This piece was about the study of the deepest depths of the ocean from how it started to current thoughts on what it’s all made of. It started off with the original studies of the deepest pits of the ocean and how the scientist conducted their research in order to gain results. For example, she talked about the surveying ship Bulldog, and how they discovered creatures in the abyss by having species actually cling to their ships. She then discusses a similar story of a line in the Mediterranean that was pulled from a depth of 1200 fathoms and held hundreds of animals and corals that grew on it from the bottom of the ocean. She then discussed different theories of what it on the utmost lowest level of the ocean. The first theory was that plankton lived on the bottom (because they moved up at night and down in the morning to avoid predators). The other theory was that squid lived on the sea floor – but that was soon refuted.
The author was Rachel Carson. She is credible because as it says in the beginning of her “chapter”, she went to the Pennsylvania College for Women and JH University and gained an extensive background in oceanography, English and Marine Biology. These three backgrounds added to her credibility because she is well educated in all of the fields that she discusses in this reading.
The exigence of this piece would be spacial. It would be spacial because she had to refer to history as far back as the 1920s (and even before) to explain that progression of scientology in the “Sunless Sea”. It would be spacial also because even though it includes somewhat current theories, it is much more historical than current.
The purpose of this piece is to inform the audience about both the progression and developments in oceanography in the deepest depths of the ocean – something scientists don’t know too much about.
The audience could actually be anyone from children/youth around the ages of 10 – 12 to older adults. It has such a wide range of appeal because of her very “easy-going” and understandable diction, syntax and content (explained next).
The most abundant rhetorical elements used in this piece were: imagery, detail, metaphor, syntax and diction. She used an abounding amount of imagery and detail while explaining the sights that the scientists discovered in these deep-depths. For example, she explained the squids as “resembling large milky white electric lamps being constantly lit and extinguished” (623). This can also count as a metaphor because she compares the lighting and diming squids with lights that turn on and off during the night. Another metaphor I found was at the end of page 621 when she was explaining the correlating patterns of the sun and the organisms: “The creatures of the layer seem almost to be help prisoner at the end – or beyond the end – of the sun’s rays throughout the hours of daylight, waiting only for the welcome return of darkness…” Here, she is comparing the organisms that must hide away during the day as “prisoners” who, in a sense, are forced to hide away from the light so no predator can see them. As previously stated, her diction and syntax were very understandable and concise. In the piece, I could tell that she tried to cut her syntax length down to a minimum so her audience could clearly understand her point. Also, much of her diction was basic to beyond-basic vocabulary terms, which allowed the reader to comprehend with ease.
Yes, they completely accomplished their purpose because they were very open, honest and holistic with their approach. They introduced new topics to their audiences in a new, simpler way and left us knowing much more about this topic – and allowed us to learn about it effortlessly.
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