Houston 1
Heaven Houston
9-10-20
AP Language and Composition
Mrs. Nail
02.11 AP Practice Essay Two
Undoubtedly, it is in human nature to act in self-interest. When it comes down to helping
people, one will always choose to help oneself over anybody else. These decisions will often
have everlasting consequences that will harm them more than help them. In Rachel Carson’s text,
Silent Spring, she mentions an important example of human selfishness. Carson writes about the
damage that humans do to the environment to obtain instant gratification. Carson uses many
rhetorical devices, such as anecdotes, figurative language, and rhetorical questions, throughout
the text. She uses these devices to argue that humans act selfishly and recklessly, but then
decided to refuse the consequences.
In the first paragraph, Carson uses an anecdote about the Indian farmers who made a rash
and thoughtless decision. She wrote, “…a group of farmers that went to treat an area of river
bottomland with parathion.” In 1962, this seemed like the most normal thing to do. They were
not targeting insects with this poison though; they were targeting birds. Because of this rash
decision, thousands of birds died. This quote shows humans always choose the easiest way to
accomplish things, not thinking about the consequences. One part of of Carson’s anecdote is
when she speaks about what they could have done differently. “The problem could have been
This study source was downloaded by 100000860007226 from CourseHero.com on 02-07-2023 22:55:15 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/68890705/211-AP-Practice-Essay-Twodocx/
Heaven Houston
9-10-20
AP Language and Composition
Mrs. Nail
02.11 AP Practice Essay Two
Undoubtedly, it is in human nature to act in self-interest. When it comes down to helping
people, one will always choose to help oneself over anybody else. These decisions will often
have everlasting consequences that will harm them more than help them. In Rachel Carson’s text,
Silent Spring, she mentions an important example of human selfishness. Carson writes about the
damage that humans do to the environment to obtain instant gratification. Carson uses many
rhetorical devices, such as anecdotes, figurative language, and rhetorical questions, throughout
the text. She uses these devices to argue that humans act selfishly and recklessly, but then
decided to refuse the consequences.
In the first paragraph, Carson uses an anecdote about the Indian farmers who made a rash
and thoughtless decision. She wrote, “…a group of farmers that went to treat an area of river
bottomland with parathion.” In 1962, this seemed like the most normal thing to do. They were
not targeting insects with this poison though; they were targeting birds. Because of this rash
decision, thousands of birds died. This quote shows humans always choose the easiest way to
accomplish things, not thinking about the consequences. One part of of Carson’s anecdote is
when she speaks about what they could have done differently. “The problem could have been
This study source was downloaded by 100000860007226 from CourseHero.com on 02-07-2023 22:55:15 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/68890705/211-AP-Practice-Essay-Twodocx/
