The Lorax is a children's story written by Dr. Seuss and first published in 1971. The tale chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax (a "mossy, bossy" man-like creature), who speaks for the trees against the greedy Once-ler.
Source: Wikipedia
Dr. Seuss is the pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel (March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991). He was a famous American writer and cartoonist best known for his children's books.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Seuss
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Read the story and then do an activity. Finally, do some writing yourself and read texts written by other readers.
Plot
The Once-ler was a businessman who ran his company with the exclusive goal of increasing its sales and profits as rapidly as possible, a common practice in a market economy. In the process he ignored the long-term sustainability of his business and environmental concerns such as biodiversity and habitat loss. In his old age he tells a curious boy about the splendor of nature in his youth and the growth and crash of industry at the far end of town.
Discovering the potential for profit in a lush forest of Truffula trees, the Once-ler began clearcutting it to mass-market Thneeds (odd-looking but versatile knitted garments) made from the Truffula tree tufts. The Lorax popped out of the tree stump of the first felled Truffula, and declared himself to be a being who "speaks for the trees, for the trees have no tongues".
The Lorax vehemently protested the destruction of the Truffula forest, stating that the Once-ler was crazy with greed and that his business was destroying the Truffula ecosystem, causing mass migrations of native fauna, including the bear-like Barbaloots and spiecies of fish and birds. The Once-ler didn't listen; he continued clearcutting the trees and dumping industrial waste into nearby ponds. Eventually the Once-ler chopped down every single Truffula tree, eliminating the previous ecosystem and destroying his own industry. The Once-ler's relatives abandon him, and the Lorax magically flies away, leaving behind a ring of stones inscribed with the word, "UNLESS".
With age the Once-ler has come to realise the folly of his ways and the importance of conservation. Speaking to the boy in the story, and directly to the reader, the Once-ler explains that the Lorax's ring of stones meant that unless someone cares a lot about the environment, nothing is going to get better. The Once-ler then gives the boy the very last Truffula seed, telling him to grow a new tree and eventually a forest and protect it from axes, and that then perhaps the Lorax and his friends the local fauna would return.
More information
The book is commonly recognized as a parable concerning industrialized society, using the literary element of personification to give life to industry as the Once-ler, and the environment as the Lorax. This story is often used in environmental science classes to teach The Tragedy of the Commons. The Once-ler's face is never seen throughout the story, often noted by children.
The Lorax is arguably Seuss' most controversial work, having been banned in some schools and libraries for its political content. It also has the distinction of being the only book that Seuss himself ever changed after publication, by removing the Lorax's line, "I hear things are just as bad up at Lake Erie!"
This text comes from Wikipedia.
Wikipedia:Text of the GNU Free Documentation License
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Write a story or poem about a conservation issue. Send it to us
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Ode to an Endangered Species
Will you not leave us here too long
We have not paid attention
To squander the best of the world
A pity we do not understand
Ourselves
No more you fly in the wind
No more the buoyant ripples on a pristine pool
The splash of color in a worn-tore land
No more
The survivor’s sad lament
Yet no weeping will there be when
Your perfect, singular form
Vanishes
The muted salting of a wounded Earth
And all that is and all that ever was will
In some way be
Diminished
For the loss, though unnoticed
Will be recognized
In the stillness of eternal night.
by Laurence Overmire
You can see more of this poet's work at:
http://overmirepoetry.home.comcast.net/
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Answer Man
Tree: Where were you when
My leaves got dried?
River: Where were you when
My fishes were killed?
Earth: Where were you when
My soil got eroded?
Air: Where were you when
My ozone got depleted?
by Samyak Dhole
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