The Brown Wasps

     The Brown Wasps by Loren Eiseley seeks to show the reader that it is both human and animal nature to cling to something that they know. Eiseley first shows this with the homeless men in the train stations, who refused to leave even after the officer asked them to leave. He then switches over to show the mouse, who was forced to run from his small meadow, attempting to build a home in Eiseley's flower-box, something that was familiar to him. He then examines the pigeons that would seek for food among the elevated railway's routes, from crumbs that would be littered around the vending machines and underneath the tracks. The pigeons still stayed even though the railway was abandoned, hoping to find some sort of food, before eventually leaving. When the construction workers came to take it down, the pigeons come back in hopes that it had re-opened. Eiseley then returns to making a human connection, using himself and a cottonwood tree that he and his father had planted years ago, and he had hoped was still alive. However, it wasn't.

      Eiseley is a well-known nature-writer, teacher, and philosopher, and is well-known in both the scientific community and the literary community for his ability to write incredibly well, but still communicate scientific purposes. The Brown Wasps follows this, as he both shows the connection between animals and humans, but does it in a way that is pleasing to read. In order to do this, Eiseley uses description as a valuable tool in setting the scene, such as when he describes one homeless man in the station, saying, "One man after a slight, apologetic lurch, does not move at all. Tubercularly thin, he sleeps on steadily." (Eiseley, 240). This is the descriptiveness that runs throughout the essay, and helps the reader to appreciate what he is saying. 

     I believe that Eiseley accomplishes his purpose in The Brown Wasps. Through great description capturing the reader, Eiseley describes to the reader human and animal nature, and their similarities. His words also carry great weight in the scientific community, and he uses that here to convince the reader of his purpose.

Just as Eiseley returned to his old home expecting to find a tree, frogs return to their
ponds and river, expecting it to be there, showing yet another example of the similarities
between mankind and animals.
Photo Credit

The Lives of a Cell

     In Lewis Thomas's The Lives of a Cell, he describes the connection between man and nature, and how man may not even be his own, as each cell in his being has smaller cells that have their own DNA, such as the mitochondria. He explains this idea by stating, "I like to think that they work in my interest, that each breath they draw for me, but perhaps it is they who walk through the local park in the early mornings, sensing my senses, listening to my music, thinking my thoughts." (Thomas, 359) He then expands this idea outwards in scale, by comparing the earth to a single cell, as they both have parts that carry its own DNA.

If you look through the microscope down at earth,
you'll see humans, just as if you looked at a
human through a microscope, you'd see cells.
Photo Credit

     Lewis Thomas was a physician, etymologist, and even the dean at Harvard for a while, among other skills and talents. Because of his background in the medical field, we can trust that he possesses a large amount of knowledge on cells and life, and so his ideas can be trusted. Thomas's purpose in writing The Lives of a Cell was as an exposition in a book of essays called The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher. The purpose of this book was to show how everything on earth was connected in some way. Because of the more scientific ideas presented in the book, its intended audience is probably for those in or past college. Thomas uses personification a lot in his essay, because he is trying to establish the idea that something like the mitochondria in our bodies might be working for themselves instead of for the whole. He then uses this to link the earth to the human being in a comparison, saying that mitochondria are to use as we are to the world.

     I believe that Thomas's essay fulfilled its purpose, as it gets the reader thinking, preparing them for the rest of the book. The use of comparison does this, as it starts them thinking about the connections throughout earth by first making the most significant one, which is the chain of importance, from the entire earth to a singe mitochondria.

Once more to the Lake

     Once More to the Lake by E. B. White is a narrative essay describing a trip to a lake he visited with his father as a kid, this time taking his son. The entire time he's there, he compares his experiences then to now, and how time doesn't seem to touch this place, despite it being many years since he had last been there. . White also talks about how he is constantly questioning who he is; if he is his son, or his father.

     E. B. White's purpose in writing Once More to the Lake was to entertain the reader with a story, and he makes it incredibly entertaining to read by paying attention to the minute details, such as describing how the store that used to sell many different beverages, now only sells Coca-Cola. The use of figurative language is vital in this writing style as well, which is especially apparent during the thunderstorm, where White uses an extended metaphor to compare a thunderstorm to drums, describing it as, "...the kettle drum, then the snare, then the bass drum and cymbals." (E. B. White, 184) White also uses imagery as a powerful tool, as he continues to describe the storm, saying, "then crackling lights against dark, and the gods grinning and licking their chops in the hills." (E. B. White, 184) This spectacular example if imagery perfectly paints a picture in the readers head, of Gods watching a battle between light and dark unfold in the lake's valley. 

A large lake in a valley surrounded by mountains, very much like the one White might've visited as a child
Photo Credit

     This essay was written for an older audience, parents that can relate to White's position. However, the use of figurative language and the descriptive mode of writing allows just about anybody to read and enjoy the essay, because they can imagine themselves at that lake, enjoying the calm aura that surrounds the lake. This makes White incredibly successful in achieving his purpose, as he made an essay enjoyable for anybody. 

The Future is Now

     The Future is Now was written just after World War Two, during the cold war era. It touches on a few different topics that deal with human nature. The first of which occurs when Porter ponders why people spend their time and effort on things that are seemingly futile, such as the young man polishing the tabletop. She then realizes the solution to this when a young girl tells her 'the future is now,' allowing Porter to realize that people don't only look at the now, but also the then. She then changes gears, and looks at the greater picture of humanity as a whole, and states that "The pride of Lucifer, the recklessness of Icarus, the boldness of Prometheus, and the intellectual curiosity of Adam and Eve," (Porters, 196). Porter realizes that man has expanded way past what it can handle, but then questions herself, imagining that humanity is not falling apart, but instead it hasn't put together in the right combination yet.

     

     Katherine Anne Porter is a well-respected, Pulitzer-Prize winning writer, known for her insights, meaning that she has a credibly background in writing. The reason that Porter wrote this article was most likely to draw attention to humanity's massive amount of progress through the two World Wars, and that humanity needs to slow down and fix smaller problems, such as trash collection in major cities, before we try to reach the stars. She also directed the essay toward a college-aged audience, especially with the title, in order to convince the people who will control the future what needs to be done. The details in the essay also help the enhance the purpose, because it makes everything seem more 'real.'

Technologies that originated from NASA programs
Photo Credit

     Overall, I believe that Porter only partially achieved her purpose. She attempts to convince the reader that technology needs to be more focused in at home. While this is true, it is also true that doing things such as sending rockets into space also helps to improve life back at home, because the technology used to accomplish such a feat trickles down into our everyday lives, such as simpler water purification, one thing that Porter mentions she wishes was more widespread. I feel as if Porter fails to acknowledge the importance of this trickle-down, overall preventing her from completely achieving her purpose.