Silent Spring by Rachel Carson: Dialectic Journal

Chapter 2 Dialect Journal

TEXT

RESPONSE

" -all this though the intended target may be

only a few weeds or insects. Can anyone
believe it is possible to lay down such a
barrage of poisons on the surface of the earth
without making it unfit for all life?"
(Carson 7-8)

As it is well stated since the very beginning,

insecticides are not our friends, neither is it to
the crops, or to the soil. We only use it to
defend ourselves from the insects that
consume our crops, but the real question is, at
what cost are we willing to go to just to
remove these pest? The answer here is clear,
as poison is sprinkled all over the vast fields
of crops that we eat. This poison isn't just
meant to kill the insects or weeds, but it is
slowly killing away the vegetation found
within nature, and most importantly, us. (102
words)

Chapter 3 Dialect Journal

TEXT

RESPONSE

"One of the most sinister features of DDT and

related chemicals is the way they are passed
on from one organism to another through all
the links of the food chain. For example,
fields of alfalfa are dusted with DDT; meal is
later prepared from the alfalfa and fed to hens;
the hens lay eggs which contain DDT. Or in
the hay, containing residues of 7 to 8 parts per
million, may be fed to cows. The DDT will
turn up in the milk in the amount of about 3
parts per million, but in butter made from the
milk the concentration may run to 65 parts per
million. Through such a process of transfer,
what started out as a very small amount of
DDT may end as a heavy concentration."
(Carson 22-23)

Spreading butter on my bread is one of the

most joyful feelings for me, knowing that
what is about to come is a sweet, creamy
sensation. Yet not knowing what it really
contains, can be the a stomach-wrenching
feeling. Most Americans disregard what their
foods really contain, since the one thing that
really matters to them is the taste. However,
such process of transference of chemicals into
food can lead to the serious cause of diseases
and illness. As one human becomes sick, it
will be passed on, decade after decade, and
generation after generation. The cause of this
all is the simple need to have no insects, no
weeds, or any interruption what-so-ever.
(114 words)

Chapter 4 Dialectic Journal

TEXT

RESPONSE

"Probably the bulk of such contaminants are

the waterborne residues of the millions of
pounds of agricultural chemicals that have
been applied to farmlands for insects and
rodent control and have been leached out of
the ground by rains to become part of the
universal seaward movement of water."
(Carson 40)

Many humans pollute the Earth without even

knowing it. How many? Everybody actually,
but can we really stop it. In some ways I
believe yes, however on others, I beg to differ.
A little fart that every human makes (I hope),
is a release of gases that were once in the
human body. Where do those gases go you
might ask? None other than the air. The gases
rise to the atmosphere and cause it to slowly
deteriorate. However, some gases are chosen
to be released. These should be put to a halt
immediately, as they cause a greater deal of
damage to ourselves and our environment.
(107 words)

Chapter 5 Dialectic Journal

TEXT

RESPONSE

"The problem that concerns us here is one that

has received little consideration: What
happens to these incredibly numerous and
vitally necessary inhabitants of the soil when
poisonous chemicals are carried down into
their world, either introduced directly as soil
sterilants or borne on the rain that has picked
up a lethal contamination as it filters through
the leaf canopy of forest and orchards and
cropland?" (Carson 56)

We dream big, it's just a part of being human.

We dream for such great heights, but we push
others down along the way. Some of the most
important things in our lives can be simply
shrugged off, without a glance at the
possibility of achieving this important
opportunity. Why do we forget those that
matter? Why do we leave the things that built
us up behind? These questions relate to this
statement, as we carelessly pour poison over
not the only the future crops, but the future
generations to come. (91 words)

Chapter 6 Dialectic Journal

TEXT

RESPONSE

"And where are the men who supposedly

understand the value of proper habitat for the
preservation for wildlife? Too many of them
are to be found defending herbicides as
'harmless' to wildlife because they are thought
to be less toxic than insecticides. Therefore, it
is said, no harm is done. But as the herbicides
rain down on forest and field, on marsh and
rangeland, they are bringing about marked
changes and even permanent destruction of
wildlife habitat. To destroy the homes and the
food of the wildlife is perhaps worse in the
long run than direct killing." (Carson 74)

It is pictured in movies that the humans are

always the "good guys", yet what we do in
real life differs. We tend to eliminate the bad
things in the world, but we bring down the
good along with it. What purpose does it
make if we get rid of the good along with the
bad? The good is what keeps us here today,
and to remove that is the same as spraying the
poison which destroys the home of not just the
wildlife, but destroys us along with it.
(90 words)

Chapter 7 Dialectic Journal

TEXT

RESPONSE

"As man proceeds toward his announced goal

of the conquest of nature, he has written a
depressing record of destruction, directed not
only against the earth he inhabits but against
the life that shares it with him Now, to
these and other like them, we are adding a
new chapter and a new kind of havoc - the
direct killing of birds, mammals, fishes, and
indeed practically every form of wildlife by
chemical insecticides indiscriminately
sprayed on the land." (Carson 85)

