...Silent Spring Analysis Silent Spring is a book that makes just about everyone think, except for the major chemical companies that it was attacking. This is definitely one book that help shaped how we look at the environment today and also how we approach it. Rachel Carson aimed for a book that was going to open peoples eyes to what really was happening and who and what was doing it. She nailed this right on the head, while the book was very technical when it came to talking about the details of DDT, it was written at a level that everyone could understand and relate too. Easily this could be one of the most important books written in American history, where would we be without it and how would our future have turned out. While this book was aimed for the public to be able to understand, it also directly attacked the companies who were manufacturing the chemicals that people were using, especially DDT. If one were to try to explain how DDT worked at the chemistry level, most people would think your insane, but Carson is able to explain the devastating effects of this chemical in a way that everyone can understand. She does this by explaining the process chemically first, but then switches gears into how it is hitting people at home. This starts in the first chapter where she begins with “There once was a town…”. This is the beginning of the account that shaped Americans way of looking at the environment, especially when it came to using chemicals and other harmful substances...
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...Silent Spring RA Renowned biologist and author Rachel Carson, in her book, Silent Spring, describes a harmonic and beautiful town which experiences a plague over time. Carson’s purpose is to warn the world that if we continue to abuse the environment, we could very well end up like this town. She uses imagery and tone to convey that this can be the outcome of our actions. Throughout the text, Carson’s tone shifts from reminiscent and joyful to dark and lifeless to show that the people had caused this plague by abusing nature. Her tone is lively as she describes this town as a beautiful and harmonic place where life is flourishing.“THERE WAS ONCE a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings.” Carson uses this joyful tone to convey the reader that this town truly was a place of beauty and life. As she concludes describing this beautiful town, her tone suddenly shifts. Her tone becomes dark and lifeless as she describes a “strange blight” that the town experienced. Carson explains how “Some evil spell had settled on the community… and there was a strange stillness.” She also explains how the people were confused as the plants, animals, and even some townspeople had died. Then, she explains how there was, “No witchcraft…. The people had done it themselves.” The people were confused as to why the town was withering away, however, they had abused the environment so much that they had caused this blight. This relates to...
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...An Effect On the Environment I believe “Silent Spring” is inspiring people just because how bad the problem is. In the story “Silent Spring it is explaining how pesticides can be very dangerous. Not only does pesticides kill it hurts the environment and nature. These chemicals are very deadly to everything in range of it killing lots of things off. Animals, plants, and humans as well. For example, it killed off the town in “Silent Spring.” In paragraph three it states “A strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change.” This shows how sudden and quick the town changed and illness spreading. Along the roadsides vegetation was withered. There was also a strange stillness, showing how there are no more birds chirping. Everything...
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...Hersheys bars. Cherrios. Coca cola drinks. All deadly delicious; every one of them loaded genetically manipulated ingredients that planted in a monocrop manner and sprayed with carcinogenic pesticides, causing a detrimental effect on the environment, biodiversity and the sustainability of all species--to the oblivion of many Americans. Biologist Rachel Carson reveals the consequences of similar poisons purging on the natural world in her book, Silent Spring, in which she uses a myriad of rhetorical strategies such as diction, syntax, and pathos in order to convey the gravity of Earth’s current situation to her readers. From the opening passage, Carson is quick to jump to the tone of the disgust when she immediately correlates the words...
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...Here on Earth many people are destroying our environment and that can cause dire situations. Our planet faces a potentially catastrophic crisis. As Rachel Carson explains in “Silent Spring,” we have been mistreating the Earth by carelessly using chemicals without knowing the possible repercussions. Her writing inspires us to take action before it is too late. To begin, animals can become extinct when we are not careful we can have many unwanted consequences. Carson states that when one chemical was used, it caused “no chicks to hatch.” The farmers complained that they were unable to raise any pigs the litters were too small and the young only survived for a few days. What she means is that the pesticides being used, stop the animals from growing. The farmers were both losing crops and animals just because of those pesticides. This should inspire us to take action because if certain animals become extinct, the entire ecosystem could fail. If the pesticides were never used these farmers wouldn;t be experiencing horrible things happening to their plants and animals....
