Day: October 16, 2023

Comets Analysis

The Comet by W.E.B. Du Bois was a fascinating read on how in the end there will be nothing. The author emphasized the use of rhetorical strategies and literary devices to a afrofuturism world. Techniques like pathos and imagery are used throughout the story to illustrate the purpose and message to the reader. In the story, a comet is headed to NYC and wipes out everyone except two people. This left a black man and a white woman with no choice but to work together and survive. However, when they soon realized that it was only NYC have been impacted, the woman reverted back to her old ways. She met with other white people and became racist towards him. 


	Du Bois used imagery numerous amount of times throughout the story to demonstrate his purpose that even though there is temporary change some things never change. This is shown in the story because when the woman though it was just them she put her prejudice aside and worked with the black man in order for survival. However, as soon as white people come to let her know that there are other alive she returned back to her prejudice ways by calling him a slur. This can be demonstrated in todays world much frequently. For example, during Covid everyone was unified. We all shared the same goal of survival and helping each other to get back to where we were. On the contrary, when things became normal again there was a rise in discrimination and prejudice towards the very people were all were united with.

A Warnig to Us

I have read multiple stories about climate change and what the future may hold for the human race. Most of them are bleak, miserable futures, with environments deteriorating in barren wastelands, and society along with it. I quote an example from the short story “Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet”:

“In the fourth age we created deserts. Our deserts were of several kinds, but they had one thing in common: nothing grew there. Some were made of cement, some were made of various poisons, some of baked earth. We made these deserts from the desire for more money and from despair at the lack of it. Wars, plagues and famines visited us, but we did not stop in our industrious creation of deserts. At last all wells were poisoned, all rivers ran with filth, all seas were dead; there was no land left to grow food.”

This describes a possible future where the land becomes bone-dry deserts, and the seas becoming poisoned and rotten. And yet, despite all these morbid stories, I don’t feel afraid about the future. The human race is a resilient and adaptable species, and will more than likely live on after the worst of the “global wierding.”

Sure, if the ice caps are lost, then sea levels will rise. Coastal cities will be flooded. Florida will be a thing of the past. Temperatures will swing from sweltering hot summers to freezing winters. Some places of the world will become more productive for plant life, while others will become less productive. Some animal species will become extinct. Others will thrive in new environments.

Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet

After going on with close reading and analyzing “Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet”, this story was done in 2009 and the description online of her story was to warn other about the dangers of climate change and the influence of greed on society, which is basically explaining the concern and feelings and something that’s important for people to know because climate change is a big problem in America and around the world now. For the subject of the influence of greed on society is that this is explaining the amount of greed there is and now going on in the world, especially I would say with politics too. When it comes to greed, I would say it’s a big problem in society, as well as money involved with greed, or anything else, effects to everyone. Greed, I would say, causes people to act selfish and make immoral decisions in life. Both topics are partly harmful in life.

What Margaret Atwood is describing here, as well as how she is using genre conventions to strategically effect change in readers is that she specifically describes different points of life and the environment. She describes the different points written in a poem, starting with this being written, according to “Time capsule found on the dead planet by Margaret Atwood” on theguardian.com “In the third age, money became a god. It was all-powerful, and out of control. It began to talk. It began to create on its own. It created feasts and famines, songs of joy, lamentations. It created greed and hunger, which were its two faces.” I would say this one quote is basically explaining the big effect of what money does in people’s lives. Some points that show the impact of money, good or bad in that, the way it can help and destroy things. Her use of genre conventions helps influence readers to look and watch out for the dangers in society.

No Future: Consequences of the Past

“Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet” written by Margaret Atwood explores the themes of human civilization, environmental degradation, and the potential consequences of humanity’s actions. Atwood uses genre conventions and rhetorical devices to strategically influence readers.

The use of genre conventions can be seen in Atwood’s writing, especially the genre convention Sci-Fi. Which is the genre that explores future relatives and alternative realities. The title itself shows this by setting the reader in a futuristic setting where the Earth is considered a “Dead Planet”. By using the words “Time Capsule” and “Dead Planet” it sets the reader to imagine a setting where humanity is dead or dying.

The use of rhetorical devices is another strategy that Margaret Atwood used to influence the readers. Atwood employs the use of vivid imagery and symbolism to evoke a sense of loss and death. The use of words in Atwood’s writing paints a dark yet beautiful picture suggesting the end of life and the history of past civilizations. The use of personification and repetition can also be seen in her writing. “Money became a god”, personification is used here to bring life to money and make it seem like a very important thing even though physically speaking it is just a piece of paper. And the use of repetition is to keep the reader engaged and to make the reader realize that what they are reading can be something that really happens in the future.

By using these genre conventions and rhetorical devices, Margaret Atwood guides the readers to contemplate the potential consequences that can occur in the future due to human nature.