Countries all over the world celebrate specific

days in the year to show some type of
liberation from another group/country. As we
celebrate these days, there was once a day
when we didn't have such opportunity. Those
days were written down, marked down as
history. This is just one of the few chapters of
history that have affected all of the present
and future. What we do today, creates a new
chapter in the future generations to come. We
hope they don't repeat history, but that will
only happen if we set that course now.
(95 words)

Chapter 8 Dialectic Journal

TEXT

RESPONSE

"In each of these situations, one turns away to

ponder the question: Who has made the
decision that sets in motion these chains of
poisonings, this ever widening wave of death
that spread out, like ripples when a pebble is
dropped into a still pond? Who has placed in
one pan of the scales the leaves that might
have been eaten by the beetles and in the other
the pitiful heaps of many-hued feathers, the
lifeless remains of the birds that fell before the
unselective bludgeon of insecticidal poisons?"
(Carson 127)

Generations after generations, we inherit the

beliefs of our great ancestors. It's what we
learn from them that we hope to keep alive for
the future, yet as that what we really want.
Not to say that the teachings are bad, but at
times, certain examples can be placed that
determine consequences in the future. If no
recognition of the mistakes made, it will
continue on to make a disaster unto the
community. A ripple effect some will call it,
but it can be stopped, with the determination
of change. (90 words)

Chapter 9 Dialectic Journal

TEXT

RESPONSE

"The survey showed more than the loss of

young fish; it revealed a serious change in the
streams themselves. Repeated sprayings have
now completely altered the stream
environment, and the aquatic insects that are
food of salmon and trout have been killed."
(Carson 132)

Many tend to repeat of what others do, it's

their example that others follow. History
repeats itself, they say. With destruction in the
past, it is sure to happen today. "How?" you
might ask. Through the little things in life.
Those see at as just another factor that plays
into all of the other more important problems
in the world, yet this little factor, is what can
bring us to our own destruction. The inclusion
of chemicals in our food poisons it, causing it
to harm our bodies. The more we think we've
"developed" the chemical, the effect may be
result in the thing we fear most, death.
(108 words)

Chapter 10 Dialectic Journal

TEXT

RESPONSE

"Although today's poisons are more

dangerous than any known before, they have
amazingly become something to be showered
down indiscriminately from the skies. Not

Here, Carson concentrates on two major airspraying campaigns as a way of illustrating

the effects of insecticide spraying. She details
the insecticide campaign against the gypsy

only the target insect or plant, but anything human or nonhuman - within range of the
chemical fallout may know the sinister touch
of the poison." (Carson 156)

moth in the northeast and that against the fire

ant in the southern states. In choosing the
method of providing illustrative examples of
the results of insecticide campaigns, Carson
enables the reader to see the details of what
she has so carefully built up as a general
truth--that insecticide campaigns are
ineffective and extraordinarily and globally
damaging. (84 words)

Chapter 11 Dialectic Journal

TEXT

RESPONSE

"Lulled by the soft sell and the hidden

persuader, the average citizen is seldom aware
of the deadly materials with which he is
surrounding himself; indeed, he may not
realize he is using them at all. So thoroughly
has the age of poisons become established that
anyone may walk into a store and, without
questions being asked, buy substances of far
greater death-dealing power than the
medicinal drug for which he may be required
to sign a 'poison book' in the pharmacy next
door." (Carson 174)

"Surround Yourself with Greatness" is a

popular book written by Chad Lewis, which
depicts that we must do good in order to
receive the good of the world. However, when
one decides to insert the bad into this
equation, it results in a consequence that
impacts the future societies. We ourselves can,
to an extent, be considered as the bad. If we
act carelessly upon the poisons that any
person can get access to, we have the potential
to cause a grand disaster within our
community. (86 words)

Chapter 12 Dialectic Journal

TEXT

RESPONSE

"Its is human nature to shrug off what may

seem to use a vague threat of future disaster.
'Men are naturally most impressed by diseases
which have obvious manifestations,' says a
wise physician, Dr. Rene Dubos, 'yet some of

We push aside the things that we find

irrelevant, causing us to pay attention to the
"big picture", yet most disasters happen away
from this. If we simply reject the fact that
these problems exist, there will be major

their worst enemies creep on them

unobtrusively." (Carson 189)

consequences that we will indeed face. Our

actions, our examples, and our thoughts are
what make this a better world. If we ignore
the simple, we will never understand the
complicated. (70 words)

Chapter 13 Dialectic Journal

TEXT
"It is no longer necessary to guess about the
storage of insecticides in the eggs of birds,
which obviously lend themselves to this kind

RESPONSE

of observation more readily than the

mammalian ovum. Large residues of DDT and
other hydrocarbons have been found
whenever looked for in the eggs of birds
subjected to these chemicals, either
experimentally or in the wild."