Connections

The definition of connection is that something is linked with another, associated with

another, or there is a relationship between two or more things. For example, there is a link

between diabetes and foods with a high sugar content. One who eats foods with high amounts of

sugar repeatedly would likely develop a diabetes problem. In the world we live in, everything is

connected to something. Whether it’s a comment on social media, a picture, two people, a

criminal offense, or a piece of writing. In writing, connections could be within or a link with

another piece. Ehrenreich’s “Humanoid Stain” and Eisley’s “The Hidden Teacher” share a

connection whether the authors meant for the link or not. Ehrenreich’s piece is all about social

media in a negative light. She goes into depth of how social media has impacted our knowledge

of the world so much that natural disasters have occurred, and no one is paying attention. She

even compares it to the Paleolithic era or Stone Age to give the reader a drastic shift to think

about. Eisley’s piece is about an unconventional teacher that is hidden within surroundings. She

gives different examples like a spider and a pencil, a mathematical prodigy, and living cells all

give into the fact that the teacher is someone or something that teaches, which could be dreams,

examples, an adult, or an experience. The connection between Eisley and Ehrenreich is not what

they say but what they do and why they do it. Both authors concepts are separate, one could

speculate their claims are somewhat alike, but the purpose of this analysis is to compare what

they do to the reader.

Barbara Ehrenreich was born in 1941, received a diploma from Reed College, and. PhD

in Cell Biology from Rockefeller University. Ehrenreich served in many movements and is an

author of 21 books including, “Nickle and Dimed,” “Bait and Switched,” and more. She is now

80 years old and lives in the same world we do. She was born in an era where technology and
social media did not exist. Her eyes are more open than ours. All teenagers and adults from the

year of 1985- today all have some sort of technology and thrive in it. It’s how businesses can

promote themselves and how singulars can promote what they do. That’s why we have

magazines and Instagram models. Ehrenreich is not has involved in this world as we are and that

is why “The Humanoid Stain” was created. She is making a point about how social media

controls all our choices, what to wear, what to eat. In the essay, Ehrenreich states “In 2002 we

had entered the age of “selfies,” in which everyone seemed fascinated by their electronic self-

portrait-clothed or unclothed, made-up or natural, partying or pensive--and determined to

propagate them as widely as possible.” (Page 2). This statement proves some sort of distain

towards this new age. To look at the essay from the backdoor, the social context illustrates what

Ehrenreich is thinking. During the time she was born, World War 2 was occurring. She starts her

essay off with “In 1940, Four teenage Boy stumbled, almost literally, from German-occupied

France into the Paleolithic Age.” The reader can determine by the date and diction that the story

starts in World War 2. What this text is doing is explaining to the reader where their priorities

should lie, our phones or our earth. During her lifetime, there had been numerous disasters, wars,

plagues that affected her. This statement she makes, she probably holds dear to her heart. This

moral clause leans more to an ethical or pathos appeal which will be explained more later.

Loren Eisley was born in 1907 and passed in 1977 due to Pancreatic cancer. He received

his bachelors from University of Nebraska and his PhD from University of Pennsylvania. He was

renowned author and an anthropologist, he spent most of his time researching fossils. The essay

of “The Hidden Teacher” is not a scientific essay while it does talk about cells and a

mathematical prodigy, it does not revolve around that. Eisley’s main point in this essay is the

unconventional teacher is still a teacher. He makes note of the cells and the prodigy to explain
that these teach us things even though one is microscopic, and one is a child. Eisley does an

excellent job for Illustrating the images he is trying to portray through his writing. “I had come

up a long gulch looking for fossils, and there, just at eye level, lurked a huge yellow-and-black

orb spider, whose web was moored to the tall spears of buffalo grass at the edge of the arroyo.”

(Pg. 1). This sentence just describing the spider gives the reader something to place in their

mind, a way for the reader to see what the author is seeing. This helps the reader trust the writer,

this is very important because it keeps the reader engaged with the text and try to see the

important the author is pointing out.

Eisley and Ehrenreich contrast each other in several ways. Ehrenreich is loud with her

writing, she does by sarcastic commentary, her choice of diction, and she is very blunt with her

critiques of the modern world. Another way she accomplishes this by contrasting her view of the

modern world with eh Paleolithic era, or the Stone Age. A reader could speculate she does this to

put the reader to prospect the two eras and truly see the differences. Eisley is quiet, the tone is

soft in his writing, he tries to narrate the reader through his story while giving a valuable lesson.

He breaks the fourth wall to connect with the reader, another way of gaining trust. Looking at the

two essays, similarities are harder to point out by just what the text is saying. Looking into the

text in depth, there are connections between the two by looking at what the text does. One thing

the text both do is they use the ethical appeal. What an ethical appeal is “an appeal to what is

good, right, or beneficial to all, or to one’s character; in making an ethical appeal, writers

connect their thinking to readers own ethical or moral beliefs.” (The Rhetorical Triangle

Worksheet). Ehrenreich is trying to explain to the reader that being on social media and being so

deep into that world is bad not just for but for our world. Like mentioned before, natural disasters

are occurring, and no one is paying attention. Eisley’s ethical appeal points to look around
yourself, look around and notice because everything is teaching you something, no matter what it

is. Both authors try to gain your trust, Ehrenreich does this by telling you a story and questioning

herself. She doesn’t know everything, and she is being honest with the reader. “Is he, the

humanoid, in a trance or just momentarily overcome by the strength and beauty of other

animals?” (Ehrenreich Pg. 6). Not only does she question herself, but she is making the reader

think, which ultimately gains their trust. Eisley gains the readers trust by breaking down that

fourth wall. What the fourth wall is breaking down the boundary between you and the writer, it

includes the writer into what he is narrating. “Yet bear with me a moment” (Eisley Pg. 57). “Bear

with me,” or hold on a second, I am getting there. Eisley is being informal in his writing, and tell

the reader, wait for it.

In my opinion,

Works Cited

Ehrenreich, Barbara. “The Humanoid Stain.” The Baffler. November 2019.

Eisley, Loren. “The Hidden Teacher.” The Unexpected Universe. Harcourt, Brace, and World

“Barbara Ehrenreich.” Lannan.Org, Lannan Organization, lannan.org/bios/barbara-

ehrenreich. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

“Loren Eiseley Society | Official Website.” Loren Eiseley, www.eiseley.org. Accessed 21 Oct.
2021.