Rhetorical Analysis Of Foreword To Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

President, Jimmy Carter, in his speech, Foreword to Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land, argues that Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should be kept safe. Carter's purpose is to prevent the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to be developed for industry. He adopts a sympathetic tone in order to get Americans to protect the wildlife.

Carter begins his speech by describing the beauty of the Arctic Refuge. He describes the Arctic Refuge by providing an anecdote to when he and his wife visited. On paragraph 2 he says, "We had hoped to see caribou during our trip, but to our amazement, we witnessed the migration of tens of thousands of caribou with their newborn calves". He provides the anecdote in order to give the audience a firsthand experience of what the Arctic Refuge is like. This story from the President allows the audience to understand the beauty of the Arctic Refuge and why it is important to preserve it.

Carter moves to analyzing the destruction that roads, pipelines, and drilling rigs can cause. He gives his perspective to how he would feel in the 4th paragraph when he says, "Standing on the coastal plain, I was saddened to think of the tragedy that might occur if this great wilderness was consumed by a web of roads and pipelines, drilling rigs and industrial facilities". He suggests the idea of

He opposes the proposals to open the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling when he says, "...including the Gwich'n Athabascan Indians of Alaska and Canada, indigenous people whose culture has depended on the porcupine caribou herd for thousands of years...I can empathize with the Gwich'ns' struggle to safeguard one of their precious human rights ". Through the reference to the Gwich'n he empathizes with the in order to unify the people and protect human rights. The reference creates a unity because all the people would want to help protect the human rights and culture of the