Light Pollution on Animals

I plan on writing my research paper over the effects lighting has on birds and turtles. Many people joke and laugh about birds flying into building, calling them “stupid”. What the people do not know is that the deaths of many birds are from the lights that they are using. People need to be aware that birds are dying from hitting buildings and dropping several stories. When thought about, most of society goes to the beach with no intentions that the beach is turtle egg laying territory. When the turtles hatch and attempt to go back into the ocean they rely on light, so city lights can be an issue. Studies have been done on birds and what type of lights effect there flight patterns. More research is being taken part by me on how to help survival rates of turtles. I plan on using pathos, persuasion through emotion, and ethos, persuasion through credibility. I want to be able to persuade people who have big hearts and people who need facts in order to believe or care. In the film The City Dark, Ian Cheney and his crew are on a beach and talk about how thousands of Florida sea turtles get disorientated because of city lights. Also in the film, an Ornithologist at the Audubon Society, Susan Elbin discusses how billions of birds in the United States are killed from building collisions. I would like to maybe begin the paper with a quote from Chad Moore, of National Parks Services, “When we add light to the environment, that has the potential to disrupt habitat, just like running a bulldozer over the landscape can. Darkness is a necessary habitat for nocturnal animals…”(qtd. in City Dark). So far I have found articles about research that has been performed to find a light that does not affect bird migration. I have found articles about sea turtle hatchlings and how artificial lights from the city effects their way to the sea. I have been able to find my articles on Google Scholar. The research will be able to reinforce the legitimacy of my claim and persuade people to become aware. Research will plan a significant role in my essay because it has enabled me to be more informed on the issues and has informed me on ways that may be able to help the animals. If I am educated on the topic, from my research, then it will be easier and more informative when the essay is read. I hope that my paper will be informative and emotional enough to reach out to people who do not think about anything but the well-being of themselves. The way I see it, for every one person that is affected by my paper they will tell a friend or family member. Then, that friend or family member will also tell a friend or family member. Therefore, eventually many people will know about the dangers of light pollution to animals and something will be done to help animal survival. 

the need for light

According to director Ian Cheney, “There is controversy over whether more light leads to less crime, but there is agreement that light seems to make people feel safer, almost like it’s built into our genes to move closer to the campfire or to the brightest city” (City Dark). People have a struggle against darkness. As a woman, I do not like going anywhere when it is dark out of fear that I will be abducted. Abduction at night would be the smartest. Someone can sneak up to you and you wouldn't know it until they have you trapped. I believe that if someone was going to commit a crime it would be easier to get away with if committed at night. It would be easier to slip away from a crime without any face recognition if it is dark. Most people feel that if you can see a shadow they feel safer. Personally at night, I feel safer if I have a dim light and music playing when I go to bed. If my bedroom is dark and silent I tend to lie in my bed frightened. In the mornings when I take my dog outside to use the restroom, I panic if he barks because I cannot see if anyone is there. There is just a since of needing light to feel safe. My sister also has to sleep with a light and noise. She runs through the house if the lights are all off because she is frightened. I do not think it is a fear of the dark but a fear of what could be in the dark. Anything or anyone could be lingering in the dark but you wouldn't be able to see. If I do go somewhere after dark I park under a light in case someone attempts to hurt me I can see their face. My mom and I keep flashlights in our purses. I believe Cheney when he says “almost like it’s built into our genes to move closer the campfire”. There is an indescribable need of light when it is dark. My body becomes uncomfortable, stressed, and freighted when put into the dark. It is just built into me that I need light to feel safe. 

All because of the Stars

In the film The City Dark, Jeff Kuhn, astronomer at the University of Hawai’i, states “If our civilization didn't see the stars and didn't see how big the universe was, would they come to believe that they’re more important in this much tinier universe because that’s all they see?” (qtd. in City Dark). I believe that if people did not see the stars they would believe they are more important in the universe. If people do not see that there is something bigger than them of course they will think they are more important. People would think they are the most powerful and more dominate than the animals and plants. People think that because animals and plants do not speak that they are less intelligent than themselves. But, plants and animals are smart in different ways. Plants eat, drink, breath, and reproduce just as humans only in a different manner. Animals eat, drink, breath, and reproduce just as humans and usually in a similar manner. Aren't humans a type of animal? Doesn't that make us in a way equal as the others? According to the food chain we are higher than other animals but if I was to come into a situation with a lion I would not see myself being more powerful than him. The lion would dominate over me. How do I know there are lions though? I don’t walk out my door and see them. I am educated that in another part of the world there are animals that do not live on the continent that I live on. How do people know that there are other continents? Before there were cities full of lights a man looked up at the clear sky and saw millions of stars and believed that there is more stuff past his home. A man explored the lands, buy star navigation, and came across things he had never seen before. A man build a boat and sailed through the ocean, by star navigation, and discovered land, animals, plants, and people that he had never seen before. I know that there is a lion in Africa because a man followed the stars and discovered that the world is more than it seems. People are only germs compared to the universe. How do I know that there is a universe? One, I can look up in the sky and see a sea of stars. Two, men and women risked their lives to fly toward the stars to see if there is more than just stars. All of these adventures were all because some looked up at the stars and realized that there is something bigger than them. All because of the stars…

