Pest Control In Silent Spring

The following involves the second chapter of Carson’s book, Silent Spring that was written in 1962. In this chapter Carson argues persuasively the adverse impacts of pesticides upon the environment and the risks on human health and the environment associated with these “genetic invaders” (Carson, 1962). Many of the extremely diverse people from Carson’s audience targeted were under the impression that chemicals like DDT, at that time in history, were safe for their health. Carson reconciles and attempts to persuade the public to consider the idea that DDT, which in the 1950s and 60s was one of the many chemical pesticides being manufactured and sold to

Rachel Carson is considered one of America's finest science and nature writers. She is best known for her 1962 book, Silent Spring, which is often credited with beginning the environmental movement in the United States. The book focussed on the uncontrolled and often indiscriminate use of pesticides, especially dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (commonly known as DDT), and the irreparable environmental damage caused by these chemicals. The public outcry Carson generated by the book motivated the U.S. Senate to form a committee to

In the mid-20th century, farmers used a toxic insecticide named parathion in an attempt to control pests detrimental to their crops. Rachel Carson was a biologist who wrote pamphlets (Lear) on conservation and natural resources designed to inform people on the beauty of the living world. In an excerpt from her 1962 work Silent Spring, Carson calls upon the public to take action against the use of parathion by highlighting its catastrophic nature and vilifying the agricultural community for their negligence.

Rachel Carson is a noted biologist who studies biology, a branch of science addressing living organisms, yet she has written a book called Silent Spring to speak about the harmful effects of pesticides on nature. Carson doesn’t write about birds’ genetic and physical makeup, the role of them in the animal food chain, or even how to identify their unbelievable bird songs, yet strongly attests the fight for a well developed environment containing birds, humans, and insects is just and necessary. To Carson, the war for a natural environment is instantly essential for holding on to her true love for the study of biology. Thus Carson claims that whether it be a direct hit towards birds or an indirect hit towards humans and wildlife, farmers need to understand the effects and abandon the usage of pesticides in order to save the environment by appealing to officials, farmers, and Americans in her 1962 book, Silent Spring. She positions her defense by using rhetorical devices such as rhetorical questioning to establish logos, juxtaposing ideas, and using connotative and denotative diction.

Having already established the harm to man, Rachel Carson now shifts to the effect the spraying has on birds, saying “So they sent in the planes on their mission of death-the casualty list included.(22-24). The reference to spraying as a mission of death lends it the connotation of being mass killing, in other words, genocide. The reference to the amount of dead as a large casualty list illustrate such sprayings as an act of war, of which the blackbirds were the innocent victims of. In addition, neat the end of the passage, another question is asked to the reader, demanding “Who has decided-who has the right to decide-”(56-57). The use of the word right appeals to the intended audiences sense of justice and belief in distribution of power and decision making. By asking this question, the decision to spray pesticides is seen as one made without the consent of all involved, and thus in need of changing. Both these descriptions and questions serve to provide an appeal to pathos for the

Poisons such as parathion are known as universal killers, which kills thousands of wildlife each year. In the book, Silent Spring, written by a noted biologist Rachel Carson, she argues that deadly poisons, that are meant to kill annoying creatures, are a hazard to the humans, domestic animals, as well as wildlife. She also argues that farmers are ignorant to the radiating damage of the poisons like parathion, which can cause long-term effects on both humans and the environment. She argues that through the use of dark and war-like diction, characterization, as well as rhetorical questions.

In the book Silent Spring, Rachel Carson’s main concern is the widespread use of synthetic pesticides and their impact on the environment. Carson concentrates on a commonly used pesticide in the 1950s called DDT. She opposes the indiscriminate spraying of DDT because it has profound consequences on the environment, humans and animals. Carson collected information about how the DDT can cause cancer in humans, harm animals such as birds and remained in the environment for long periods of time. Subsequently, the chemicals in the pesticides are extremely harmful so she tries to raise awareness and convince others that there are better alternatives.

