, and the appeal to the people's emotions.By doing so, his tone is defensive, and concerned, which provides the readers with how he truly feels about abusing the refuge for industrial purposes only.

While this article addresses various topics and discusses potential solutions, the foundation of these statements lie in the interest of elk and a passion for hunting, thereby exemplifying this organization's immense bias. Furthermore, these article makes no note of the organization authority or credibility, nor do they attempt to provide any validity, thus making this article strictly a statement of opinion.

With environmental issues such as global warming, pollution, and natural resource depletion, it is indisputable that preserving the wilderness is essential for a sustainable future. While the effects are becoming more prominent today, the concern for maintaining a balance with nature has been around in the United States for over a century. In defense of preservation, one individual shares his perspective in his book, Desert Solitaire, of the crucial need for undisturbed wilderness and how the exploitation of it must be contained. Edward Abbey’s method to convey his message can be crude, unfiltered, and raw. Regardless, he argues “there is a way of being wrong which is also sometimes necessarily right” to justify his approach (xii). Although Abbey’s point of view is sometimes “violently prejudiced [and] unconstructive,” his message is passionate and thoughtfully presented in a manner that invites

Such a broad spectrum of diverse habitats occurring within a single protected unit is unparalleled in North America, and perhaps in the entire circumpolar north.” (Arctic Refuge: Oil and Gas Issues). The refuge is a delicate treasure there are few like it in the world and its existence is threatened. The ecological makeup is one of a kind. The refuge contains five different ecological regions, which are home to 45 species of land and marine mammal ranging in size form a pygmy shrew to a bowhead whale. The refuge is also well known for polar, grizzly and black bear, wolf, wolverine, dall sheep, moose, muskox, and caribou. It is also home to 36 species of fish and 180 bird species (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

Twenty years later, he signed an act that made the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, doubled the size of the former range, and restricted development in areas that are clearly not fund with oil exploration.

A problem that needs to be addressed is America’s ongoing political controversies since 1977 is the question of whether or not to drill for oil. Clearly, It seems that the situation is much more worrisome than most people would expect. The main and obvious argument against is the environmental impact that drilling in a fragile environment like the Arctic and how big of an impact an oil spill will be. Other impacts include conflict between countries and also key players and how they affect the potential drilling for oil. Decision It takes the focus off the real cause of the oil shortage the worlds excessive consumption.The drilling may not yield much of anything.It could take years or decades before any significant amount of oil is ready for use.The reserve can be saved as a last resort decades from now when we’ve exhausted other supplies. Critics argue that we shouldn’t drill in ANWR { Arctic National wildlife refuge) because it will take 10 years for the oil produced to become available. America’s struggling economy, dismal job growth, growing national debt, and increasing reliance on hostile countries for energy make this moment the ideal time to harness our abundant energy resources in ANWR. Even some temporary good effects, they will be more than offset by bad effects, some of which could be very bad indeed. We may be reaching the limits of a finite world. If our only problem was high oil prices, then low oil prices would seem to be a solution. Unfortunately, the problem

In summary, Carter- using personal anecdote, statistics/data, and word choice- effectively makes the case that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should not be developed for industry. It’s his use of persuasive elements that not only inform the reader of the problem but also spur the reader into action.

Mauri Pelto, a glaciologist, studied a glacier on Mount Baker, in Washington State. The glaciers are melting, as the planet becomes warmer. “At the rate it is losing mass, it won’t make it 50 years,” said Pelto. Glaciers from Mount Baker and the North Cascades are getting smaller. Over the past thirty years, seven glaciers have melted. An estimate was made that the 116 glaciers that they studied in Alaska have lost a total of 75 billion metric tons of ice. There were 150 glaciers in Glacier National Park in 1850. Now, there are only 25."They are losing volume at a faster rate than ever before," Pelto said. "If you cannot sustain a glacier at a place like this in the Lower 48 states, there is no hope."

With all the good the Arctic National Wildlife refuge has to offer as a safe haven for endangered animals and plant life, comes the burden of sitting on an oil reserve. As noted earlier in 1980, under President Carter, the protected area was doubled. However, the oil industry lobbies succeeded in having the U.S. Senate refuse to designate the critically important Costal Plain as wilderness. Instead, Section 1002 of the Alaskan National Interest Lands Conservation Act legislation directed the Department of Interior

First, President Carter uses an anecdote to strengthen his claim that the Wildlife Refuge is "wild and free." With vivid description, he recounts an experience that he had while visiting the Refuge. He describes a particular occurrance, when he witnessed caribou migrating