Brandon Abrams
October 4, 2012
Reaction Paper, English IV
Upon
reading Earth Without People I
immediately thought of the History channel’s widely un-popular show Life After People. While the History
channel’s show didn’t receive the best ratings it did show realistic scenes of
the planet after people. The article follows the same scenario and puts in
words what Life After People put on
film. These recounts of post-human life invoke all five senses to the audience
and produce a powerful impact. The imagery used within the article further
provides a strong sense of what this scenario would be like and grip the reader
into this hypothetical, future world. I found after reading the article that
imagery was most prevalent in descriptions of the Demilitarized Zone, urban
areas, and the oceans.
When
I think of places without human intervention I typically think of National
Parks like Yosemite and the Everglades, not the Demilitarized Zone between
North and South Korea. The article details “dazzling white squadrons” of cranes
floating through the air and nesting in the zone. The imagery used in this
section shows an untouched part of the world away from human intervention.
“(W)hite” conveys a pure image to the reader in a place that is un-soiled from
humans. The passage shows how the world would be a better place without the
harm of the human race and almost conveys guilt to the reader for allowing this
to happen.
In Life
After People one of the main things they focus on is the destruction of the
world’s cities, Earth Without People does
the same. The encroaching forest envelops urban areas as “The new wilderness
would consume cities.” This almost consumes the reader and has the effect of an
encroaching force coming to purify the scorned earth left by the human
population. It invokes touch with this sea of trees coming down upon the Earth.
This also shows a great sight of this wall of foliage descending upon the
world.
Finally,
the article details the world’s oceans and how they would improve following the
departure of man. This section of the article conveys additional guilt on the
reader in that “humans have flattened the coral reefs on the continental
shelves and scraped the sea grass beds bare.” To say that upon reading this I
felt guilt would be an understatement and the same would be true for any
reader. You hear the sound of the scraping as sea grass is ripped away from the
sea floor. Overall, the section clings onto the reader and begs them to save
the ocean’s ecosystems.
All
in all, the article provides critical imagery to the reader in its detail of
the Demilitarized Zone, urban areas, and the oceans. The article responds to
these areas and how they are impacted by humans now and how they will change
for the better upon man’s departure. I thoroughly enjoyed the article as it provided
validation to often overused chants of “save the planet!” Though I don’t intend
on registering with the Green Party I will take note next time when someone
mentions environmental destruction by man and ponder if a world without the
human race would be better off.
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