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CalebLindquist
Mrs.JackieBurr,Instructor
English1010,Section5
23May2016
ParlousPleasures
ThearticleOurVanishingNight,addressesVerlynKlinkenborgsperspectiveonthe
destructiveconsequencesoflightpollutiontonaturalbiologicalbehaviors.Asanactive
journalistfor
NationalGeographic
,VerlynKlinkenborgwrotethisarticletoteachhisaudience
aboutthedetrimentsoflightpollutionandhowgloballywehavecometoaddressthisproblem.
KlinkenborgsuggeststhatWhereverhumanlightspillsintothenaturalworld,someaspectof
lifemigration,reproduction,feedingisaffected.Hetargetsthegeneralpopulationasawhole
becausethisproblemaffectsnaturalbiologicalbehaviorsofbothhumansandanimals
worldwide.Thisarticleusesemotionalappeals,logic,andfigurativelanguagetoappealtothe
intendedaudienceinordertoeducatereaderstosupportdevelopmentofexteriorlightingmodels
acrossthegloberatherthanpermitharmtothenaturalworld.
Throughoutthearticle,Klinkenborgusesemotionalappealstoincorporatethe
psychologicalessenceofthereadergrowingphysicalproblemoflightpollution.Whiletalking
aboutbehaviorsofhumanbeings,Klinkenborgdeliverstheideathat,eventhoughmostofus
dontthinkofourselvesasdiurnalbeingsanymorethanwethinkofourselvesasprimatesor
mammalsorEarthlings.Yetitstheonlywaytoexplainwhatwevedonetothenight.Inthe
introductionandconclusionofOurVanishingNighttheauthorpersistentlyappliestheterms
we,our,andus.Amidstestablishinghisclaimsinhisarticle,Klinkenborgreiteratesthisword

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choiceinavarietyofperspectivestopromotetheemotionalappealofuniformassociationofthe
problemoflightpollutiontotheaudience.Klinkenborgcasuallyallowsthereaderstorecognize
howtheyareaffiliatedandwheretheyfitinamongthedistributionoflightpollutionasexterior
lightmodelsaregloballyadvancing.ThewayKlinkenborgpresentshistexttohisaudience
enticesthemtomakeachangewithouthimeverneedingtocommandthemtobethechange.
Beyondreachingintotheemotionalappealsofhisreaders,Klinkenborgmatureshis
articlebybuildinghisclaimswithlogicalexplanations.Klinkenborgconveys,lightpollutionis
largelytheresultofbadlightingdesign,whichallowsartificiallighttoshineoutwardand
upwardintothesky,whereitsnotwanted,insteadoffocusingitdownward,whereitis.Within
thisexample,VerlynKlinkenborgtakestheopportunitytoexplaintohisaudiencethemethodin
howlightpollutionaffectstheappearanceofthenightsky.Indoingso,theaudienceisimpacted
bytheauthorslogicalappealsinreferencetothesituationandtheyunderstandwhytheauthors
claimsarevalid.Astheauthordevelopshisclaims,theaudiencehastheopportunitytosee
whichperspectivetheauthorwantstheaudiencetoevaluate.Expansivedevelopmentofclaims
breakstheauthorsmainclaimintosmaller,morerelatableideasthattheaudiencecandepict.
Uponretrievingtheauthorsintendedperspectivethroughlogicalexplanation,theaudience
understandstheauthorsunderlyingrationale.
Klinkenborgembellishestheaudiencesunderstandingthroughoutthearticlebyusing
figurativelanguage.Theunderlyingfocusofglobalandastronomicalconceptsasheuses
figurativelanguagetocreaterelatableexamples.InKlinkenborgsarticlehestates,nearlyallof
nighttimeEuropeisanebulaoflight.TheauthorstrategicallycomparedEuropetothe
astronomicalideaofanebula.Nebulaearedensecloudsofvariablegasesintheuniverse

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accumulatedthroughgravitationalforcewhichbyforcepresstheelementstogetherforming
stars.AlllivingcreaturesuponEarthusethevastexpansesoflightemittedbystarstoperform
dailynecessarylifesustainingactivities.Asnebulaearethebasesourcethatleadsdevelopment
oflighttotheuniverse,KlinkenborgequallyequatesEuropeastheblossomingcenteroflightof
thehomogenouscrepusculeshadowingtheEarthatnight.Klinkenborgallowstheaudienceto
evolvetheirinterpretationofhisclaimsbytheuseofdirectcomparisonofsimiles.Aswellas
allowingthereaderstodeveloptheirrelationtothetextthroughfigurativelanguage,especially
similes,theaudienceisabletodistinguishthecredibilityoftheauthorasKlinkenborganalyzes
thesimilaritiesofhisvoluminousknowledgeonthesubject.
Currentmanufacturingandengineeringtrendscausethelightemittedfromexteriorlight
modelstopollutethenightskyleavingnegativeeffectsinvaryingregionsofthenatural
environment.Damagingeffectsofpoorlydesignedexteriorlightingmodelsdisruptbothhuman
andanimalbiologicalbehaviors.Thefluctuatinglightlevelsbeyondthenaturalcircadian
systemsleaveorganismswithunnaturalfeeding,reproduction,andmigrationhabits.Inhis
article,Klinkenborgappealstotheemotionsofhisaudienceinordertomakethemfeelincluded
withinthearticle.Logicalappealsaredemonstratedbytheauthortoclarifythequalityof
intelligencebehindtheclaims.Theuseoffigurativelanguageevokesadeeperrelationand
understandingbetweenthereaderandthetext.Consequenttotheuseoftheseliterarytechniques,
Klinkenborgattractsthereadertosupporthisclaimthatdevelopmentofexteriorlightingmodel
designsisamoreeffectivewayofimprovingthefluctuatingmishapsinbiologicalbehaviors.
Concludingtheessay,theaudiencehasopenedtheirunderstandingtotheconceptthatlight

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pollutionaffectsthenaturalecosystemandthatonlybybecomingawareasindividualswecan
solvethisproblem.
WorkCited
Klinkenborg,Verlyn.OurVanishingNight.
TheBedfordReader
.10thed.Eds.X.J.Kennedy,
DorothyM.Kennedy,andJaneE.Aaron.Boston:Bedford,2009.642651.Print.