Rhetorical Analysis Of Let There Be Dark

Words: 423
Pages: 2

In the article “Let There Be Dark”, author Paul Bogard discusses the issue of light pollution in today’s society and argues that natural darkness must be preserved. Bogard successfully and effectively supports this claim through the use of anecdotes, rhetorical questions, and statistics. The introduction of Bogard’s work incorporates a personal and descriptive story of his time as a child at his family’s lake cabin. As he recounts events from his childhood, he describes that he “knew night skies in which meteors left smoky trails across sugary spreads of stars.” The addition of this childhood anecdote appeals to the reader’s emotions and sets a mood of nostalgia. Bogard awes his audience with the true splendor and wonder of natural darkness by including an anecdote about the beauty of nighttime. By implanting into the reader’s mind images of such magnificence, the reader receives a newfound love and respect for natural darkness. Bogard makes use of rhetorical questions in order to subtly yet effectively reach out to his audience with thought-provoking questions. Paul Bogard asks questions throughout the article, such as “Who knows what [the] vision of the night sky might inspire in …show more content…
There are several examples of statistics throughout “Let There Be Dark”, such as when he states that darkness-dependent moths pollinate 80% of the world’s flowers or when he expresses that each year there is an increase of about 6% in the amount of light in the sky. Through these statistics, the audience comes to a realization of just how important and impactful natural darkness is to the world. Because both these facts discuss the problem with light pollution, the audience continues to sympathize with Bogard’s cause. The inclusion of these statistics further persuades Bogard’s audience that the preservation of natural darkness is a subject of great