Where the real beauty lies

The separation between people and nature is becoming more distinct with each generation. Richard Lous explains in his short story, Last Child in the Woods, that we as people strive to define ourselves as individuals however many times conform to the norm in effect to fit in. We look for the best technology wherever we go, sometimes forgetting what is right and wrong. He adopts a nostalgic tone in order to make society realize their mistakes. Lous appeals to logos, point of view, and imagery in a sheer effort to illustrate the separation of people and nature.

Lous begins his short story by acknowledging parents foolishness decision in increasing their children’s distractions from nature, such as television in vehicles. He questions the parents decision by asking why they “continue to expand the opportunities for them (the children) to watch,” when they want their children to watch less television? Lous affirms that less and less people are finding nature “worth watching” because of the numerous materialistic distractions. He points out this obvious question in order to make parents realize their mistakes and the way they are contradicting themselves. Lous use of logos within rhetorical questions conveys a contended tone that may cause parents and people to rethink their choices.

The point of view from which Lous is writing isn’t in first person however, is in third person omniscient. Lous appeals to the audience by never saying “I,” but rather words such as our, he, and they. He states that before technology was so integrated into everyones life, ”we actually looked out the window.” He realizes the separation between people and nature aggrandizing so Lous tries to draw in the readers attention and realization to it. Lous chooses third person in order to make the readers feel and realize the lack of appreciation they have towards nature.

Lous descriptive writing throughout the passage, evokes a clear image in the readers mind. He uses imagery to depict and describe happenings for children in past generations while in a car ride. He states, “we saw birds…variety of architecture.. and counted the cows and horses.” The images are carefully painted in the readers head all through the story making the problem between people and nature more personal and pressing. Furthermore, Lous emphasizes that “advertisers already stamp their messages into the wet sand of the public benches.” This metaphor creates a picture and demonstrates how necessary it is for people to appreciate nature and realize that technology is taking over peoples lives.

Richard Lou’s article “Last Child in the Woods,” is about the pressing problem on the separation of nature and people. The use of logos, point of view, and imagery helped him exemplify his argument and reach out to the readers. Lous makes it clear that humans no longer desire to witness the beauty of nature rather watch television or be engrossed in their phones. People are missing the big picture in life, and Lous makes it very clear that a change is needed to occur in our recognition to nature.