Paul Bogard's Argument Analysis

Americans today are no strangers to stretching every dollar earned in an attempt to live the American dream. Most people work long hours and eat on the fly with very little thought to what, or where, the food they have purchased came from. The reason food is so inexpensive has not been a concern to the average American, but the article written by Michael Pollan “The Food Movement Rising” attempts to convince the people that it is time to remove the blinders and take an accounting of the situation that America finds itself in. With obesity at epic proportions, and preventable diseases like

Paul Bogard writes this passage in thought of explaining to the audience how much darkness is important. Bogard begins with personal experience "At my family's cabin on a Minnesota lake" to describe and compare what it was like back in the day. With figurative language, like idiom, he uses it to describe the night skies that "left smoky trails" and was "dark enough for the Milky Way". It can provide a connection to the audience, as some "...over 35 are perhaps... to have known truly dark nights."

President Lincoln proposed a lenient plan to bring the defeated Confederate states to join the Union, which was known as the Ten Percent Plan. He believed that being more lenient to Confederate states would convince them to surrender sooner, and would speed up the healing process, which he thought was needed for a solid reconstruction of the Union. The plan consisted of forgiving all Southerners, except the high-ranking officers and officials, who would pledge loyalty to the Union, and as soon as 10% of the state’s voters would pledge oath to the Union, the state could call a convention and as a result could form a government and apply for federal recognition.

In the beginning of Bogard's essay, he shares a short anecdote about his cabin at night. This hook lets the audience know that Bogard has been, and seen, the sky and the fact that it is slowly fading away. The anecdote also has a lot of imagery and affects the audience's emotions a little. It makes us feel worried, wanting to read more, hoping for a solution. Bogard’s essay was effective because of the amount of evidence, the reasoning to illustrate that evidence, and the imagery/ word choice.

Paragraph IV: In section three (paragraph four) Bogard uses powerful emotional language concerning other parts of the world and their species. Bogard helps you to visualize why land and sea animals need darkness. He emotionally draws us close to natural pest control by nocturnal animals and how they save “American” farmers billions of dollars. The destruction term “bulldozer of the night” mentally brings you outside and helps readers to understand, without darkness, Earth’s ecology would “collapse”.

Bogard uses multiple facts and comparisons to show the audience that light pollution has caused many issues ranging from health problems all the way to how light pollution affects the animal kingdom.

In his essay "Let There Be Dark," Paul Bogard argues for the preservation of natural darkness in the face of increasing light pollution. Bogard contends that the loss of natural darkness has detrimental effects on human health and ecosystems, and he advocates for measures to reduce artificial light at night. Bogard employs rhetorical devices such as evidence, ethos, pathos, imagery, and allusion to strengthen his persuasive argument. In Paul Bogard's essay "Let There Be Dark," he effectively builds his argument by using evidence, ethos, pathos, imagery, and allusion to persuade the reader that the preservation of natural darkness is essential for human health and ecological balance.

The tone of this essay can be described as serious and enlightening. Klinkenborg gives very real consequences of light pollution and based on how he words his essay he wants the reader to not take the situation lightly. Klinkenborg shows the magnitude and seriousness of the situation when he emphasizes, “In a very real sense, light pollution causes us to lose sight of our true place it the universe, to forget the scale of our being…” (Klinkenborg 219) It takes

The civil war did reduce sectional antagonist a huge amount but it also made the United states One Nation. The war was a test for the nation or in this case ANY nation for those dedicated to see if they could endure and a final resting place for those who died and for the nation to live. There was division between the north and the south which eventually brought upon the Brutal Civil War. In president Andrew John’s Amnesty proclamation, the Union forgave the confederate and made them swear on an oath to faithfully support, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States. “The union eventually showed that they had no “antagonist” against the south which made the United States One nation once again. The soldiers that risked their lives

He brings up the point about animals and how they are affected by darkness decreasing. Bogard states that the 400 species of birds that migrate at night in North America, the sea turtles that lay their eggs at night and the bats that prey on insects in the dark are all being affected by the increase of artificial light (Bogard). Another aspect that makes this essay strong is the author’s word choice. Throughout the article, the author uses language that is rich and vibrant, but can also be understood by most people. He uses words like awash, sugary spreads and irreplaceable, among many others. The audience is easily entertained by his word choice and the overall flow of his writing. This strengthens his argument and makes the reading enjoyable to whoever reads it. Also, Bogard organizes his paper in a way that is easy to understand and follow. He presents problems of light pollution throughout the article and then follows them up with possible solutions and examples of how the solutions can be achieved or are currently being achieved. He discussed the problem of light pollution increasing every year and explained how Paris turns off their monument lighting at 1 a.m., suggesting that countries and

Paul Bogard uses rhetoric devices, such as anecdotes and rhetorical questions, in order to connect with the readers and help them relate to his purpose. He starts his article by using an anecdote which is a story about his childhood in Minnesota lake, where he said, “I knew woods so dark that my hands disappeared before my eyes. I knew night skies in which meteors left smoky trails across sugary spreads of stars.” The anecdote here uses imagery and metaphors as discussed before, however, the analysing of this anecdote does not stop there. In this specific anecdote, the writer makes the readers question themselves if they remember a time where it was so dark, that they could not even see their own bodies. This anecdote’s purpose is to connect with readers on a personal level, in order for them to later understand the author’s purpose for this article, and later sympathise and agree with the author. Paul Bogard wants the readers to personally feel that they understand the “irreplaceable value of darkness,” as he says in his article. He also refers back to this anecdote in later parts of his article when he says “Even the northern lake where I was lucky to spend my summers has seen its darkness diminish.” This quote also conveys how the author wants people to sympathise with him and his

Since the dawn of mankind, clusters of innovations throughout history have allowed for societal progression at an explosive rate. While primarily fostering a centrifugal system of advancements; humans’ interests in expansion is spiraling out of control. Throughout history elements of collapse can be traced through civilizations and natural resources. Wright’s argument posits humans have hyperextended their utilization of resources at a rate that cannot be replenished, therein by setting up the world for the largest ecological collapse in history (Wright, 2004, pg. 130-131). Due to the cyclical process of past collapse and reformation humans have an advantage to rectify our current consumption rates ultimately avoiding a fate similar to past societies (Wright, 2004, pg. 131). As such Wright’s argument should frame larger discussions of responsible citizenship.

Bogard first starts by reminiscing about his personal backstory with darkness at it’s finest. “A summer spent on a Minnesota lake where there was woods so dark that [his] hands disappeared before [his] eyes.” After explaining this personal relation, Bogard the audience to concoct a time where they could truly be there true selves in the void of darkness. By bringing in readers with his own relationship with darkness, he tries to depict the potential

Throughout the adaption, Bogard appeals to pathos when he discusses his childhood relationship with the darkness. Bogard says that “at my family’s cabin on Minnesota lake, I knew woods so dark that my hands disappeared before my eyes. I knew night skies in which meteors left smoky trails across sugary

The article by Michael Binyon and the cartoon by Tom Toles make the claim that President Obama did not deserve to win a Nobel Peace Prize at the beginning of his presidency. Toles and Binyon share similar viewpoint, so they approach the subject in similar ways. Both of the speakers describe President Obama’s lack of accomplishments at the time he received the award. They both appear to pose strong arguments about this subject; however, the article by Michael Binyon seems to be stronger than the cartoon. Even though both provide effective arguments about the topic, “Comment: Absurd Decision on Obama Makes a Mockery of the Nobel Peace Prize” seems to pose the strongest argument because Michael Binyon was able to develop his claim and effectively impact his audience using background information, evoking strong emotions, and comparing President Obama to deserving winners of the past.