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Rhetorical ENGL Analysis: Important Questions to Ask
1. The speaker is a paleontologist named Michael Novacek whos best known for being the
senior vice president and provost of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
His credibility is further established through the 200 plus articles and books he has had
published.
2. The Sixth Extinction was originally published in the Washington Post on January 13, 2008.
Due to the prestige that comes with being published in the Washington Post it is apparent that the
article was intended to be read by other significant scientific figures. The fact that his audience
was likely equally educated on the topic justifies his use of past historic events and confirmed
facts instead of relying solely off his personal opinions.
3. The thesis reflected in his article is that unless the human population, as a whole, makes
drastic adjustments in the way we utilize Earths recourses we can expect mass extinction,
inhabitable living environments, and the eradication of the human species.
4. Novacek fortifies his alarming thesis by highlighting the species already being affected,
negative climate changes, and general omens that the scientific community has already
recognized as being signs of catastrophe in the future.
5. Despite the fact that he does include multiple personal opinions he accompanies them with
logical facts that have been verified by the International for Union the Conservation of Nature
that support his theories.
6. A topic that Novacek failed to cover in sufficient depth is the inevitable displacement of alien
species and the devastating effects they would have on the ecosystem they chose to migrate to.
7. At the end of the fourteenth paragraph Novacek utilizes a clever metaphor to compare human
beings to a fragile and dysfunctional royal family holding back a revolution.
ENGL 104-518
8. In the fifth paragraph Novacek paints a mental image of how horrific the aftermath of the
asteroid that hit 65 million years ago. He states that Earths atmosphere became a hell furnace,
with super-broiler temperatures sufficient not only to kill exposed organisms, but also to
incinerate virtually every forest on the planet.
9. Novacek inserts a touch of irony when he states that the amount of nitrogen oxide pollution
being produced by North America has leveled out but on the other side of the world China is
rapidly increasing their emission of the harmful gas.
10. The diction he utilizes is a combination of colloquial and technical.
11. Novacek imparts a unique array of tones that vary as the article progresses. In the first half of
the article the tone is a combination of mourning, guilt, regret, and ultimately fear. However, as
the article continues the tone changes from that of negative emotions to emotions associated with
hope, compassion, and motivation.