then doing it all in one sitting which usually makes it so my essay is consistent throughout instead of starting out strong and ending with just putting works on paper to take up space. I then when back and made many changes that I thought would help to enhance the quality of my paper. I followed the strategy the Faigly suggested so that I would make sure to get as much into the analysis as I could. I feel as though my introduction is the strongest paragraph because of how well it flows and that is usually my biggest problem with writing, not being able to have good transitions throughout. I picked Suzuki’s essay because I liked what he was arguing for and the way he argued. Also, I was on his side for his argument and the points he brought up were very intriguing. I felt like this would be something I could right more essays about since the rest of our essays need to be tied back to this one. Although this essay was hard for me to write and was very time consuming I put forth a lot of effort and pushed myself to become a better writer.
Jeremy Weiland
Professor Robson
English 102
1 October 2013
The Interconnections of the World David Suzuki became a third generation Japanese-Canadian when his grandparents immigrated at the turn or the century and was later born in Vancouver, British Columbia on March 24, 1936. The government soon sold their families’ dry cleaning business when the Suzuki family was placed in an interment camp with many other Japanese-Canadians. Soon after the end of World War II they were all forced to move east of the Rocky Mountains where David went to Amherst College and later attended The University of Chicago graduating with a Ph.D. in zoology in 1958. After graduating Suzuki became a genetics professor at the University of British Columbia for 38 years. He was looked upon as Canada’s most famous scientist, in the 1970’s Suzuki hosted a science themed TV and radio show with a small following and when asked by CBC viewers later in 2004 he ranked sixth in greatest Canadians in history. Not only that but he was the recipient of dozens of international awards and was an abundant author writing 43 books pertaining to science and the environment. Suzuki’s main concern was with climate change and had the philosophy “that every aspect of nature has evolved to depend on every other aspect…and that human beings, in order to live rich and full lives, must learn to respect and preserve the interdependent ecosystem that we all inhabit” (427). In The Sacred Balance, David Suzuki not only makes observations but also uses inductive reasoning in order to draw his own conclusions, forming a very persuasive argument that everything in the universe is interconnected. He does this in a very coherent and logical way to show “In such a world of interconnectedness, it is understood that every action has consequences” (428). Suzuki’s audience was very broad, he wanted as many people to know this as possible to try and save the earth. At the time this was written, which was not to long ago, global warming was and is a huge problem so he wanted to build awareness so that everyone would recognize that what he or she was doing was harming the earth. David Suzuki’s knowledge of the topic of the environment is extraordinary and that’s part of what makes everything he says make so much sense because he really knows what he’s talking about. He starts out by pointing out that “we had the responsibility to act properly to keep the world in order” (428). We haven’t quiet acted properly and that has now had negative consequences on our planet. The everyday things that we have grown accustom to are the things that have this effect. This statement that Suzuki makes is an observation he makes that most people would tend to agree with. Many people would be surprised to learn “3.8 billion years that life has existed on earth, one species-humanity-is altering the biological, physical and chemical features of the planet on a geological scale” (429). Suzuki has a lot of background knowledge of what exactly went on in the evolution of the earth and since he would be able to go and on about it he is able to sum it up in that convincing sentence. There were many environmentalists out there that shared the same feelings that Suzuki did and were “protesting, marching and blockading, many of us were lobbying politicians to set aside more parks, to enact Clean Water and Clean Legislation, to pass Endangered Species Acts and to establish the agencies to enforce the regulations.” (430). People that felt this strongly about this topic made sure to make it known and wanted change so they went to all extents to get these acts and the legislation put into effect. All these environmentalists felt as though too much was being taken and not enough was being put back thus creating this downward effect. By David Suzuki getting all the higher education he did, one would be foolish to not believe the things he says. This essay is full of great tone and language that make the authors style his own which in the end help get his points across being that he really gets into it and is passionate about it.
David Suzuki basically uses the metaphor that the earth in this instance is an organism and also self regulated, as is the human body. The metaphor is basically saying that we should treat and take care of the earth like we would our own body because by doing that the planet Earth might actually be in better shape. One of the best examples of tone that is being persuasive that he really knows what he is talking about is “we have expanded beyond the capacity of our surroundings to support you. It is clear from the history of the past two centuries that the path we embark on after the Industrial Revolution is leading us increasingly into conflict with the natural world” (430). This line is very meaningful in the way that he shows us that we are expanding too fast and our resources are diminishing. By saying “We can’t manage our impact on the environment if we are our surroundings. Indigenous people are absolutely correct; we are born of the earth and constructed from the four sacred elements of earth, air, fire and water” (432). He points out the four sacred elements in a very creative way to get the reader to really understand that without them there is nothing and there cant be environment without us humans too. The voice and emphasis he puts in his writing makes the content he says believable and without that the writing wouldn’t come together so
well. Since the topic or global warming and what we were really doing to the earth at this time in the late 1990’s was new David Suzuki felt like he stood alone when trying to inform the public. With the large expansion of “all..modern technology has been developed within the past century, thereby escalating both the scale and the scope of our ability to exploit our surroundings” (429). By creating all this amazing technology that makes us more productive being this productive can also have a major downside by being to productive. Yes, you can be too productive because we are running through our resources way to fast to the point of where everything is being knocked out of balance. This influenced the essay to be written at this time because without all the technology improving drastically and so quickly the earth’s balance would be more in check and we wouldn’t be in the place we are currently. In 13 years “population has tripled. Thus by virtue of our numbers alone, our species’ ecological footprint on the planet has enlarged explosively”(429). In Suzuki’s lifetime population tripled which is obviously going to bump up our carbon footprint, which essentially kills the earth a little bit more each and every day. The big metaphor of this essay is that the earth in this instance is an organism and also self regulated, as is the human body. The metaphor is basically saying that we should treat and take care of the earth like we would our own body because by doing that in might actually be in better shape. In most peoples cases people get annoyed with the topic of global warming and how we are negatively impacting the earth but David Suzuki does an amazing job of showing you how important it is to find the balance we need again or in his words “The Sacred Balance”. In Suzuki’s essay he not only does a great job of making observations but also makes sure to use inductive reasoning, which is very successful to show how the world is all connected, and we need to find the right balance. Suzuki makes sure to pound in your head by the end of the essay that “In every world-view, there is an understanding that everything is connected to everything else, that nothing exists in isolation or alone” (428).
Works Cited
Suzuki, David. "The Sacred Balance." Reading The World Ideas That Matter. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton and, 2010. 427-33. Print.