Reaction Paper to “Earth Without People” by Alan Weisman

            This author uses visualization to get us to use our five senses while reading his story. Using imagery in a novel, book, or any form of writing is a great tool to encourage reader’s interest.  Imagery gives me a better understanding of what is happening by description. In the story “Earth Without People”, Alan Weisman gives me great examples of imagery.

Alan Weisman uses imagery in almost every sentence. In my opinion, his imagery gives me a clearer picture about how Earth began to be one big habitat again. Weisman explains how this new world would even have a completely different sound.  There would be no airplanes, trucks or sirens making obnoxious noises.  The pure sounds of nature would be all that you could hear.  Another example from the story is, “As lightning rods rusted away, roof fires would leap among buildings into paneled offices filled with paper.” The reader can visualize the flames from a fire, spreading from building to building and can almost hear the sounds.

Weisman’s excellent use of imagery also gives me an idea what it would smell like if Earth was corroding away. To me, I think that the imagery in the story branches off into different senses showing that imagery is at the root of the story. An example is, “In a world with no one left to bury the bad stuff, decaying chemical containers would slowly expose their lethal contents.” I can picture the containers decaying and can almost smell them.

This story interested me in wanting to know more about how the world would be if humans disappeared. The author related to everyone in this story because he reached to all walks of life through his use of imagery. In conclusion, the story had great a use of imagery. Weiseman had me hooked on the first couple of sentences.