Thursday, March 20, 2008

Post 6: A New Idea

My main question currently is how does Rachel Carson's style of writing change depending on for what subject she writes about? For example in "The Edge of the Sea", a book about the sea and the animals that inhabit it, is very poetic, creative, elegant, and detailed while in "Silent Spring" Her writing is much more direct and simple. She writes about short stories and events in order to get her message across but only turns her writing in elegant verses occasionally. Why is this the case? Did Rachel Carson do this on purpose or unconsciously? How does the change of writing style effect the reader personally and a society as one?

I can not fully answer all of these questions because I have not finished reading "silent Spring", but I shall try my best to answer the question now, to the extent that I can.


In "The Edge of the Sea" the purpose in writing it was merely to allow the reader to be engaged and educated on the sea life while in "Silent Spring" there was a much more stronger purpose in writing it. Carson wanted/needed to tell the people of this world what their actions were doing to the world. There is much more of a sense of urgency in her writing in "Silent Spring" than in "The Edge of the Sea". In this book there is much more of a calm and smooth sense to the writing in the book. It is a book more to put one asleep than to make a reader jump up and want to create change and fight for an important cause.

There is a large contrast between these two books. They both have very different vibes and create very different feelings. I am excited and looking forward to comparing these two books in depth more as a keep reading.

Post 5: More Writing

I currently have not conjured any new ideas and thoughts about "The Edge of the Sea" and have decided instead of repeating myself over and over again I will post a short exert from Carson's book to show a good example of what I have been talking about and attempting the describe in the previous blogs.


(exert coming shortly)

Post 4: The Wrting

"The Edge of the Sea"

Rachel Carson's style of writing is very detailed and unique. She has a way of making all of the creature and elements of the tide pools connect with each other. She also goes into elegant detail describing what each creature looks like and what they do. She will describe how the animals move, eat, mate, and live in a poetic manner that hooks a reader into her world. She allows the reader to smell, feel, touch, and see, what she experiences through her detail, passion and love of the sea which clearly flows onto the pages of her book (The Edge of the Sea).

I will admit because her books do not have a plot or theme I lose interest in many sections of her book but then become intrigued again after I have put the book down for a some time. Because this is the case it is hard for me to go through her books as fast as I might if I were reading a novel. This is not to say, however, that I do not enjoy her creative and capturing writing. I personally have never been good at writing about detail and reading her books gives me new and refreshing words and ideas about how to describe an object, animal, or person.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Question

The book "The Edge of the Sea" has no plot. Rachel Carson has talked about the animals that live in tide pools and sand that the waves crash against. I have been thinking about what to write for my thesis logs for the longest time and have come up with no ideas. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. Thank you.

Rachel Carson's style of writing

“When the tide is high on a rocky shore, when its brimming fullness creeps up almost to the bayberry and the junipers where they come down from the land, one might easily suppose that nothing at all lived in or on or under these waters of the sea’s edge. For nothing is visible.”

-Rachel Carson, The Edge of the Sea pg. 39

Rachel Carson’s style of writing is poetic and descriptive. She will take a creature and describe it in a romantically detailed way, almost like one would describe a lover. Her love for the sea and the unknown creatures on the sea’s edge spills onto the pages of her book. She can be direct but creative in her use of words. Her words when put together creates perfect images of what she sees. When you begin to read her books it’s almost as f you turn into Rachel Carson herself and see through her own eyes.

The book does not have a plot. Rachel Carson describes the sea and the animals that live on the edge of the see. She talks about how the animals survive off of each other and how the continue to live and strive. She has talked about a few crabs, the seagulls, mussels, and snails and how they are connected with each other.