"The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History" by Elizabeth Kolbert
Examing a passage from The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
In times of panic, whole groups of once-dominant organisms can disappear or be relegated to secondary roles, almost as if the globe has undergone a cast change. Such wholesale losses have led paleontologists to surmise that during mass extinction events--in addition to the so-called Big Five, there have been many lesser such events--the usual rules of survival are suspended. Conditions change so drastically or so suddenly that evolutionary history counts for little. Indeed, the very traits that have been most useful for dealing with ordinary threats may turn out, under such extraordinary circumstances, to be fatal. (Kolbert 17)
Symbolism
What is symbolized in this passage is the undergoing of an extinction as a "cast change". This relates to the meaning of the story by relating the cause of a mass extinction as a large change in role. The passage describes how evolutionary traits that have been used as an advantage in an ordinary situation can be turned on its head and used against an organism. The point of the story is to describe major extinction events and this passage uses symbolism to describe one of the processes of extinction. We know what it means because the writer describes with more detail of how this "cast change" can cause conditions to change so drastically it could be cataclysmic.
Tone/Mood
The tone of this passage gives a rather large feeling to how devastating these events can be. The writer describes how "once-dominate organisms can disappear or be relegated to secondary roles". The passage makes an individual feel so small with how these large changes can occur and how what we viewed once as are strong suits can easily turn as our downfall. The tone also sets up how nothing is forever and anything can change at any given moment.
Diction
Some important words used in this passage are words like "relegated". This word adds to the tone of how insignificant a once large thing can become. A mass extinction can make any organism so inferior to the world when once it was dominant. Another important word that branches off into more of the unknown aspect of these extinctions. These events are so rare and we know so little about them that it causes paleontologists to surmise ideas. They assume those ideas are true, but there is no evidence to support those ideas.
