Earth Without People Reaction Paper

Alex McKinnon

Ms. Morrell

Honors English IV

10/3/12                   

Earth Without People Reaction Paper

            Alan Weisman, the writer of Earth Without People, uses a lot of imagery in his writing to involve the five senses. Weisman uses imagery to give the reader the right picture in their head and he does not “over do it” causing the reader to get lost. Imagery makes the story more entertaining and gives the reader a true understanding of the image that the writer is trying to portray.

            For instance, Weisman wrote “A dry lightning strike, igniting decades of uncut, knee-high Central Park grass, would spread flames through town.” This statement gives the reader a better understanding of the unusual idea that if humans were not around to cut and tame that grass in the famous Central Park of New York, something as simple as a lightning strike could start a fire and destroy the entire property. Also his choice to use words like “uncut” and “knee high” help give the reader that image in there head.

            Another example of imagery is when Weisman wrote “As lightning rods rusted away, roof fires would leap among buildings into paneled offices filled with paper. Meanwhile, native Virginia creeper and poison ivy would claw at walls covered with lichens…” This excerpt from the article gives many examples of imagery. He used phrases like “fires would leap among buildings” fires can not really leap onto buildings but his word choice gives you the right image in your head. He also describes how the fire would burn the papers in the office building which is not a complete necessity but it boosts the creativity of his writing. Along with his use of the word claw referring to the poison ivy which “claws up the wall”.

            One last example of imagery is when Weisman writes “As water sluiced away soil beneath pavement, streets would crater.” He suddenly gives us the image of water beneath the soil causing the streets to cave in. Weisman uses imagery throughout his writing to connect the reader and make them use their five senses.