The Use of Language in A Fable for Tomorrow by Rachel Carson

Rooks flying above the trees, soaring up and falling back down, a net cast into the air only to sink back to earth, and settle amongst the branches once more. Picking decomposing bats off of the ground while amidst giant icicles, some with dead flittermice trapped half-within. Virginia Woolf’s “The Death of the Moth” and Elizabeth Kolbert’s “The Sixth Extinction?” both present the common theme of the death of animals. Specifically, they share the use of the presentation of the death of animals, and vivid imagery to accompany it. There are many differences between the two essays, especially regarding matters such as voice, tone, and the intended audience, there is a larger similarity in how both essays approach their common subject with imagery. I suggest, that because of the overwhelming presence of imagery, despite differences in other rhetorical strategies, both Woolf and Kolbert’s essays show a deeper understanding of how to emotionally draw in readers, and that quality of excellence in writing and impact is what makes them more similar than different. In comparing them, this analysis will first establish that the differences previously mentioned do exist between each essay, and then continue on with an explanation of how imagery is used in each essay, and conclude with an further explanation of how a single common rhetorical strategy can outweigh many different ones, and how this similar feature works with each essay to achieve the goal of causing reflection within the

In addition to Carson’s dual-tone, she also describes many details using negative connotation and diction. While describing many of the details in the passage, Carson uses words like “eradicating,” and “kill” to describe the farmers and how they have negative effects on the environment. By using words like this, Carson controls the way the reader views the text. These words force the reader to see these events through Carson’s eyes and understand the horrors of the farmers’

In the first chapter of Silent Spring, Rachel Carson creates this mythical world overcome with disease and misfortune. “A strange blight crept over the area… some evil spell had settled on the community… everywhere a shadow of death”(Carson 2), this imagery she develops is reminiscent of the way Rudolfo Anaya describes the world around him. “Blight”, “evil spell”, and “shadow of death” all have that mythological and fairytale like feel to it. This allows her to actually bring the environment to life. Her word choice illustrated this by creating movement by saying things such as “crept over the area” or “settled on the community”. She then goes on to describe the horrid effects in which she calls it “a spring without a voice”(Carson 2) implying that they at the springs were alive, and they spoke. Carson’s meticulous word choice served to bring nature to life in an attempt to elicit an empathetic response within the reader as done in Bless Me,

Chapter one, titled A Fable for Tomorrow talks about a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings. The small town lay in the midst of a checkerboard of flourishing farms, with fields of grain and hillsides of orchards where, in spring, white clouds of bloom drifted above the green fields, and the she also talked about what happened

This makes the reader suppose or inference that one of the five senses are being used. Such as in this case the use of the words rippled the wind-tanned skin demonstrates the sense of sight. This quote also shows mood because this is what happened after the character asks her aunt what the word is for a goodbye which demonstrates her realization of what she is talkin about (death/ leaving earth). A second thing that shows one of the

In this case, suspense which is a mood can be implemented throughout an entire piece of literature and is an effective medium for creating interest in the reader. Carson creates suspense in her story by leaving many details out when she abruptly changes the tone or mood. In the beginning of the story, Carson describes a beautiful town that “seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings” (Carson). This depiction of a beautiful town, along with vivid details of the wonders in it creates a sense of tranquility and peacefulness in the reader’s mind. However, soon after Carson introduces this peaceful state of the story, she develops a new phase which is much more darker in its mood. The town that was once depicted to be beautiful was faded away when a “strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change” (Carson). This strange phenomenon that occurs to this town is then further elaborated by Carson, but the reason behind all these mishaps remains unknown. To the extent of her elaboration, Carson describes mishaps such as the disappearance of birds and other animals in the town. According to the

Edgar All Poe uses literary devices in order to create a pragmatically desolate mood in his short story The Fall of the House of Usher. Poe’s famed melodramatic writing style shines through with his use of idioms in this story; his masterfully described setting also helps to create a feeling of dread and isolation. The story begins with the description of a bleak house surrounded by an unkempt yard complete with rampant bushes, rotten trees, and a putrid tarn. The narrator of the story tells how the bleakness and wildness of the estate has inspired a sense of dread and isolation in him.

