Tarani Bajwa

Transcript of Timed Writing

Literary Analysis

PROMPT:

In 2003, former US President Jimmy Carter wrote a foreword to arctic National Wildlife Refuge:

Seasons of Life and Line, A Photographic Journey by Subhankar Banerjee. Carefully read the

following passage. Then write an essay in which you define the central argument of the passage

and analyze the rhetorical strategies that Carter uses in his argument.

[1] The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge stands alone as America’s truly great wilderness.

This magnificent area is as vast as it is wild, from t5he windswept coastal plain where polar

bears and caribou give birth, to the towering Brooks Range where Dall sheep cling to cliffs and

wolves howl in the midnight sun.

[2] More than a decade ago, [my wife] Rosalyn and I had the fortunate opportunity to camp

and hike in these regions of the Arctic Refuge. During bright July days, we walked along ancient

caribou trails and studied the brilliant mosaic of wildflowers, mosses, and lichens that hugged the

tundra. There was a timeless quality about this great land. As the never-setting sun circled above

the horizon, we watched muskox, those shaggy survivors of the Ice Age, lumber along braided

rivers that meander towards the Beaufort Sea.

[3] One of the most unforgettable and humbling experiences of our lives occurred on the

coastal plain. 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. In a matter of a few

minutes, the sweep of tundra before us became flooded with life, with the sounds of grunting
animals and clicking hooves filling the air. The dramatic procession of the Porcupine caribou

herd was a once-in-a-lifetime wildlife spectacle. We understand firsthand why some have

described this special birthplace as “America’s Serengeti.”

[4] 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. Such proposed developments would forever destroy the wilderness character of

America’s only Arctic Refuge and disturb countless numbers of animals that depend on this

northernmost terrestrial ecosystem.

[5] The extraordinary wilderness and wildlife values of the Arctic Refuge have long been

recognized by both Republican and Democratic presidents. In 1960, President Dwight D.

Eisenhower established the original 8.9 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Range to preserve

its unique wildlife, wilderness, and recreational values. Twenty years later, I signed the Alaska

National Interest Lands Conservation Act, monumental legislation that safeguarded more than

100 million acres of national parks, refuges, and forests in Alaska. This law specifically created

the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, doubled the size of the former range, and restricted

development in areas that are clearly incompatible with oil exploration.

[6] Since I left office, there have been repeated proposals to open the Arctic Refuge coastal

plain to oil drilling. Those attempts have failed because of tremendous opposition by the

American people, including the Gwich’in Athabascan Indians of Alaska and Canada, indigenous

people whose cultures has depended on the Porcupine caribou herd for thousands of years.

Having visited many aboriginal peoples around the world, I can empathize with the Gwich’in’s

struggle to safeguard one of their precious human rights.

what is really at stake. At best, the Arctic Refuge might produce 1 to 2 percent of the oil our

country consumes each day. We can easily conserve more than that amount6 by driving more

fuel-efficient vehicles. Instead of tearing open the heart of our greatest refuge, we should use our

resources more wisely.

[8] There are few places on earth as wild and free as the Arctic Refuge. It is a symbol of our

national heritage, a remnant of frontier America that our first settlers once called wilderness.

Little of that precious wilderness remains.

[9] It will be a grand triumph for America if we can preserve the Arctic Refuge in its pure,

untrammeled state. To leave this extraordinary land alone would be the greatest gift we could

pass on to future generations.

ESSAY RESPONSE:

As the American wilderness was conquered by settlers, wild land was developed into

cities and farmland, with few reserves in between. One of these reserves, the Arctic National

Wildlife Refuge, is a beautifully preserved reminder of the wilderness before colonization. In

this foreword to an article about the National Wildlife refuge, former President Jimmy Carter

proves to the audience through rhetorical and persuasion techniques how important the wildlife

reserve is and how it must be protected from development.

The former president begins his foreword by giving the reader mental images of the

reserve’s beauty, to make the reader see through his eyes how extravagant and dazzling nature

can be. He describes it graciously as America’s “last great wilderness,” a great land of “timeless
quality.” [paragraphs 1 and 2]. He brings to attention the ancient history of the reserve: how it is

a preserved snapshot of the wild, a final memory of pre-settled America. He uses the words ‘last’

and ‘timeless’ to pull at the reader’s emotions, helping them build a picture of a beautiful place,

untouched by humanity. Carter describes the muskox, an animal found in the reserve, as a

“shaggy survivor of the Ice Age,” [paragraph 2] informing the reader that this animal has been

around longer than the very first of human civilizations, a living fossil. He repeatedly pushes the

concept of time onto the reader, opening them up to the idea that there is a place, a naturally wild

reserve, where life has continued the same since prehistory. Carter paints the image of an

immortal utopia, untouched by man ad in full natural glory, to the reader. In doing so, he begs

the question silently: What if it were gone?

Carter switches his focus, breaking the perfect image of unspoiled nature as he threatens

the reader with a what-if: the reserve is being threatened by oil drilling. Carter devalues the oil

industry, describing them as “a web of roads and pipelines, drilling rigs and industrial facilities.”

[paragraph 4] As important as crude oil and petroleum is to the fuel of the United States, Carter

shrinks it down to the idea of metal, pipes, and smoke ruining the beauty of ancient nature. He

preaches to the reader the effect oil drilling will have on the refuge, that it would “forever

destroy... America’s only Arctic Refuge” and “disturb countless numbers of animals.”

[paragraph 4] He runs the reader down a slippery slope, giving them only two options to choose:

a reserve of prehistoric nature, or an oil industry destroying it for fuel. By doing this, Carter

destroys the counterargument for developing the refuge. He pulls out multiple reasons to save it,

including the Gwich’in native peoples of the area, “whose culture has depended on the Porcupine

caribou for thousands of years.” [paragraph 6] He points out to the reader that not only does it

threaten nature, but also a way of life of the indigenous people of the region. He pulls the time
factor out again, letting the readers infer that these people have lived in harmony with their

environment, and now the whole balance is threatened. Carter instructs the reader to “look

beyond the alleged benefits of a short-term economic gain and focus on what is really at stake,”

giving the statistic that the “Arctic Refuge might provide 1-2% of the oil our country consumes

each day.” [paragraph 7]

He further puts down the opposing argument, evoking anger into the reader; why destroy

something so beautiful for 2% of fuel? Why threaten an ancient utopia of wildlife for economic

gain that could be unstable, and last for only a short time anyway? Carter gains the reader’s favor

and spurs anger towards the unnamed oil producers, sparking the need to take action.

Jimmy Carter, a former US president, writes to persuade the reader of the importance of

the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the growing threat of development it faces. As the ‘last’

wilderness of the American lands, it must be protected and preserved. It can hardly be imagined

what the country would be like without this prehistoric slice of life.