NATIONAL
MATH + SCIENCE
INITIATIVE
English
Peeling
the Layers
Using Lives
of a Cell
by Cell
Lewis Thomas
Peeling Back
theBack
Layers
Using
Lives
of a
by Lewis Thomas
Activity One: Read and annotate the excerpt below, paying special attention to patterns and
Activity
One: Read
and annotate
the excerpt
below, paying
special attention
to patterns
and just
contrasts you
contrasts
you notice.
Make sure
your annotation
is a conversation
with the
text and not
notice.
Make sureoryour
annotation is a conversation with the text and not just underlining or highlighting.
underlining
highlighting.
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Ants are so much like human beings as
to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi,
raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into
wars, use chemical sprays to alarm and
confuse enemies, capture slaves. The
families of weaver ants engage in child
labor, holding their larvae like shuttles to
spring out the thread that sews the leaves
together for their fungus gardens. They
exchange information ceaselessly. They do
everything but watch television.
What makes us uncomfortable is that
they, and the bees and termites and social
wasps, seem to live two kinds of lives: they
are individuals, going about the day’s
business without much evidence of thought
for tomorrow, and they are at the same time
component parts, cellular elements, in the
huge, writhing, ruminating organism of the
Hill, the nest, the hive. It is because of this
aspect, I think, that we most wish for them
to be something foreign. We do not like the
notion that there can be collective societies
with the capacity to behave like organisms.
If such things exist, they can have nothing to
do with us.
Still, there it is. A solitary ant, afield,
cannot be considered to have much of
anything on his mind; indeed, with only a
few neurons strung together by fibers, he
can’t be imagined to have a mind at all,
much less a thought. He is more like a
ganglion on legs. Four ants together, or then,
encircling a dead moth on a path, begin to
look more like an idea. They fumble and
shove, gradually moving the food toward the
Hill, but as though by blind chance. It is
only when you watch the dense mass of
thousands of ants, crowded together around
the Hill, blackening the ground, that you
begin to see the whole beast, and now you
observe it thinking, planning, calculating. It
is an intelligence, a kind of live computer,
with crawling bits for its wits.
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70
75
80
85
. . . And now, at last, they have become
an Art Form. A gallery in New York
exhibited a collection of 2 million live army
ants, on loan from Central America, in a
one-colony show entitled “Patterns and
Structures.” They were displayed on sand in
a huge square bin, walled by plastic sides
high enough to prevent them from crawling
over and out into Manhattan. The inventor
of the work, Alan Sonfist, arranged and
rearranged the location of food sources in
different places, according to his inspiration
and their taste, and they formed themselves
into long, black, ropy patterns, extended like
writhing limbs, hands, fingers, across the
sand in crescents, crisscrosses, and long
ellipses, from one station to another. Thus
deployed, they were watched with intensity
by the crowds of winter-carapaced people
who lined up in neat rows to gaze down at
them. The ants were, together with the New
Yorkers, an abstraction, a live mobile, an
action painting, a piece of found art, a
happening, a parody, depending on the light.
I can imagine the people moving around
the edges of the plastic barrier, touching
shoulder to shoulder, sometimes touching
hands, exchanging bits of information,
nodding, smiling sometimes, prepared as
New Yorkers always are to take flight at a
moment’s notice, their mitochondria fully
stoked and steaming. They move in orderly
lines around the box, crowding one another
precisely, without injury, peering down,
nodding, and then backing off to let new
people in. Seen from a distance, clustered
densely around the white plastic box
containing the long serpentine lines of army
ants, turning to each other and murmuring
repetitively, they seem an absolute marvel.
They might have dropped from here from
another planet.
I am sad that I did not see any of this
myself. By the time I had received the
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1
English—Peeling Back the Layers Using Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
communication on television and in my
morning paper, felt the tugging pull toward
Manhattan, and made my preparations to
migrate, I learned that the army ants had all
died.