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...Silent Spring: A Journey to a Radical New World Synopsis Silent Spring, written by Rachel Carson, describes the catastrophic effects of humanity’s interference with nature. The novel focuses on the overuse of pesticides and the toxic contamination it can cause. Carson highlights the damage done to wildlife, livestock, domestic animals, and humans; at both a visible and molecular level. She explains the futility of chemical methods in controlling insects and gives examples of effective biological alternatives. This book was instrumental in banning the insecticide DDT, as well as in raising public awareness of environmental needs. Agreement with the author I agree with the majority of the opinions that Carson expresses, and particularly...
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...Silent Spring was written by Rachel Carson. It was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company in 1962, containing 378 pages. It’s a nonfiction book about widespread pesticides use and its dangers on both wildlife and humans. This book contains a lot of evidence about these serious charges for these pesticides and is recommended for anyone who is interested in the environment and is ready to take heed. This book is mainly about DDT and how it has caused damage to the plants, insects, birds, agricultural and domestic animals, and even humans. There are many examples from where communities are effected from the use of pesticides. The author was trying to raise important questions about human’s impact on nature with chemicals....
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...Keith Lyman Professor Patrick Welsh AMH2020 – 218620 21 October 2016 Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring Book Review In the environmentally historical book Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, the horrific consequences of insecticide use on the environment and ecosystem are chronicled. Carson’s novel was originally published as a three-part journal article in the New Yorker in June followed by the publication of the book in September of 1962. The book is known for beginning the modern environmental movement, which eventually led to the banning of “the domestic production of DDT and the creation of a grass-roots movement demanding protection of the environment through state and federal regulations” (Carson/Lear 9). Carson used her widespread knowledge...
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...Biology I Silent Spring Book Review The four chapters of Silent Spring that I am reviewing are the first four of the book. I decided to do the first four because after reading this book, I thought that those chapters had the biggest impact of my views in the world’s pesticide problem. The first chapter of Silent Spring is a very powerful, fictional, yet possible fable of what can happen to the Earth, because of pesticide use. This chapter starts with describing a beautiful town in America. It describes the farms, the trees, and the wildlife that all live in harmony. Then the chapter begins to describe the plague that this town experiences. All of the wildlife and plants begin to die, and all the people in the town begin to get very ill. Eventually the town becomes silent and everything has withered and died. The most powerful part of this chapter is the fact that it could be true. The second chapter of this book describes the history of life. It talks about how living things affect its surroundings. I have always been taught that with every action there is a reaction. In this chapter, people use pesticides to get rid of the insects that are harming their crops. As they put it, the pesticides should really be called biocides, because they affect more than just the insects. The pesticides get into everything, including humans. Without knowing it we all become affected by the pesticides. The sad part is, is that even though pesticides are harmful to us and our...
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...OUTLINE: I. Introduction- II. WHY did Silent Spring make such an impact that, to some degree, it ushered in the 1960s? a. Paragraph I i. Topic Sentence: Before one can evaluate the enormous success or Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring one must weigh in on the era Carson was coming off of in order to understand why her book had such an impact at the time that it did. 1. By 1950 American had faced 2 World Wars and an economic Depression U.S. becomes super power 2. 1950’s there is a shift to consumerism and conservatism 3. Average Citizen wants nuclear family and suburbia b. Paragraph II ii. Topic Sentence: Now that the United States was finally economically sound and our international relations, while not at its best, were somewhat stable; American society was able to focus on issues that for so long had not had the time to address. 4. The Cold war and nuclear threat became a key role in the formation of the environmental movement 5. Humans now have power to significantly change the environment around them 6. Nuclear weapons also introduced other technologies that threatened nature such as pesticides and chemicals for agriculture iii. Concluding Sentence: These new threats along with the a shift to a more liberal U.S. mindset provided Rachel Carson and Silent Spring impeccable timing to make the largest impact and start a revolution that at any other...
