How Stories Can Save the Planet: A Rhetorical Analysis

The approach towards saving our planet may be simpler than we imagined. In The Washington Post article “Why You Should Tell Your Children about Vanishing Fireflies,” published in August 2023, Michael Coren argues that the key to restoring an ecosystem lies within looking back and understanding where an environment started, not simply what we perceive in the present. Coren, a climate activist and columnist at The Washington Post, has spent upwards of two decades covering the climate crisis and advocating for environmental conservation (Coren). Coren focuses his article around the idea of “shifting baselines,”' a term describing the “gradual change in the accepted norms” of the state of a particular environment due to the “lack of past information or lack of experience of past conditions” (Soga and Gaston 222). In the article Coren talks directly to the audience to emphasize the serious threat posed by shifting baselines. Coren states that at the core of baseline shifts lies a generational disconnect, and he introduces storytelling as the way to solve this. He urges the current generation to both listen intently to the stories of our ancestors and share our own experiences to following generations. Coren shapes his argument in order to appeal to the average American who notices the changes in the world around them but may not fully realize the extent to which the environment is shifting. Coren urges his audience to grasp the importance of recognizing shifting baselines in climate activism by changing the text’s point-of-view and calling for the passing down of personal stories through generations as the vital key to reconstructing the environment. 

Throughout the article, Coren acknowledges the audience through various points-of-view in order to establish a connection between himself and his readers. Coren introduces a direct address with the article title, using the phrase “why you should.” By giving a suggestion directly to the reader using the second-person pronoun, the audience is encouraged to listen to Coren’s reasoning. The title sets the basis for the entirety of the article, and by explicitly addressing the reader from the start, Coren is able to establish a mutual conversation with the audience and invite them to join his point-of-view. When talking about the shifting baselines in Maine, the reader is included in the conversation learning it is “one of our most logged states” (Coren). By using first-person plural pronouns such as “our” later, Coren is effectively grouping together himself and his audience. Coren also employs direct address when introducing statistics and presents his own experiences in order to strengthen both his argument and the reader's trust. After stating that Maine is one of the most logged states in the country despite its seemingly endless abundance of forest, Coren answers a potential question his readers may have. He states that “if you’re wondering where a lot of America’s 2-by-2s and toilet paper” originates, it’s from Maine. By proactively addressing his audience’s query, Coren prevents his audience from mistaking the current state of Maine as being shielded from the environmental destruction plaguing other states once considered primitive ecosystems. This statistic contradicts the primary perceptions of Maine as “Edenic,” whereas in reality, its ecosystem is being torn down one log at a time. Coren evokes feelings of surprise to further prompt the reader to question their knowledge of the environment around them. His use of direct acknowledgement when introducing statistics ensures that the audience must confront the loss of nature. Coren admits that before he conducted additional research, his unintentional ignorance led him to believe that Maine was unblemished by humans’ destructive behaviors. By divulging his feelings and exposing his own misconceptions, he is prompting the reader to do the same.

Appealing to a targeted audience, Coren is emphasizing that America is just as much the readers’ as it is his. He conveys that the ecological impact of shifting baselines should be as important to us as readers as it is to him. This idea is further brought into effect when Coren states, “To restore the rich relationship of species, and our place among them, we need to remember our ‘baselines,’ whether that’s in Maine or your own backyard.” The phrase “our place” signifies that the natural world and its relationships are universally important. Coren cultivates a sense of intimacy through his use of allied terms like “we,” and, by doing so, he inspires the audience by accentuating shared values and experiences.This guides the reader to the realization that shifting baselines are closer to them than previously understood, that, whether they notice it or not, their natural world is changing. Coren further emphasizes the power of storytelling by describing the act of remembering as an indispensable tool that can be used by anyone, including himself and the audience he is addressing. Coren ultimately enlists the audience’s active participation to collectively play a part in preventing baseline shifts, through reclaiming the flow of stories from past to future generations.

 At the end of the article, Coren relies onfirst-person singular address to analyze statistics that exhibit a positive trend, stating that “baselines don’t always decline.” Coren introduces the example of the bald eagle, stating how “many of the days I’ve been in Maine, I’ve watched bald eagles fly over Lake Mooselookmeguntic on their way to fishing grounds.” Coren then follows his personal anecdote with statistics of bald eagle populations across the United States, growing to more than 317,000 currently from a mere 800 in the 1960’s. Coren’s utilization of statistics paired with an individual experience deeply conveys his logic through the personalized delivery. Coren continues by promising to tell his son “stories about the wild lives in the places we go before anyone thought to call them ‘Maine’ or ‘California’. If he won’t inherit an ecosystem with all its parts, he’ll have a shot at reassembly.” Coren’s commitment to passing down stories prior to his own experiences aids the reader to better visualize how they can participate in environmental storytelling. Additionally, Coren is making it clear that baselines exhibiting positive trends improve when new generations access the past knowledge of family and older generations to rebuild the environment. In recounting these stories, Coren is demonstrating the solution he urges the audience to follow. Coren ends his article with a pitch for the environmental impact of storytelling he previously advocates for.

When digesting information, it is much easier for the reader to understand the importance of an argument when it is made personal to their experiences. Throughout the article, Coren invites the reader to join him and is able to intimately interact with the audience by using collective terms that unite him and the reader together. This act respectfully singles out the individual audience members. He also shares his personal journey towards understanding baseline shifts, includes his own mistakes and misconceptions, and details his plans to take action. Doing this, he guides the reader in coming to a similar realization. In full appreciation of Coren’s deft forms of address,the reader can begin to question how they view the surrounding world.