The Sacred and the Profane: An Analysis of the Rhetoric in David Brower’s Campaign to Save the Grand Canyon

Abstract

This study examines David Brower’s New York Times advertisements in the 1964–68 Grand Canyon controversy. The essay argues that Brower creates a dichotomy between the sacred and the profane, using both discursive and nondiscursive rhetorical techniques. Such an examination adds to our understanding of rhetoric in environmental controversies and, more generally, to our knowledge of argument by comparison.