In 17 chapters, many of which can stand alone as essays, Carson develops a deceptively simple premise: the use and overuse of synthetic chemicals to control insect pests introduces these chemicals into the air, water, and soil and into the food chain where they poison animals and humans, and disrupt the many intricate

In the book 'Silent spring ' written by Rachael Carson we find a picture of Carson 's deep concept about the connection between nature’s equilibrium and the web of life that has been ruined by the uncontrolled use of insecticides which in turn affected the healthy livelihood of this earth’s creatures. Furthermore, she tells the readers of substitute techniques of achieving the same ends. The title of the book is enough to make us understand that it was a hint of a spring season with no bird songs painting our atmosphere meaning that all birds had vanished due to misuse of pesticides.

In biologist Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring (1962), she suggests that Americans should stop using parathion and other harmful chemical agents. Carson uses cause and effect, a metaphor, and connotative diction to assert her point. She writes to a general audience in a passionate tone. Carson describes the unnecessary cruelty of American farmers to innocent animals and people in order to change Americans’ attitude toward the environment.

In fact, Carson outlines her evidence and claims for the global environment and the whole of humanity. In addition to this, it is worthy to mention that, Carson was directing her message to policymakers because they had the power to ban the manufacture of the pesticides and insecticides. Furthermore, Carson’s messages were directed at certain companies and the manufacturers of pesticides such as DDT. The catalyst of this message stemmed from the widespread use of insecticides both at home and in offices. As it seemed, there was a widespread rate of ignorance and misinformation across the public on the harmful effects of these pesticides.

How are humans leaving a footprint on the environment? Carson’s descriptions regarding the impact of pesticides on many species in her text “Silent Spring”, discourage readers to take action because the problem seems too big. There are several reasons that deter readers from trying to mend the situation.

Though Rachel Carson was not the first to bring up such issues of insecticides - beekeepers and ornithologists had already been filing insecticide related lawsuits in the 1950s - , she was the first to bring it to the attention of the general population, which in my opinion is one of the most important steps an environmentalist can take. It would be unreasonable for Carson to believe that she could singlehandedly stop the use of insecticides and automatically make the world a safe and poison free place, but by bringing such issues to the public eye, she was able to ignite something within the people which would then spread from person to person, state to state, and eventually to government officials who have the power to permanently make a change. Furthermore, though this may not have been her intention, the effects that Silent Spring had on our world and society as a whole expands exponentially farther than the single subject of insecticides. In the book’s introduction, Al Gore eloquently notes that Carson, “brought us back to a fundamental idea lost to an amazing degree in modern civilization : the interconnection of human beings and the natural environment.” And, today, though our world still faces many environmental issues and there are still many who do not believe in the importance or even existence of such issues, the use of such insecticides discussed in

According to the article on npr.org, Rachel Carson wrote a book by the name of “Silent Spring” where she received multiple attacks by the chemical and agricultural industry. After World War II, the government needed to eradicate insects and other types of pest by fumigating with pesticides farms and houses. In the book, Carson explained the consequences to the environment and human health by using these pesticides. For this reason, she described as a hysterical person who was unqualified as a scientist and if people would follow her book, the world would go back were insects and diseases were dominating the Earth. Rachel was misguided because her intention with the book was not to stop using pesticides but from

DDT is a highly effective insecticide kills mosquito, louse and other crop pests. Thus, it was widely used in the United States, Western Europe and some Asian countries to promote the prosperity of agriculture and to control epidemic typhus, malaria and other insect-borne infectious diseases during the World War II. DDT reached its peak demand in 1950s and 1980s, when more than 40,000 tons DDT were used worldwide each year. Although some scientists had concern about the extensive use of the pesticide, public kept ignoring DDT’s harm until 1962, when Rachel Carson published Silent Spring – a book that pointed out occurrence of toxicological problems and emphasized insecticides, including DDT, were chief culprits of the problems (Carson, 1962).