Twinkle Twinkle Little Colt

Buttercup when pregnant

 Buttercup when pregnant

Buttercup and her colt

Underneath the star filled sky of Hankamer, Texas, I watched the miracle of life. Our family horse, Buttercup, gave birth to her beautiful colt. The sweet relief on her face, after carrying the large baby after so many months, was absolutely amazing. Not only was Buttercup relieved, but my family was relieved that she had a successful birth. My family and I watched as Buttercup cared for her baby. TShe licked the colt clean and helped it stay standing when it would stumble. It was such a wonderful experience and very emotional for all of us. I looked over at my father and noticed a tear in his eye. The amazement of the entire family and all the friends around me was comforting. As we watched the two, the colt began to find Buttercups nipple so it could eat. We looked at each other in astonishment, amazed at how the colt knew that was her source of nourishment. It is explainable how the colt knew without having to be told. It is amazing to think of how the colt was once sperm in the male horse and an egg in Buttercup then it comes together and grows into a baby horse. Then once the colt it fully configured it naturally comes out and into the world. Without instruction the colt learns to balance and walk experiencing the world through its newly developed eyes. It was the little things that amazed us. As we walked out of the barn to head home I looked up and stopped in my tracks to admire the sky. Stars were everywhere I looked. I was able to detect constellations. As I began to see the way the stars lined up I began to wonder how the constellations work. How did the stars form in space? What is the purpose of stars? While staring at the stars I began to realize how amazing the night sky is. I began to see the beauty in the sky. It is weird how the stars come together naturally, with no instructions, just like the colt being born. The stars line up and create pictures and have meanings, same as the colt has a meaning. I am not sure what the meanings of the stars are, or the meaning of the colt is, but I believe they do have a meaning. 

“Reading the Obituary Page” by Linda Pastan and “Request” by Lawrence Raab, are two poems of similar interest. Both of these poems can be associated with death.

“Reading the Obituary Page”, when first read, can be thought as about a little kids birthday party. Looking at the poem again, you can see the narrator is realizing that death will come. Pastan writes “in starched dresses/with ribbons/ in miniature jackets/ and tiny ties”. When Pastan was a child, when accompanying a birthday party you dressed in a dress or jacket with your bow ties. When people pass away they are dressed in a dress or jacket with their bow ties. When Pastan writes “we would circle/ the chairs/ at birthday parties/ when the music stopped, lunge to be seated”, literally she mean the children are playing musical chairs but figuratively she could be meaning that everyone is running around having fun with life and when their life (music) stops they lunge into a casket (seat). To end the poem Pastan writes, “one/ by one we were welcomed to hard ground and empty air”. What she could mean is that one by one her friends began to die, welcomed to hard ground (being buried) and empty air (death).

“Request”, is about a person who is sitting down, probably close to death, deciding what song that they want played at their funeral. Raab writes, “Play it at the end of the service/after my friends have spoken/I don’t believe I’ll be listening in”. One can tell that the narrator is talking about a funeral because at funerals music is played at the end, your friends go up and speak memories of you, and the narrator also says “I don’t believe I’ll be listening in”, which tells the reader that he will be dead. Not only is the narrator picking a song to be played at their funeral but they want to pick something that has a bit of cheer in it. Raab writes “Sad enough/at first, but doesn’t it slide into/tapping your feet, then clapping your hands”.

bothering poem

A poem that bothers me is “Highway 12, just east of Paradise, Idaho” written by Robert Wrigley. What bothers me is the description of how a doe was killed. It breaks my heart to know that the animal was killed and reading how her tongue was hanging out and her eyes were vacant. The poem describes what happen to the doe, the doe “skated many yards… fell slowly”. The narrator says “her neck caught a sign post that spun her across both lanes and out of sight”. I don’t understand the reason to write a poem about a doe’s death on highway 12 just east of paradise, Idaho. Maybe, the narrator was scared that he hit the doe. The narrator caused an innocent doe to lose its life. I can only imagine the narrator felt remorse and they may be why he wrote the poem. At the end of the poem, after the narrator tells about the deer hitting the sign post and spinning across the lanes and out of sight he says “For which, I admit, I was grateful, the road there being dark, narrow, and shoulderless”. Wondering why he was grateful for this, the conclusion that he was grateful the doe landed on the side of the road instead of in the middle of the road where someone could hit it again. He was grateful that it was dark so that way when someone drives by the doe is out of sight so they wouldn’t see the dead animal. He was grateful the road did not have a shoulder because without a shoulder there is not a place for a car to stop, if a car pulled over and stopped they could accidently find the dead doe and what a horrible discovery that would be. 

Comparison of two poems

       The poems “Variations on the Word Sleep” by Margaret Atwood and “Monorhyme for the Shower” by Dick Davis are structured around someone they love. The two poems share similarities and differences.

       The author, Dick Davis, of “Monorhyme for the Shower” is sitting back admiring a woman in the shower. This is concluded from the description of her lifting her arms to soap her hair (line 1). As the author watches the woman, he realized how quick time passed since he first loved her. He says “the movement of that buoyant pair [her breasts] is like a spell to make me swear twenty-odd years have turned to air” (lines3-5). Now he flashes back to when they are young and he wouldn’t dare approach her or to ask her out (line7-8). Years passed, they have been together and had children. He still has a burning love for her and at the end of the poem she turns to him after her shower and smiles that he is there. The author is amazed that the girl he loved when he was young, the girl he was afraid to confess his love to, is his wife of twenty plus years and she loves him.

       In the poem “Variations of the Word Sleep”, by Margaret Atwood, the narrator expressed how they would like to watch “you”, someone they love, sleep. They say it may not happen (line 2). This could mean that they may never be together. The narrator loves the sleeper but they do not love her. The narrator wants to enter the sleeper’s dreams. The narrator wants to experience the beauty in the dream and wants to be able to protect the sleeper from their fear. The narrator wants to be unnoticed but necessary, as necessary as air is to breath.

       The narrator in both poems is admiring a loved one and thinking about them. The difference between the two is that in “Monorhyme for the Shower” the narrator has their love, but in “Variations of the Word Sleep” the narrator wants the other person’s love.