There was no explanation, beyond the
95 rumored, unproved possibility of cold drafts
in the gallery over the weekend. Monday
morning they were sluggish, moving with
less precision, dully. Then, the death began,
affecting first one part and then another, and
100 within a day all 2 million were dead, swept
away into large plastic bags and put outside
for engulfment and digestion by the
sanitation truck. It is a melancholy parable. I
am unsure of the meaning, but I do think it
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has something to do with all that plastic—
that, and the distance from the earth. It is a
long, long way from the earth of a Central
American jungle to the ground floor of a
gallery, especially when you consider that
110 Manhattan itself is suspended on a kind of
concrete platform, propped up by a
meshwork of wires, pipes, and water mains.
But I think it was chiefly the plastic, which
seems to me the most unearthly of all man’s
115 creations so far. I do not believe you can
suspend army ants away from the earth, on
plastic, for any length of time. They will
lose touch, run out of energy, and die for
lack of current.
105
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English—Peeling Back the Layers Using Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
As you complete the rest of the lesson, keep in mind the writing prompt below:
In a well-developed essay, explain how Lewis Thomas uses the resources of language to support his
purpose.
1. What does the phrase “resources of language” mean to you? What types of devices will you consider as
you study the passage that might help you address the writing prompt?
2. When considering an “author’s purpose” when reading an argument, what are you specifically trying to
determine?
3. At this point in the lesson, what do you think the author’s purpose for writing this argument? Why do
you think this?
Activity Two: In-class discussion of the passage.
Be prepared to support your answers with evidence from the text.
Activity Three: Syntactical Analysis
Follow your teacher’s instructions for completing the activity.
Activity Four: Finding Patterns in Vocabulary/Diction
Part A: Look at the sentences below, and answer the questions that follow.
A solitary ant, afield, cannot be considered to have much of anything on his mind; indeed, with only a few
neurons strung together by fibers, he can’t be imagined to have a mind at all, much less a thought. He is
more like a ganglion on legs. (lines 27-33)
I can imagine the people moving around the edges of the plastic barrier, touching shoulder to shoulder,
sometimes touching hands, exchanging bits of information, nodding, smiling sometimes, prepared as New
Yorkers always are to take flight at a moment’s notice, their mitochondria fully stoked and steaming.
(lines 70-77)
The word ganglion means a structure containing a number of nerve cell bodies, typically linked by synapses
and often forming a swelling on a nerve fiber.
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English—Peeling Back the Layers Using Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
1. When the author describes an individual ant as a “ganglion with legs,” what is he suggesting about the
ants in regard to their
a. appearance?
b. behavior?
c. intelligence?
2. What happens when the individual “ganglion with legs” works together . . .
a. . . . with a few other ants?
b. . . . with many ants?
3. How do people generally “think” when influenced by others in a group?
4. What is the author suggesting about group behavior or group consciousness when he discusses “a dense
mass of thousands of ants” (lines 38-39)?
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English—Peeling Back the Layers Using Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
The word mitochondria refers to rod-shaped organelles, or specialized structures, found within the
cytoplasm of cells. They are regarded as the “powerhouse” of the cell, as they help convert food to usable
energy through being the site of cellular respiration.
5. If mitochondria help create energy for cells to work, what does it suggest about the New Yorkers’
character or behavior that their mitochondria is “fully stoked and steaming” (line 77)?
6. By using biological terms such as ganglion and mitochondria, what connection is the author drawing
between the ants and the New Yorkers?
Part B: Look at the list of vocabulary words below. Look up the meaning of the words you do not know.
abstraction
organism
ruminating
carapaced
parable
serpentine
collective
parody
writhing
For each category listed in the left column, choose words and phrases from the article that describe the ants
and the New Yorkers. Use the list of words above as a starting point. Several words have been selected for
you. Write the definition of each word in the space provided.
Ants
Their Appearance
New Yorkers
carapaced:____________________
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English—Peeling Back the Layers Using Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
writhing:_______________________
Their Movement,
Actions, and
Interactions
ruminating:_____________________
serpentine:_____________________
Their Living
Environment
1. Look at the words and phrases you listed above. How are the ants and New Yorkers similar?
2. How are they different?
3. How does the author’s word choice help you understand the comparison the author makes between the
ants and New Yorkers?
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English—Peeling Back the Layers Using Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
Activity Five: Finding Patterns in Figurative Language
1. The author describes the ants as “an intelligence, a kind of live computer, with crawling bits for its wits”
(lines 43-44).
a. Why does the author describe the ants as a computer?
b. What does this comparison suggest to you about the ants and how they work together?
c. In what ways might human beings working together be like a computer?
d. Is the comparison an effective one? Why or why not?
