The Road from Rio by David Suzuki

The thesis of this essay is in “the Road from Rio”, David Suzuki argues that there is too much organizing and talking about how to save the planet, but not enough action is being taken and he is successful in achieving his aim.

The primary rhetorical aim is Argumentative. He is trying to convince the reader of his point of view while looking at consumers and realizing that they are wasting too much and affecting the planet.

The secondary rhetorical aim is Expository, as he is informing the reader of the earth summit of Rio, which was a conference where governments of many countries gather and discuss about the environment, what is wrong, and development, what needs to be done.

He tries to raise the awareness that things talked about in the past are still apparent now and actions need to be taken to solve the problems. He achieved both of these aims as he is being a critic of this situation and criticizes this issue with evidence and reasons.

The title “The Road from Rio” reflects Suzuki’s central idea that people cannot afford to wait for another opportunity to look in the past and see the issues are still apparent now and that people need to take a different road from Rio and try to act now.

The date is relevant to the essay because in 1992, which is when the earth summit took place. The previous major global conference was in 1972, and in 1992, the same issues were raised and the issues have even worsened.

The author’s area of expertise is that he is an environmentalist and is a critic of the earth summit in Rio for this essay. The intended audience is everybody in general around the world, but specifically to consumers and how our consumerist ways have impacted the planet.

The tone of the essay is serious and this indicates that Suzuki’s attitude toward this topic is also serious. He wants his readers to think he is trustful and to believe him. He gives a serious tone in the essay because he wants to raise awareness of issues that need to be solved and if they are not solved today, the issues will continue to grow as time goes on.

In this essay, he uses an analogy at the start of the essay of an impending car crash. This analogy talked about how a packed car heading for a brick wall was not stopping or slowing down because most did not notice the wall or thought it was a mirage. The people that knew of the wall could not be heard because they were in the trunk.

This relates well to the essay because as Suzuki described, most people are continuing doing what they do and affecting the planet negatively and do not see a negative result on the environment, while some people are actively trying to help the planet and but cannot be heard.

Suzuki