"Death From the Skies!" Close Reading

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 It's not often that a title births the need for one to do a double-take, and yet in this article's title "Death From the  Skies!" by Nicholas Duchesne, such a feat is most certainly achieved,  allowing one to eagerly continue reading . As of recently brown tree snakes have become a nuance to the animal species and human inhabitants of Guam, eliciting the cry for change . In an effort to decrease these lethal snakes, poison mice have been dropped into  Guam's jungles to reduce and eliminate the harm that's already been done.And through his  engaging style, Duchesne uses literary techniques such as: diction, details, and syntax to describe the measures that are being taken to underwhelm Guam  of it's current brown tree snake population.

   The use of diction in this article although largely colloquial, does at times play with the informal diction to add more emphasis  to the overall message, that being  the need to destroy these brown tree snakes. For example when Duchesne writes: "After the seemingly tasty snack is dropped on their arboreal doorstep, the snakes choke down their medicine," the weight of the word "arboreal" immediately catches a readers eye. In this sentence it serves to specify the habitat of these snakes. Their location is key to where these poison mice need to be dropped in order to have the desired affect. More interestingly, to describe the type of mice, in this particular sentence Duchesne writes: "Dead neonatal mice." Despite being young, these mice are most likely easily accessible and small, and therefore an  important  poison sacrifice adding to the effort to rid Guam of brown tree snakes. From there the everyday language becomes dominate where Duchesne plants recognizable words such as:  war, invasive, and culprits to lesson ones view on brown tree snakes. They are harming the jungles and these aforementioned words help to place them in the wrong.

 Without details a reader would not be  able to comprehend the severity that these brown tree snakes present to Guam's native species population and economy. To alarm readers, Duchsene's details focus on numbers in order to factually relate the dangers of these snakes. He writes: "Though relatively harmless to humans, the tree-dwelling snakes have devastated Guam’s jungle ecology,driving eight species of native birds extinct. They also are the frequent culprits behind power outages on the island, which they trigger by wriggling into power substations." From this information a reader easily understands the trouble these snakes initiate and to know that they've wiped out eight bird species, creates a concern for those readers who value bird populations. And then when Duchesne relays the information that "Within 60 hours the snakes, which grow to between 3 and 6 feet in length, are dead," from the poison pills, relief is palpable and some assurance in these poison mice ensues.

  Syntax works to create pauses in this article and to add more excitement, more so in the areas  where Duchesne asks a question. Fragments and the occasional question in these sentences, "Their cargo? Dead neonatal mice. Their mission? Get eaten," have this build up affect. Question? Pause, and the reader considers and wonders, "Whatever could the solution be?" Also, these shorter sentences benefit in keeping the reader's focus in order to keep their attention on how these brown tree snakes are being taken out throughout the entire article. Punctuation also shows up in the position of commas, especially in this sentence, "The parachutes, however, are made of cardboard and green tissue paper, and they’re designed to get snared in tree branches." These commas create effective pauses drawing the intended message in the role that the cardboard and tissue paper play to reach the infamous brown tree snakes.

   The role of diction, details, and syntax in this editorial article by Nicholas Duchesne allow for the creative message that poison-pill mice have currently been working to decrease the brown snake population in Guam. These techniques help to support this article's focus on the irritatingly harmful brown tree snakes and the even more harmful poison mice that have been dropped into Guam jungles. One is easily enraptured and interested by this article and because of these literary techniques, the reader has no issue articulating the message of this short piece.