“The Butterfly Effect” Annotation

Author: Jennifer Lunden

Important Vocabulary: Abut. (Of an area of land or a building) be next to or have a common boundary with. Voracious. Wanting or devouring great quantities of food. Mandible. The jaw or a jawbone, especially the lower jawbone in mammals and fishes. Interminable. Endless (often used hyperbolically). Diapause. A period of suspended development in an insect, other invertebrate, or mammal embryo, especially during unfavorable environmental conditions. Egregious. Outstandingly bad; shocking. Docent. A person who acts as a guide, typically on a voluntary basis, in a museum, art gallery, or zoo.

Questions: If things progress much in the same way they have been, what is the projected year that monarchs will become extinct?

Initial Reactions: Lunden does an incredible job weaving in and out of her personal experiences with habitat loss and migration, with the butterfly’s, and with Ro Vaccaro’s. Although she wrote a fair portion of “The Butterfly Effect” reflecting on her own struggles with a particular sensitivity to harsh chemicals, this clearly demonstrates a parallel to the current plight of the monarch butterflies. Largely due to deforestation and habitat loss, as well as global warming, the monarch butterflies are quickly dwindling in numbers. Lunden’s love for the butterflies allowed her to draw from personal experiences with them as a child, and to craft a poignant message with a sense of urgency.