preview

Light Pollution In Paul Bogard's Let There Be Dark

Decent Essays
Open Document

Light pollution is becoming a problem throughout the world, and certain people have decided to rise against it. In the article “Let There Be Dark”, Paul Bogard outlines both the benefits of preserving natural darkness and the problems with light pollution. He constructs an argument to persuade the audience that light pollution needs to be lessened. Paul Bogard builds his argument for the preservation of natural darkness by using a personal narrative, citing facts, and appealing to the reader’s emotion.

Bogard, on multiple occasions, tells stories about his own personal life, showing off his firsthand experience with the benefits of darkness. He begins the article by discussing his childhood; he explains that he used to spend time at a lake, growing familiar with “night skies in which meteors left smoky trails across sugary spreads of stars” (1). His imagery and discussion of his past experiences makes the reader envision a sky such as the one he described, possibly leading the reader to want the same experience. He also makes a connection to the aforementioned lake, mentioning that “even the northern lake where I …show more content…

He begins outlining the health risks of being around too much light, stating, “Our bodies need darkness to produce the hormone melatonin, which keeps certain cancers from developing, and our bodies need darkness for sleep” (3). Using factual evidence as to why human bodies need darkness scares the reader because they likely do not want the health detriment that light pollution causes. He also lists a few animals that depend on light, such as “the 400 species of birds that migrate at night in North America” (4). By mentioning that animals need darkness, he shows through facts the reader that light pollution is harmful not only to humans but to the world around them. He then begins appealing to the reader’s emotions once

Get Access