Silent Spring

by Rachel Carson

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Silent Spring Questions and Answers

In "A Fable for Tomorrow," Rachel Carson uses a fictitious town. Why?  

Why did Rachel Carson write "Silent Spring?"

Carson explains the title of her book. Why is it called "Silent Spring"?

What literary and rhetorical devices are there in the first chapter of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson?

What is the main idea of Silent Spring?  

In "The Obligation to Endure," Mrs. Carson uses the metaphor "train of disaster" to explain the impact of pesticides on insects. Why is this? 

What alternatives does Rachel Carson propose to the use of chemicals to control unwanted pests and plants in Silent Spring?

What is the overall purpose of Silent Spring, and which literary devices does the author use to accomplish this?

What are the scientific concepts used in Silent Spring by Rachel Carson?

In Silent Spring, Carson describes the kitchen and the garden as poisoned places. What particular implications do these observations have for women? Do you think Carson was aware of these?

Her description of chemical spraying suggests that moral dilemmas are involved in the use of toxins as well as technical problems of environmental management. What moral dilemma is Carson worried about?

Rachel Carson's discussion of Dutch Elm disease leads her to advocate "the conservation of variety." What does she mean by this?

How does the style of Silent Spring affect Rachel Carson's purpose in writing the book?

Where was the town described in chapter 1 located?

What moral dilemma is Rachael Carson worried about in Silent Spring?

How did Rachel Carson impact America with her book, Silent Spring?

In chapter 3 of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, what is uniquely problematic about DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons?

Explain and analyze the forms of conflict in Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, Walden by Henry David Thoreau, and A Sand County Almanac: With Other Essays on Conservation from Round River by Aldo Leopold. Please consider internal and external conflicts (i.e., man and nature, man and others, or man and self).

In Silent Spring Carson says that the public is "fed little tranquilizing pills of half truth" Why is this metaphor effective?

"On the farms the hens brooded, but no chicks hatched" refers to what category of DDT's effects?

What are some metaphors in the first twenty pages of Silent Spring?

According to Carson, how do pesticides affect cell function?

What is the significance of the book Silent Spring on today's environmental awareness and green movement?

In Silent Spring, how does Rachel Carson appeal to authority, especially in paragraph 27, and what is the effect of her use of statistics in paragraph 28?

In Silent Spring Carson invokes the term "ecology" to describe "the web of life or death"; what role does this concept play in her analysis?

How did Rachel Carson express her concerns about pesticide use (DDT)?

What did the author do well? What did the author do poorly?

Is Carson's technique of describing environmental problems in a fictional town in Silent Spring effective? Explain.

What point was Rachel Carson trying to get across to the general public in Silent Spring?

What were the major supporting arguments?

Why was Silent Spring such an important book?

In Silent Spring, what is Carson referring to when she writes that there is a "human price" for the use of toxins?

What points of view are reflected in Silent Spring? Why should this book be recommended or not recommended as a valid and accurate source of information?

Why did Carson want the poisonous chemicals present in insecticides to be called biocides in Silent Spring?

Is Rachel Carson's thesis in Silent Spring still relevant today?

Why did Rachel Carson's Silent Spring receive so much public attention immediately after publication?

In a few sentences, summarize the content of Carson's book so far. Make a statement regarding her perspective on the issues she is addressing.

Why is runoff in rivers and the ocean such a serious problem, as outlined in Silent Spring?

In this chapter, Carson critiques two well-known federal "eradication" campaigns involving aerial application of pesticides. What were the targets of these two campaigns? What does Carson see as the general lesson to be learned from them (p. 156)?

What exactly did Rachel Carson's Silent Spring say about pesticides?

To what sequence of events does Rachel Carson attribute this problem in her book Silent Spring? Is the bald eagle still in danger of extinction?

What does the book say about how nature shapes us and how we shape nature? Do you agree with that concept?

How do I understand the book Silent Spring? 

What happens to the farm animals and vegetation? What causes this sudden change?

How do the plants change after the town changes in Silent Spring by Rachel Carson?  

What happened during the "cranberry scare" of 1959?

In Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, what does she argue is wrong with the state of nature?

Describe how to write an essay on Silent Spring.

In the book "Silent Spring," is Carson opposed to all pesticides?

Have the harmful effects of chemicals on man & ecosystems lessened since Silent Spring was published?