Last Child In The Woods By Richard Louv
`Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
It is rather difficult to comprehend out society today. We strive to define ourselves as individuals yet many times we conform to the norm in an effort to fit in. We look for the best in technology with cellphones, televisions and vehicles, sometimes forgetting to just enjoy the simplicity of nature. It is bitter sweet really, watching our world advance so quickly in technology, but with that leaving the natural world behind. Today, human connection with nature is sparse and as Richard Louv argues in “Last Child in the Woods”, this is a sad truth that continues progress in severity. Richard Louv appealed to both logos and pathos, with use of anecdotes, hypothetical examples and imagery, in a sheer effort to illustrate the separation between people and nature, explaining that while nature is just at our fingertips, we fail to pay attention to it’s purifying effect on humanity.
Louv uses an anecdote to support his argument. He recounts a friends story of being pushed by a salesman to purchase an in-car television, and hyperbolizes the actions in that “the salesman’s jaw dropped”, creating dramatic effect. With this anecdote, Louv has attempted to show that the salesman’s attitude towards dependence on technology reflects today’s society, and express the common opinion of a constant need for technology.
To continue building off this anecdote, Louv raises the hypothetical example to help him show his distain towards the idea. He proposes that “we’ll someday tell our grandchildren” that there was a time when kids “looked out the car window” instead of playing on phones or watching the backseat television. The key to the effectiveness of the hypothetical example is that it is frighteningly realistic. Even today, our grandparents tell us about a childhood without television or Internet. So certainly Louv’s hypothesis is not far from fact. The shocking realism of this hypothesized example makes the reader realize the immediacy
It is rather difficult to comprehend out society today. We strive to define ourselves as individuals yet many times we conform to the norm in an effort to fit in. We look for the best in technology with cellphones, televisions and vehicles, sometimes forgetting to just enjoy the simplicity of nature. It is bitter sweet really, watching our world advance so quickly in technology, but with that leaving the natural world behind. Today, human connection with nature is sparse and as Richard Louv argues in “Last Child in the Woods”, this is a sad truth that continues progress in severity. Richard Louv appealed to both logos and pathos, with use of anecdotes, hypothetical examples and imagery, in a sheer effort to illustrate the separation between people and nature, explaining that while nature is just at our fingertips, we fail to pay attention to it’s purifying effect on humanity.
Louv uses an anecdote to support his argument. He recounts a friends story of being pushed by a salesman to purchase an in-car television, and hyperbolizes the actions in that “the salesman’s jaw dropped”, creating dramatic effect. With this anecdote, Louv has attempted to show that the salesman’s attitude towards dependence on technology reflects today’s society, and express the common opinion of a constant need for technology.
To continue building off this anecdote, Louv raises the hypothetical example to help him show his distain towards the idea. He proposes that “we’ll someday tell our grandchildren” that there was a time when kids “looked out the car window” instead of playing on phones or watching the backseat television. The key to the effectiveness of the hypothetical example is that it is frighteningly realistic. Even today, our grandparents tell us about a childhood without television or Internet. So certainly Louv’s hypothesis is not far from fact. The shocking realism of this hypothesized example makes the reader realize the immediacy