Journal Entry: Carson

Kamilah Van

Rachel Carson Journal Entry

Professor Brenda Thomas

March 24, 2014

Through this week's reading I liked the style of "A Fable for Tomorrow". This brief story took the time to explain a small prosperous town. There once was a town in the heart of American where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings"(Carson). This reading was unlike any we have read so far and what I admired about it the most is that it was relate able to similar towns that we have in America. Though the text does no give an exact description of where the town is located I can tell that it was a town that was heavily dependent on agriculture and livestock. Tragedy struck the town when all of its prosperity was stripped away. Through this text described a story of a little town I can relate the situation to how many places has suffered the same fate due to illness or unforeseen weather condition altering the state of an environment. "A grim specter has crept upon us almost unnoticed, and this imagined tragedy may easily become a stark reality we shall know" (Carson). Though I am no sure of the purpose of this ready because it was so short I think it was a better read and a good way to transition into the next story written by the Carson.

In "The Obligation to Endure" it spans out and provides a more in-depth thought on the contamination of the environment. “This is an era of specialists, each of whom sees his own problem and is unaware of or intolerant of the larger frame into which ti fits" (Carson). What really stood out to me was how the author discussed past and present ways that have influenced the way our environment is constructed now.

Photo Credit: http://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/image/0009/361188/environment-quarantine-320x213px.jpg

This reading talks about the effects of DDT which stood out to me since it was discussed on a past fieldtrip to CREW. Also, I have a friend who is majoring in environmental studies and some of the topics in this ready were similar to conversations we have had on different elements of the environment. "Quarantine and massive chemical campaigns are only extremely expensive ways of buying time" (Carson). Towards the end of the reading I wish there was a better job of describing ways in which more things could be done to take care of this issue. I believe the best way to get people to support this issue is to better educate them and offer not only the problem but an obtainable solution. Hopefully I will be able to get more insight on this topic in our class discussions but overall it was an interesting and informative reading.