A major theme throughout this book is about how the acts of humans were changing the balance of nature. Carson makes it clear that the environment has a way of protecting itself without the aid of man, and when humans intervene they can create problems. For example, when there is an increase of one type of soil organism then it greatly disturbs the balance. Things like aldrin, DDD, and heptathlon will disrupt the normally ecologically balanced relationship between fungi and the roots of higher plants (Carson 38). Another huge disruption in the balance nature created was dealing with the elms and robins. To save the elms humans used DDT in attempt to kill the elm bark beetles who were the vectors for a fungus disease. However, detrimental effects rained down on many of the other organisms around the area. Namely, the robins suffered fatal consequences due the bioaccumulation of DDT (pg 61). The balance once again was disrupted at the hands of humans.

The main advice Charlie is going to take away from the book is to keep the presentation entertaining by engaging as many of the five senses as possible.

To begin, readers are discouraged by the sickness that has spread. In paragraph 3 it states, ”The farmers spoke of much illness among their families...doctors had become more and more puzzled by new kinds of sickness appearing among their patients.” This shows the reader that numerous people had already been impacted by this massive problem.

In paragraph one, it says that the place was really nice, but not much later the problem begins to appear. For example, it says that most of the plants had withered and died after saying how great the town was. It quickly gets to the problem, and it continues adding more problems. In the same paragraph [3] it adds that the animals were also affected by the DDT. It adds on saying that they either had bad illnesses

A golden light shines through the apartment windows. After drawing open the last curtain, Elowen rests on the window seat and places her breakfast on an unpacked cardboard box. She watches the aftermath of the morning storm cover the city below in a thick, shiny glaze. These are her favourite mornings, when her mother works an early shift. Something about waking up in a quiet house gives her a sense of peacefulness.

The Lorax describes how one man tells his story of woe, to a little boy, and how he nearly destroyed the environment. In the end, the man encourages the young boy to plant a seed that will sprout a tree and may even save the environment. Dr. Seuss uses many ecocriticism elements to make the audience aware of the given situation. In The Lorax, Seuss would often identify and describe the relationships between biotic and abiotic factors in the environment. For example, in The Lorax, machines produce toxins that affect the air, and eventually hurt the swomee-swans (fictional birds). This passage makes readers aware how their actions can affect an entire ecosystem. Eventually, the swomee-swans had to leave due to the land becoming inadequate for life. This passage influences the reader to become aware of how their actions can indirectly affect the environment. Additionally, the author addresses how food chains are affected by a problem. When the people started to chop down and destroy the tree, there was no more room for the animals to live, so they had to relocate. Majority of the population needs to realize that

Nowadays, environment issues have become as a big topic everywhere around the world. Did we ever imagine a fictitious town or planet around us? In 1900s, two famous writers gave bold imagine about how environment looked like twenty years ago. From our perspective that environment is better in old days so; however did anyone concern about environment twenty years ago? Let’s take look at two authors’ essays to discuss. The first essay is A Fable for Tomorrow, written by Rachel Carson (1907-1964), another one is “But a Watch in the Night”: A Scientific Fable, written by James C. Rettie (1904-1969).

As we go along day-to-day, the use of pesticides has dramatically increased. As the author, Rachel Carson conveys readers an educational message, how “a town suddenly turns dark and secluded.” Demolished by the vitality of their inhabitants. The effect of this was how the human race did not take note of the effortless actions done, that drastically demolished the environment. Carson utilized figurative language to engage readers, to describe the “nostalgic life, along with the wistful.” She employs rhetorical devices, which persuades readers regarding the positive and negative effects from a different perspective. As well as, Caron presents imagery that has caused readers to be immersed into a whole other world, to display the urgency of the uses of pesticides. Within Rachel Carson’s short excerpt, “A Fable for Tomorrow,” Carson has the capability of captivating readers and taking use of phrases, in which she executes in distinctive tactics.