Charlene Wallace-- Rhetorical Analysis & Reaction.

Charlene Wallace

September 4, 2013

WRT 120-40

“Climate Wars & Climate Peace” Reaction

When reading the chapter in Making Peace with the Earth, I found some pretty interesting statistics. One in particular being that to keep the temperature rise within 2ºC, an 80% cut in emissions is needed by 2020. That is astounding to hear, in my opinion. Partly because that will probably never happen due to all of the funding needed to “go green.” After that, I found the text to be dry and confusing, not to mention forceful. The text was not at all what I expected from the opening few sentences as well; I thought it was going to be a positive chapter on the UN helping to emit emissions. Turns out, the UN agreed to do almost nothing about toxic emissions. Shiva also used a lot of acronyms that were not explained previously in the chapter, although I’m not sure if she explained their meaning earlier in the book. From the chapter we read, though, the acronyms confused me because I did not understand the significance of their status in the text. Shiva also reiterated herself to a fault. I found myself reading the same arguments more than once but without any clear explanation. On the other hand, the main points are very clear to me. Lastly, I felt that Shiva was shoving her views down my throat. She writes very passionately, which makes the text a bit easier to read, but I feel she does not tolerate any argument. Personally, I really hate when authors noticeably impose their beliefs on me without the idea that I can present a counter argument. To me, if I were to talk to Shiva, she would not even tolerate the idea of a counter argument. Overall, I didn’t really enjoy the text because of her preachy nature. The text was well written and articulates her view well, I just hate having her opinion shoved in my face for 12 pages.

Rhetorical Analysis

Author(s): Shiva, Vandana

Title: Making Peace with the Earth

Date of Publication: 2013

Publisher/Distributer: Pluto Press & Fernwood Publishing

Tone, Syntax, etc: Casual yet passionate, informal, educated. Her writing style includes very descriptive language and a powerful punch. Although, it seems very forceful; she jams her ideas down the readers’ throat.

Intended Audience: Skeptics to global warming, upper middle class citizens, proponents of global warming (to make a difference).

Context: To raise awareness of the Himalayas and the problems facing the people due to global warming, to make a global impact, to change the environment for the better.

Purpose: To educate the uneducated on the effects of global warming on the water supply and people’s lives surrounding the water supply. Also, to convince skeptics global warming is, in fact, a big problem the world is facing.

Author’s Process: The author conducted surveys on the water supply is the Himalayas and obviously did a lot of research and became involved before she voiced her opinion. After becoming educated on the subject, she wrote a book and had it published through two publishers.