The Use of Language in A Fable for Tomorrow by Rachel Carson Essay exam

The Use of Language in A Fable for Tomorrow by Rachel Carson The extracts give the impression of stark contrast, even contradictions, from the very beginning. The author chooses to use the word fable in the title, which, traditionally, is something fictional and also usually refers to the past and yet this is coupled with ‘tomorrow’. This indicates that the author is looking to show the reader that, although the situation she refers to in the second extract may not be factual in its entirety, it may not be long before it is. Carson uses graphical descriptions to convey the idea of harmony and peacefulness in the first paragraph ‘white clouds of bloom drifted above the green fields’. The author uses all of the senses to invite the reader to picture the scene more vividly. Carson uses language that suggests she has seen the subject matter on several occasions and knows it well, she describes how the scene changes from spring to autumn ‘oak and maple and birch set up a blaze of colour’ and then to winter ‘dried weeds rising above the snow’. Carson’s detailed descrip...