Klein’s Rhetorical Technique
In this week’s discussion board post, please copy and paste each question and then respond underneath.
Read: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/change-within-obstacles-we-face-are-not-just-external/
1) Write a paragraph that uses the definition example pattern. You may choose any word that you like, or use the word “progress”.
2) Klein’s thesis (main point) appears at the end of paragraph three. She writes, “Climate change is a collective problem demanding collective action the likes of which humanity has never actually accomplished. Yet it entered mainstream consciousness in the midst of an ideological war being waged on the very idea of the collective sphere.” To what degree do you agree/disagree with her? Explain.
3)At the end of Klein’s essay, she quotes Wendell Berry in order to argue that the way to make meaningful progress related to climate change is to “Stop somewhere and begin the thousand-year-long process of knowing a place.” What do Berry and Klein mean by this? Do you agree with this solution?
4)To summarize, Naomi Klein believes that progress requires “collective” action and that it must begin at the local level. Compare Klein’s beliefs to Malcolm Gladwell’s notion of “strong-tie activism” or Fredrick Douglas’s assertions about “struggle”.