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...University of Phoenix Material Environmental Movement Matrix Choose five items from the following list and identify their significance during the 1970s: • Cuyahoga River, OH (Cleveland) fire 1969 • Love Canal • Silent Spring • Population Bomb • Endangered Species Act (1966, 1969, & 1973) • Clean Water Act (1972, 1977) • Conservationism vs. environmentalism • Acid rain • Ozone layer • Rainforests • Depletion of fossil fuels • Climate change Event Significance Silent Spring The publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962 marked the beginning of modern environmentalism. Carson, known as the “godmother of modern environmentalism, impacted the American public’s consciousness with her detailed exposition on the dangers of environmental pollution to human health. By examining the ecological impacts of hazardous substances that pollute both the natural and human environments, like pesticides, Carson fundamentally altered the way Americans perceived the environment and the dangers of toxins to themselves. Conservationism vs. environmentalism By the 1870s, resource exploitation dominated development patterns in the West. Natural resources were devoured by destructive practices in mining, overgrazing, timber cutting, monocrop planting, and speculation in land and water rights. In 1902, for example, the Reclamation Act established the Reclamation Service, whose mission was to accomplish “the reclamation and settlement of the arid lands. The Reclamation...
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...* Provide a brief explanation of the cause and effects associated with this case. Rachel Carson had a history of interest with the chemical called DDT. She had tried to get DDT some attention unsuccessfully until her book came out in 1962. She had a friend who wrote her about the large bird kills on Cape Cod from the use of DDT. DDT around the late 40’s and 50’s was thought of a miracle pesticide and its use became very popular. Carson tried over a long period to get a magazine to support her in showing the negative side of DDT usage. But after a long time she had a lot of her own research and decided to go on with her own book. Her book “Silent Spring” showed how ddt entered the food chain and then we stored in the fatty tissues of animals and even humans which was the cause of cancer and genetic damages. Carson discovered that a single application of DDT to a crop would kill insects for months, and it would kill more than just the target insects. Even after being diluted by rain it would still remain toxic to the environment for a long period of time. Carsons book concluded that DDT, along with other pesticides had irrevocably harmed birds and other animals which had contaminated the worlds food supply. * Provide a brief explanation of biomonitoring and the steps involved in risk assessment. Relate these to the case study. Biomonitoring is a method for determining which chemicals get into members of the populations and what those concentrations are. It can be used to monitor...
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...Raj Shrestha Mrs.Naples HUSH Set:1 Environmentalism Fighting for the preservation, restoration, and improvement of the natural environment is what the environmentalist of the 1960s wanted to accomplish. They also had a main goal of the restoration between humans and their natural environment. This movement gained recognition through a publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson’s. Silent Spring is an environmental science book that documented the detrimental effects on the environment with the indiscriminate use of pesticides. Carson’s book opened the eyes of many because it showed the harmful toxins that were being released. This brought concerns to the American public about their safety and brought many to be concerned with their environment....
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...Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring gives a strong argument against the use of pesticides such as parathion. Silent Spring was aimed at people with similar ideas to her own, and her goal in writing this book was to inspire those people to rally together and take action against what she believed was unjust and cruel. Her book proved to be a successful motivator and transformed America’s views on the environment. One of the things that made Carson’s book so powerful was its almost apocalyptic tone. Her word choice was extreme at times, but not so much that it was ineffective. Her very first sentence from the passage talks about the “habit of killing” and how humans choose to “eradicate” creatures that annoy them. Already she establishes an extremely negative view on the use of pesticides...
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...The winter seemed boundless being that it was an exceptionally cold one. Endless weeks of temperatures well below zero degrees made time drag. It seemed like spring would never come…nevertheless June. My wife was offered one of those ‘can’t say no to’ deals in Houston Texas and after much deliberation and debating, we felt that the better thing to do would be for me to stay behind and get the kids through the rest of the school year. It wasn’t until that first cold drop of water desperately pulling itself away from the roof falls down the back of my neck that I knew time had passed and the spring had arrived. Temperatures finally gave way to the inevitability of spring life. I smiled and knew we would make it…it would be ok and soon enough the kids would see their mother and I my wife. The smell of damp pine needles and dark earth pierced my nose as I stood on the porch looking out at the streets in the evening. The spring rains carried on what seemed like endlessly and day and night blended into each other - the water dripping from the eaves and rain tapping at the windowpanes. I could hear that branch scratching at my house at night as the winds that accompanied the spring rain bent the old birch tree at whim. My time to leave was nearing and I filled with excitement and anxiety. The frantic packing began. I brought home copious amounts of boxes…large ones, medium ones, small, tall, wardrobe and television ones. I brought home dish packing kits and endless feet...
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