Mike Davis begins his argument, Let Malibu Burn: A Political History of the Fire Coast, with strong imagery: “consuming hundreds of homes in an inexorable march across the mountains to the sea” (par 1). Davis then constructs a premise that wildfires will continue to cause immense damage as long as private residential homes continue to exist in the Santa Monicas. He rebuts this premise by offering numerous historical examples such as the wildfire in 1835 in Jose Tapia's Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit and the 1903 fire that started in Calabasas and ended at the sea, both of which caused immense damage that even forced one person to move to Los Angeles after his ranch had been destroyed.
Davis then creates a new thesis regarding the relationship between the vegetation and fire intensity. He commences his thesis using ethos and logos, where he writes …show more content…
He then cites a sententia to support his previous claims, “radically underestimating the real balance between fire suppression and nature,” (22). Later, he employs ethos, where he refers to an Orange County Fire Captain who believes these areas were built for disasters, in reference to the Laguna Beach blaze.
Davis effectively uses epithets throughout the article, a stylistic device used to evoke ideas and emotions, such as, ""Gibbins foolishly attempted to defend their homes", "Hideously burned", and "the fires deadly thermal pulse,” (par 28). His effective use of epithets also went hand in hand with his use of pathos, one example being the story of an elderly couple who tried to outrun the fire, but died a tragic death in the process. He depicted the aftermath of this fire in an intense imagery that evokes emotion within the reader: “Malibu at dusk was a surreal borderland between carnival and catastrophe,” (par
Davis then creates a new thesis regarding the relationship between the vegetation and fire intensity. He commences his thesis using ethos and logos, where he writes …show more content…
He then cites a sententia to support his previous claims, “radically underestimating the real balance between fire suppression and nature,” (22). Later, he employs ethos, where he refers to an Orange County Fire Captain who believes these areas were built for disasters, in reference to the Laguna Beach blaze.
Davis effectively uses epithets throughout the article, a stylistic device used to evoke ideas and emotions, such as, ""Gibbins foolishly attempted to defend their homes", "Hideously burned", and "the fires deadly thermal pulse,” (par 28). His effective use of epithets also went hand in hand with his use of pathos, one example being the story of an elderly couple who tried to outrun the fire, but died a tragic death in the process. He depicted the aftermath of this fire in an intense imagery that evokes emotion within the reader: “Malibu at dusk was a surreal borderland between carnival and catastrophe,” (par