Table of Contents Carson's Writing Style and Strategies in "Silent Spring" The Use of Language and Tone to Convey the Message to Readers Works Cited En September 1962, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson was published directly to alert the public to the harmfulness of chemical pesticides. These pesticides include DDT, dieldrin, chlordane and many others, which were used by aerial spraying to control insect populations on a very large scale. She goes on to say that they should not be called "insecticides", but "biocides", because they kill many living things, both good and bad. Silent Spring is an expose because it calls on businesses and many others to issue a call to action. Carson was a marine biologist and, at the time, this position was very low esteemed in the nuclear age, she did not live up to the image of an ordinary woman. Having no affiliation with major institutions, she did not have a very big voice to make herself heard. Silent Spring gave birth to a huge global environmental movement that is still happening today, over 55 years ago. Carson uses many rhetorical strategies throughout Silent Spring, such as audience, style, language, tone, message, etc. The following rhetorical analysis will examine Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and her use of rhetorical strategies and conventions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Rachel Carson's audience in Silent Spring is the American people, not just the government and scientists. It was to reach every American and inform them of the harmful effects that pesticides could have on the environment. She brings a very strong investigation throughout the first half of the writing, but is not afraid to get to the heart of the matter with the question "What has already silenced the voices of spring in countless cities across America? » (Carson 3). Carson then uses examples for simple people, unlike scientists, to understand what these harmful chemicals were doing to them and the environment in which they live. She also lets people know that what they are told is not always true: “We are told that the massive and increasing use of pesticides is necessary to maintain agricultural production. However, isn't our real problem that of overproduction? » (Carson 9). She later says that "man" risked his own future simply to control certain parasites: "How could intelligent beings seek to control a few undesirable species by a method that contaminated the entire environment and brought the threat of disease and death even in their own place? kind? Yet that is precisely what we did. » (Carson 8). Carson isn't afraid to forge ahead and get straight to the facts and hard-hitting questions. Carson's Writing Style and Strategies in "Silent Spring" Silent Spring's writing style is informative and challenging, yet easy for the general audience. . It begins as a sort of story with a zoom in on this city that doesn't actually exist. She leaves all her quotes for later in the book so the reader isn't distracted. During the period after the book, she was really stuck between a rock and a hard place because she had been ridiculed for her work, so imagine if she didn't have scientific facts and quotes in Silent Spring. Overall, his writings brought much attention to the harmful effects of chemical pesticides and started a movement. THESilent Spring conventions mean how it's done, Carson states what's happening and then backs it up with facts. And among those facts, it includes known real-life events, like how our lakes, soils, and more are contaminated. She states that “every human being is now subject to contact with dangerous chemicals, from conception until death.” In less than 20 years, pesticides have been so dispersed that they are now widespread throughout the world. “Residues of these chemicals persist in the soil to which they may have been applied a dozen years ago. They have entered and lodged themselves in the bodies of fish, birds, reptiles, and domestic and wild animals so universally that scientists who perform experiments on animals find it almost impossible to locate subjects free from such contamination. They have been found in fish from isolated mountain lakes, in earthworms burrowing in the soil, in bird eggs and in man himself. » Now, if that doesn't persuade you to believe that pesticides have harmful effects, then I don't think so. I don't know what will do it. Carson really does a great job of making you feel emotions while reading Silent Spring. The use of language and tone to convey the message to readers The formation of Silent Spring is divided into two different parts through chapters 1-9, Carson. informs you about what is happening in the world of pesticides and what they do to humans and the environment around them. From chapter 10 until the end, Carson argues that we should think of easier and healthier ways to control insects than just using chemical pesticides like pesticide application. against pests to get rid of other insects, crop rotation, etc. She says aerial pesticide spraying has become commonplace and no one really knows what it involves. She then uses Dr. Edward Knipling as an example and her own. biological solution techniques as a safer way of insect control. One of his techniques was "insect sterilization", where "sterilized males competed with normal wild males so successfully that, after repeated releases, only sterile eggs would be produced and the population would die out." Carson really wants you to bring all the information together into one and call for action. Carson uses two different types of language in Silent Spring, one being formal diction and the other being informal diction. Formal diction means she is very knowledgeable about her research and may require a little more explanation to the average reader. The informal diction means that it is very understandable to the average reader. Some examples of formal diction would be when Carson uses hydrogen atoms and carbon atoms and uses visual imagery, this is very scientific diction that the average reader would not get. Rachel Carson's tones in Silent Spring are scientific and angry. Her scientific tone gave off a vibe where you could tell she had done her research and was letting the information do the work. She keeps her anger in check throughout the writing, but you can tell she is angry about the consequences of harmful pesticides on humans and the environment. For example, she used an entire chapter to talk about different types of pesticides and their effects. “In Florida, two children found an empty bag and used it to repair a swing. Soon after, they both died and three of their playmates fell.