preview

Persuasive Speech On Killing By Poisons

Decent Essays

Carson initiates a major environmental call to action to address the ongoing problem of farmers harming birds. She persuades her audience of Americans in the 1960’s to stand along side her to ban the use of deadly poisons that harm living creatures. Carson does so through her use of negative diction, imagery and an ethical appeal. Carson wastes no time in characterizing farmers as murderers who target birds. When drawing attention to the fact that the “habit of killing grows” and farmers have adapted to “killing by poison,” she exposes the harsh practices of farmers. Carson also forces her readers to understand that these pesticides are really weapons, using phrasing such as “chains of poisoning” and “target of poisons.” Carson also adds that these poisons are “deadly” and trigger a “wave of death,” an example being in 1959 when farmers caused the death of “some 65,000 red-winged blackbirds and starlings.” She is disgusted by these recurrences and sends a strong message to her audience that this must be stopped. Carson deliberately adds that these farmers act as if they are on a “mission of death” just waging a “needless war on blackbirds.” How outlandish, Carson reveals, is it for these grown men to act as if this is a balanced battle. Their actions are especially horrible because they took to killing with poison when “the problem could have been solved easily” with some agricultural changes. Carson characterizes farmers as murders to reveal that they are horrible for

Get Access