Dissecting the World

            Enough is Enough.

It is not enough to say that the world and its inhabitants, are dying a little every day but to think that human beings are not only juggling their life in their own lives in their hands, but also the world and all the other inhabitants as well is unbelievable. After reading “The Collapse of Western Civilization,” by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, and “As the World Burns,” by Derrick Jenson and Stephanie McMillan, I began to recognize a common theme in the novels: sometimes the act of knowing does not always lead to the act of doing, and sometimes the act of doing is not always the reaction of knowing. 

Claim: The Collapse of Western Civilization promotes a more active government that regulates and controls the economy and therefore the climate but As the World Burns shows that the government is the problem and that corrupt relationship that corporations have with it are the problem.

Both As the World Burns, a graphic novel by Derrick Jensen and Stephanie McMillan, and The Collapse of Western Civilization by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M Conway focus on the state of the environment and how global warming and climate change have affected the world. Both books also have some fantastical elements, the graphic novel has humans speaking with animals and stars a bunny as a rebellious activist. While The Collapse of Western Civilization is set in the future in the year 2300. Both these book have some extreme situations or ideas that while initially may make them hard to believe, the far-fetched ideas also emphasize the gravity of the situation. The portrayal of the U.S.

-Explore difference between how ATWB and CWC answer the questions:

-Can change come from inside the system or if the system must be overthrown

-Where does the blame lie (people? Corporations? Government?) and what should be done to slow/stop climate change

-what can an individual do to make a difference?

-“For the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us to temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.” –Audre Lorde

As The World Burns notes:

-Bunny burns down animal testing facility, seems to advocate for eco-terrorism/illegal actions to effect change

-“All we need to do is dismantle the industrial economy?”(7)

P1: Intro

              Thesis: By personifying the issues highlighted in the work and creating tangible heroes and villains in 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Stay in Denial, this graphic novel is accessible and evokes sentiment from readers. This, ultimately, makes it more successful at relaying the dangers of global warming to those who read it than the essay “The Collapse of Western Civilization,” which fails to do these things.

P2: Personification of issues/tangible subjects (characters) evoking sentiment in 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Stay in Denial

              -Hero: Bunnista

              -Victims: Polar bears, animals in testing center

Many people in the United States have been raised with the importance of recycling. By separating your plastics from paper will truly help save the Earth. Many people have also been told that by using fluorescent light bulbs or taking shorter showers will help save the planet. But is that really true? Eyes and minds are opened when reading “The Collapse of Western Civilization” a science fiction novel telling the story of humanity’s future in which leads to mass migration due to a drastic change in climate. And when reading “As The World Burns: 50 Simple Things you can do to Stay in Denial”, the reader learns that humanity’s small steps towards saving the planet simply is not enough. Society must come together to stop ecocide.

   As global warming has been becoming a greater issue, it raises the question what can we do to stop it? In order to stop something, we need to figure out what is the root cause of the problem.  In the science-fiction The Collapse of Western Civilization, Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway create an image of what the future will be like if western civilization doesn’t change their habits that hurt the environment. Moreover, Derrick Jensen and Stephanie McMillian’s graphic novel, As the World Burns: 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Stay in Denial, uses satire to depicts human’s unwillingness to effectively stop climate change.

The stigma of the graphic novel is one that is still alive and well. Considered “comic books,” by many, they are often read in the sense that they provide a form of entertainment that is fun and easy to swallow. As the World Burns, however, turns that stereotype on its head. Through its use of powerful images and harsh language, this graphic novel conveys a powerful, and important, message: The corporations and big businesses are the ones actually responsible for ecocide, and it is up to us to stop them. In The Collapse of Western Civilization, the same topic, climate change, is discussed, but in much more scholastic terms.

The Collapse of Western Civilization by Naomi Oreskes & Erik Conway:

• A short yet sophisticated novel

• Considered satire

  • Although it was intended to be satirical when it was published in 2014, it has become almost prophetic to the point where it no longer has any humorous notes

• Describes the collapse in retrospect

• Who is the audience?

  • Because it is a novel it is not as appealing to younger readers as a graphic novel

• As the World Burns has visuals that help to simplify the ideas and makes it easier for the reader to understand.  The humor engages some readers.  Personally, the humor turns me off from the book because I don’t want to associate these horrible things that are happening to the world with something funny.  I’m worried that some people would not be able to identity the humor and just agree that nothing can be done to improve the state of the world.
• The Collapse of Western Civilization is a book that is more appropriate for more educated people because it is harder to understand.  It is very straight forward; therefore you must be more interested in the matter to get a good grasp on the ideas.  Children would not understand it.
• I don’t like how As the World Burns makes