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SILENT SPRING - Reaction Paper

The document summarizes Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring" which warns about the dangers of unchecked pesticide use, specifically DDT, and its impacts on the environment and human health. Carson describes how pesticides can have harmful effects on soil, water, plants and animal life. She advocates for further research into pesticides' long term consequences before widespread use and calls on citizens to speak out against practices that could damage the environment. The book aims to demonstrate the interconnectedness of all living things and warn that destroying one species can impact many others, including humans.

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Kenneth Lucena
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2K views

SILENT SPRING - Reaction Paper

The document summarizes Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring" which warns about the dangers of unchecked pesticide use, specifically DDT, and its impacts on the environment and human health. Carson describes how pesticides can have harmful effects on soil, water, plants and animal life. She advocates for further research into pesticides' long term consequences before widespread use and calls on citizens to speak out against practices that could damage the environment. The book aims to demonstrate the interconnectedness of all living things and warn that destroying one species can impact many others, including humans.

Uploaded by

Kenneth Lucena
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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REACTION PAPER

Kenneth M. Lucena 2 BSA-I

The deterioration of the environment is a primary result of society's lack of concern for it.

If the current trend of not safeguarding the environment continues, its annihilation will be

unavoidable. In her book Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, a well-known environmentalist with a

passion for environmental conservation, warns society about the hazardous spread of a toxin,

parathion. Carson ultimately opposes the usage of parathion and encourages others to speak

out against it by describing the deadly dangers it poses, condemning human indifference, and

emphasizing the need of individuals speaking up.

Rachel cautions against the uncontrolled use of a number of pesticides, focusing on

DDT in particular (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane). During the 1950s, DDT was regarded as a

miracle chemical. The chemical showed a lot of promise in terms of combating illnesses and

pests that harm crops. People began to doubt the safety of DDT after the publication of this

book. A large portion of the populace was unaware of the dangers that DDT presented. The

consequences of DDT on all living creatures and the environment are described by Carson. She

draws on her own research as well as research gaps. She advises against applying pesticides

before fully comprehending their immediate and long-term consequences.

Carson creates a clever tale to demonstrate that her pesticide assertion is not only

based on science, but also on moral grounds. Raising the topic and asking a question, as she

does in her writing, helps to establish a logical flow of ideas and argument direction. Carson

supports her point of view and explains the purpose of her work using a number of examples.

The example of human fatalities from pesticides shows how she makes her thesis by utilizing
instances that logically illustrate the harmful consequences of pesticides without expressing

directly how they kill by discussing operative processes and complicated chemistry.

She illustrates how the different aspects of nature all depend on each other and shows

how the synthetic chemicals introduced to the ecosystem have harmful effects. Carson argues

that targeting a single species for the eradication has impacts on different other parts of their

environment. She reveals that humans are also not immune. Carson gives the different effects

that pesticides have on soil, water, plants, and also animal life. The inevitable result is

destruction and death.

Anyone who has read Carson's work knows that she is a master storyteller. The novel

Silent Spring talks on the significance of the environment and how living without it may be

terrible. We should embrace industrialisation as vital for growth as it is, but we must also

prioritize the environment, since industry is impossible without the environment. If it is

impossible to avoid using certain chemicals, we should be extra cautious when using them

because all living things, including humans, are interdependent and harming one species may

put the others in jeopardy. The few people who oppose Carson's work have prioritized farmers

and other pesticide business allies.

She goes on to describe a "silent spring" in which there are no birds chirping. She

discusses how various substances interact with live cells. According to Carson, the evidence

offers a glimpse into the longer-term, more harmful impacts on the wider ecology. She

demonstrates that people cannot continue to put destructive constraints on nature and expect

humankind to be immune to the consequences.

Carson shares that the blind use of pesticides is not the only way and urges her readers

to avoid passively accepting risks and speak out against such practices. She warns that if we
opt for the simple route of using cheap chemicals for complex environmental matters instead of

seeking safer alternatives, a heavy price will be paid. Her structural plan simply presents facts,

proposes the stands of the argument and later follows by offering supportive evidence that

proves and offers ground to counter any possible refutations.

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