Rachel Carson's Rhetorical Summary

Are humans cold-blooded killers? Biologist Rachel Carson states we “resort to ‘eradicating’ any creature that may annoy or inconvenience us.” However, her book is made much more than a provocative statement through her thoughtful reasoning and factual evidence. She focuses her argument against the use of deadly poisons, like parathion, which she says are “universal killers,” crying moral injustice throughout. Carson refuses to accept that there is any appropriate time to use aerial poison and does not even address the other side’s justifications. Instead she asserts that farmers are engaged in a “needless war,” despite the fact that “the problem could have been solved easily,” and goes as far to state that the farmers were “probably

After Carson conveyed and explained her bias, she begins to ask questions with only one real answer. This is an effective format as readers will feel they are drawing their own opinions at the end, but are really being spoon fed Carson’s bias. One specific rhetorical question - “Who has made the decision that sets in motion these chains of poisonings, this ever-widening wave of death that spreads out, like ripples when a pebble is dropped into a pond?” - is particularly effective as it contains a simile. This simile adds very vivid imagery and marks the beginning of a list of rhetorical questions all pertaining to who is to blame for the death and injures by poison. It is enough to push some people to bold action against the use poison to eradicate pests, as they don’t want this unsettled blame to fall upon them. They are encouraged to prove they aren’t ignorant or contributing to this problem.
To conclude, Rachel Carson is a skilled writer who employs many different rhetorical strategies and formats her information in a deliberate way to maximize the effectiveness of her argument. She appeals to emotion, but supplements her points with facts, examples, and expert opinions. Her book, Silent Spring, surely convinced many of the dangers of poisons like parathion, and inspired some to seek alternatives to aerial