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Celeste Jensen
Professor Jessica Frogley
English 1010
March 14, 2012
Rhetorical Analysis of “There Must Be The Look Ahead”
Theodore Roosevelt is concerned how natural resources are being used. He is
also concerned about how this matter will affect future generations and this is why
he writes “There Must be the look Ahead.” The speech was given on the Seventh
Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1903. In Roosevelt’s speech he shares
some ideas that could help the preservation of natural resources. One of his ideas is
to connect the great rivers with the Mississippi. He wants to create a water highway
from the north to the south and from the east to the west of the country. Roosevelt
wants to make the water highways in order to release the congestion of the
railroads. He also proposes to fence the grazing lands, and to improve the irrigation
system. Another of Roosevelt’s proposals is to preserve or replace the forest
especially the timber that is betting exhausted. Roosevelt wants to educate people to
use and take better care of the natural resources for the benefit of future
generations.
Roosevelt was motivated to give the speech because he was unsatisfied with
the situation in which the natural resources were being used. He was also motivated
by the congestion of the railroads, and the annual financial loss because of unused
waterpower. He says, “Realizing the utilization of waterways and waterpower,
forestry and irrigation, are all independent part of the problem.” Roosevelt wants
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the nation to know that they can use better the resources of the country for the
benefit of everyone in the nation as well as the future generations. He is also
motivated by the interest of some people who want to “exhaust the land for their
own immediate profit” without thinking of future generations.
Roosevelt’s purpose is to change the way his audience thinks about
conservation. He wants them to understand that the use of natural resources with
limits, without exhausting them, is a great way to help the nation. For example,
Roosevelt mentions the idea of using the Mississippi and the Great Lakes and
creating a waterway, this could extend the coastline and benefit to the nation.
Roosevelt also wants to make the fencing of grazing lands legal, so the owners of
nomad flocks can be kept in check. He has a lot of ideas that can help the country to
be more successful.
While Roosevelt’s audience consists of Congress, the Government, the Inland
Waterway Commission, the Federal Government, and the Public Land Commission, a
lot more people are affected by the decisions of Congress: the nation in general,
future generations, farmers, media, ranchmen, and homemakers. For example,
When Roosevelt talks about fencing of the public lands, he talks to the Federal
Government and suggests, ”The Federal Government should have control of the
range, whether by permit or lease, as local necessity may determine.”
Roosevelt’s main claim is that the nation will be successful if natural resources are
used effectively. For example, Roosevelt says, “The mineral wealth of the country,
the coal, iron, oil, gas and the like, does not reproduce itself, and therefore is certain
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to be exhausted ultimately.” He claims that conservation means taking care of the
resources the nation has and preserving them by replacing them.
Roosevelt’s argument about conservation of the natural resources is relevant
as he makes a reasonable comparison based on logic and available statistics. For
example, he explains, “The Government dams should be used to produce hundreds
of thousands of horse power as an incident improving navigation; for the annual
value of the unused water power the US perhaps exceeds the annual value of all the
products of all the mines.” Roosevelt is convinced that if the nation uses untapped
natural resources, the nation will benefit.
Roosevelt addresses his audience and the different points of view of people.
He says, “There has been, of course, opposition to this work opposition from
interested men who desire to exhaust the land for their own immediate profit.” He
considers other people opinions but at the same time he dismisses their argument
when he says that it is for their own profit.
Roosevelt use appeals to character or ethos. He shows that he is
knowledgeable about the issue of conservation of natural resources. He says, “We
have made a beginning in forest preservation, but...so rapid has been the rate of
exhaustion of timber in the US in the past, and so rapidly is the remainder being
exhausted, that the country is unquestionably on the verge of a timber famine.” This
quote it is defiantly relevant, because in order to know that the timber is getting
exhausted Roosevelt defiantly researched about it. Roosevelt also mentioned, “about
20% of the forested territory is now reserved in national forest”, he is conveying his
readers that he knows about the topic by presenting some statistics.
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Another of Roosevelt’s appeals is pathos because he uses descriptive
language, for example, he describes the people that are getting the lumber for a less
money, without thinking in the future generations”. He calls them “savages”. This is
a very strong word, which creates a sensation of his passion and emotion for the
conservation the natural resources. Roosevelt also mentions that the nation does
not care enough about conservation. He says, “the nation are willing to proceed in
the issue of conservation with “happy-‐go-‐lucky indifference.” He calls his audience
to take his perspective and to change their perspective. Roosevelt also provides an
example that shows he knows what his readers value. He found a common ground
between his audience and his point of view, He says, “to skin and exhaust the land in
stead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the
days of our children.” Roosevelt uses the sentence “in the days of our children” the
word children is a word that most people can connect to, because everyone has a
family and people that they care about.
Roosevelt uses logos because he states a premise of his argument and then
the conclusion of it follows from his premise. “But forests if used as all our forest
have been used in the past and as most of them are still used, will be either wholly
destroyed, or so damaged that many decades have to pass before effective use can
be made of them again.” He shows cause and effect, if the nation does not take care
of the natural resources, they will be destroy and the consequence will be that it will
take a long time before it can be use again.”
Roosevelt had a lot of sources that were available at the time. Some of them
are not very specific. He says, “For the last few years, through several agencies, the
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Government has been endeavoring to get our people to look ahead.” It is difficult to
know which agencies he is talking about. Based on the evidence of his essay, as well
as his knowledge as the President of the United States, Roosevelt makes a relevant
argument supported by statistics, examples and reasoning.