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Leslie Lopez

Period: 3
Timed writing
In the passage from Silent spring by Rachel Carson she uses central argument and
rhetorical strategies to show what her argument is. Rachel Carsons argument is
that people are using a poison called parathion that kill animals and have almost
killed human. The rhetorical strategy that Rachel Carson uses is rhetorical
questions.
In the passage the author uses central argument to show the problem she is
talking about. The argument the author is trying to convey is that animals, humans
and especially birds are being harmed by the poison farmers are spraying on their
crops and the author is trying to tell us that the poison is harmful. The author thinks
that the farmers need to stop spraying this poison on their crops for example in the
text it says birds are more and more finding themselves as a direct target of
poison rather than an incident one this shows that the birds are getting harmed
even though they dont want to hurt them . another way the author uses central
argument is by having backup for example talking about how there is another
organization that is against the poison being sprayed for example it says the fish
and wildlife service has found it necessary to express serious concern over this
trend this is the backup that the author uses to show that she isnt the only one
against this poison. Lastly the author gives farmers an alternative way to fix their
problem besides using the poison for example in the text it says a slight change in
agricultural practice- a shift to a variety of corn with deep set ears not accessible to
the birds in other words this is her alternative which is to maybe change in the way
they crop or something like that.

Another way the author constructs her argument is by using rhetorical questions.
In the passage the author uses a lot of rhetorical questions for example in the text it
says does Indiana still raise any boys who roam through woods or fields and might
even explore the margins or a river? what she is trying to say is that what if there
was a boy from Indiana that just happened to go to the river then he would have
died because of the parathion. Furthermore in the text it says what other wild life
deaths may have gone unnoticed? what the author is trying to say is to make the
readers think about all the other animals that this poison could have hurt or even
killed.
In conclusion the author Rachel Carson uses central argument and rhetorical
strategies to show her argument. She uses central argument by using backup,
showing what the poison is hurting which is birds, animals and human s and also
giving alternatives to the farmers instead of using the posin in. Lastly she uses
rhetorical strategies by using rhetorical questions and she does that by making the
readers think about all the animals or even human that could have died because of
the poison.

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