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The Lorax

Comprehension Questions-
1) The Truffula Tree was a scarce and valuable natural resource because their
touch was softer than silk, and they had a sweet smell of butterfly milk.
2) The Once-ler chopped down the Truffula Tree in order to use its tufts to make
a Thneed.
3) The Thneed was beneficial to consumers due to its multiple uses. It could be
used for, but was not limited to: a shirt, a sock, a glove, a hat, carpets,
pillows, sheets, curtains, and covers for bicycle seats.
4) The Lorax was wrong in his opinion that nobody would buy the Thneed.
Shortly after inventing it, the Once-ler had his first patron. His business
quickly grew after that.
5) From what I can gather the Once-ler incented two new capital resources. The
radio phone, and the Super-Axe-Hacker. The radio phone opened up new lines
of communication so the Once-ler could contact his family members to get
more workers involved. The Super-Axe-Hacker allowed 4 trees to be chopped
down in the same amount of time it took to chop down one before. This
brought up productivity by 400 percent.
6) As more and more Truffula Trees were chopped down many species were
harmed. These include the Bar-ba-loots, the Swomee-Swans, and the
Humming-Fish.
7) It was not wise for the Once-ler to chop down all of the trees. In so doing he
ruined the natural habitat of many species, and undermined his business at
the same time, and he did not allow for tree reproduction to continue his
supply chain.
8) The modern U.S. economy would not allow all of the trees to be chopped
down because of supply and demand. If you deplete all of a natural resource
then you get rid of the supply, and cannot keep up with the demand.
9) I believe that greed is a huge factor in the overuse of our natural resources.
As a people we are infatuated with the idea that bigger, and more is better.
Another factor that plays into this is ignorance. A typical consumer is not
going to be as concerned with the supply chain of corporations, and therefore
will continue to support a company that is depleting natural resources
because they are not aware of the situation.
10) Supply and demand states that the price of an item is inversely
proportionate to the supply. As a natural resource becomes more and more
scarce the price of the item sold will go up.
11) At the beginning of the story the Once-ler had respect and awe
towards the environment. He stated that he had been looking for trees like
the Truffula Tree his whole life. When he was first approached by the Lorax he
stated that he was only chopping down one tree, and that he was being
useful with the natural resource by creating a commodity that everyone
needs. As the story progresses we can see that his respect for the
environment takes a back seat to his greed to continue and grow is business.
He completely depleted a natural resource which was home to many species,
while at the same time he was polluting the environment with smog in the air
and sludge in the water.

Reflection Questions
1) Both the Once-ler and the Lorax were passionate about their goals. Discuss
several reasons to explain why the Once-ler succeeded while the Lorax failed.
One reason that he Once-ler was successful is that he created a highly sought
after commodity. It could be used in so many different ways which made it
valuable to his costumers. By creating a customer base the Once-ler had
more interaction with the general population that the Lorax did. The Once-ler
also had a whole team on his side to push his agenda. The Lorax failed in his
goals because he only approached the Once-ler who was too preoccupied
with his greed to really care about the environment. He did not approach the
general population to show them the devastating effects of the Thneed
production process.
2) Can aesthetic appreciation and value be taught? Why or why not? Is it
possible to persuade someone that a mountain vista or seashore is beautiful
if they did not already appreciate it? Why or why not?

Personally I believe that aesthetic beauty is something that exists in and of


itself. A thing is beautiful simply because it is beautiful. The variable factor is
how people perceive the subject. Many people are exposed to nature at a
young age and because of this exposure they tend to view nature as
something beautiful. Others on the other hand might have limited exposure
to nature and therefore have never viewed or appreciated natures beauty.
Because I believe that natures beauty is something that exists independently
of itself I believe that if people are exposed to nature with an open mind then
aesthetic appreciation is something that can be taught. I do not believe that
people can be persuaded that a mountain vista or seashore is beautiful
simply by just trying to explain in to them. Natures beauty is something that
needs to be experienced by the viewer in order for them to truly understand
it.

3) The Lorax says that the Once-ler is greedy. Greed is defined as a selfish
desire for food, money, or possessions over and above what one needs.
What are some of the ways that the Once-ler proved his greed? He says, "I
biggered my money which everyone needs." Is it true that everyone needs
money? How much money do people need? Is it right to make a ton of
money while destroying the environment?
The Lorax proved his greed throughout the story by putting his own desires
above the basic needs of life for the species around him. He destroyed the
homes, and foods of the surrounding species which eventually lead to them
having to leave in order to find a new home. There is some truth to the
statement that he Once-ler made, people do need money to provide the basic
necessities of life in todays world. The problem with his statement is how
much money people need. I cannot put an exact dollar amount to each
familys needs, but it is evident that we can survive as a people with much
less than the top 10% of wealthy people have. When it comes to the way that
we are earning money, I do not believe that we should profit from destroying
the environment. This is not to say that we cannot use natural resources
within business, we absolutely can. However I believe that we need to be
using sustainable methods whenever we are using our finite natural
resources. Everything in moderation.

4) What did the once-ler mean by "UN-LESS"? What responsibility does he seem
to think "someone like you" needs to take? What kinds of things can we do
today to ensure that natural resources will be available for purposes in the
future?

I believe that the message UNLESS is to show what the entire worlds future
will hold, unless each of us does our part to help the environment. In the
story the Once-ler charges the listener in the story with planting a new
Truffula tree and protecting it. As more people do this it will eventually lead to
a new forest and hopefully the return of the native species. Sometimes it is so
hard to look at the worlds problems and think that I, just one person can do
anything about it. While this may be true, someone somewhere has to start
caring in order to make any difference. Fortunately there are many programs
that are designated to the protection and conservation of nature. The more
support we can generate for these programs the better off our world will be.
On a smaller scale, I believe it is important for us as consumers to always be
looking for supplies that use sustainable methods.

5) The Once-ler explains his actions by saying, "If I didn't do it, someone else
would." Is this a good excuse for doing what he did?

No, this is not a valid excuse. First of all there is not proof that some else
would have taken the same actions that he did. Being realistic though, it is
more than likely that someone else would have capitalized on the market.
This does not excuse him from his actions. I believe that there are right and
wrong actions and then a world full of justifications. There was no excuse for
the Once-lers actions. He did what he did out of greed which everyone
around now has to suffer the consequences of his wrong actions. He tries to
hide his shame, and not take responsibility for his actions by justifying it with
this excuse.

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