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In writing ‘Why the Sky is Blue’, Sir James Jeans answers one of the most frequently asked

questions ever, likening it to something that everyone knows. The purpose of the piece is to

explain why the sky appears blue, and its main idea is that, because blue light rays are short and

easily deflected, they enter our eyes from every direction, making the sky itself seem blue. The

intended audience would be adults with some prior knowledge of science. The writer achieves

his purpose through the use of organizational strategies like cause & effect, analogy and

comparison & contrast, and literary devices such as metaphor, simile and personification.

Firstly, Jeans uses cause and effect to show how the pier columns affect the waves, and by

extension, how dust and water particles affect light waves. For example, he states that the

columns cause the long waves to “divide left and right and reunite”. He also says in the last

paragraph that the blue light wave is “turned out of its course” by dust particles, and

“consequently, [they]... enter... from all directions” making the sky appear blue.

More important, however, is the writer’s use of analogy. It is evident in his elaborate explanation

showing the parallelism between sea-waves and light waves. Similarities are shown in that both

water and sunlight consist of a mixture of waves of different lengths/sizes, and that they both

face obstacles when travelling. Because of the connection made through the analogy, it is easy

for the reader to understand the deflection of light waves as it was already explained using a

well-known example.

Furthermore, the comparisons used support the analogy. Jeans’ use of the phrases “just as” and

“much as” emphasize the similarities in the way the sea- and light waves “struggle” against their

respective barriers. Contrast is also used, for example “red light by long waves and blue light by
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short waves”, to show how the light waves of different lengths represent different colours, and

how this causes us to see the sky as blue.

Jeans also uses the metaphor, for example in saying that the dust particles are obstacles, to

further the relationship created by the analogy and comparison.

The simile is another device used, for example “a path as zigzag as ... lightning”. This is

effective as it painting a picture in the reader’s mind of how a blue light wave travels, by

comparing it to something universal like lightning.

Personifications can also be found throughout the piece. Phrases like “divide ... and reunite” and

“pay... attention”, as well as the numerous uses of “struggle” in the piece, all illustrate the action

of the waves by giving them human qualities.

In conclusion, the various organizational strategies and language techniques used by Sir Jeans in

the piece help to achieve the purpose. A difficult topic is made relatively simple by equating it to

a common phenomenon, and it becomes easy to understand why it is that the sky is blue.