2. In lines 45-86, the author describes a scene in which New Yorkers are looking at an art display of ants.
a. What type of art is “found art” (line 57)?
b. Why do you think he calls the entire scene of people and ants “an abstraction, a live mobile, an
action painting, a piece of found art” (lines 56-57)?
c. What is ironic about this comparison between the ants/New Yorkers and an art object?
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English—Peeling Back the Layers Using Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
d. Why does he call the scene a “parody” (line 58)? What specifically is being parodied?
Activity Six: Considering Structure and Organization
Reread paragraph one and two. Then, examine the bolded section of text and discuss, in context, how the
organization and rhetoric contribute the paragraph in its entirely.
Structure/Organization
1.How does the sentence’s organization impact the
author’s meaning?
Paragraph One
Ants are so much like human beings as to
be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise
aphids as livestock, launch armies into wars,
use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse
enemies, capture slaves. The families of weaver
ants engage in child labor, holding their larvae
like shuttles to spring out the thread that sews
the leaves together for their fungus gardens.
They exchange information ceaselessly. They do
everything but watch television.
Rhetoric
2.Examine the author’s language, specifically his
choice of verbs, in this sentence. How do the verbs
impact the author’s description of the ants?
Meaning
Consider the paragraph’s organization and rhetoric. Then, discuss how these elements work together to
strengthen the author’s argument.
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English—Peeling Back the Layers Using Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
Paragraph Seven
There was no explanation, beyond the rumored,
unproved possibility of cold drafts in the gallery
over the weekend. Monday morning they were
sluggish, moving with less precision, dully.
Then, the death began, affecting first one part
and then another, and within a day all 2 million
were dead, swept away into large plastic bags
and put outside for engulfment and digestion by
the sanitation truck. It is a melancholy parable.
I am unsure of the meaning, but I do think it
has something to do with all that plastic—that,
and the distance from the earth. It is a long, long
way from the earth of a Central American jungle
to the ground floor of a gallery, especially when
you consider that Manhattan itself is suspended
on a kind of concrete platform, propped up by a
meshwork of wires, pipes, and water mains. But I
think it was chiefly the plastic, which seems to me
the most unearthly of all man’s creations so far. I do
not believe you can suspend army ants away from
the earth, on plastic, for any length of time. They
will lose touch, run out of energy, and die for lack of
current
Structure/Organization
1.How is this section of text organized? Examine
the sentence structure and length specifically.
2.How does the sentence organization and
structure add to the author’s meaning?
Rhetoric
3.Examine the author’s language, in these
sentences. What type of language does he
depend upon?
4.How does this language impact his argument?
Meaning
Consider the paragraph’s organization and rhetoric. Then, discuss how these elements work together to
strengthen the author’s argument.
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9
English—Peeling Back the Layers Using Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
Activity Seven: Understanding How Technique Informs Meaning
It is important to understand how an author’s technique leads to those arguments that are implied, or implicit,
within his/her writing. Below are two key components of the text that relay Thomas’s larger argument. Begin
by deconstructing the last sentence of the excerpt. Then, use your critical analysis to explain how his final
sentence informs his larger argument found earlier in the text.
Example—Ants
I do not believe you can suspend army ants away from the earth, on plastic, for any length of time.
They will lose touch, run out of energy, and die for lack of current. (lines 115-119)
1. Examine the list Thomas constructs in the last sentence. These descriptive phrases are at odds with how
people see ants. For each element, create a list of objects or beings that would normally be described by
these phrases.
“Lose Touch”
“Run out of Energy”
“Die for Lack of Current”
2. Why might Thomas choose to use this type of rhetoric to describe the relationship between ants and the
earth?
3. What is Thomas implying about insects and their connection to the earth?
Example—New Yorkers
Reread the section of text below. Then, complete Question Four and Five.
I am unsure of the meaning, but I do think it has something to do with all that plastic—that, and the
distance from the earth. It is a long, long way from the earth of a Central American jungle to the
ground floor of a gallery, especially when you consider that Manhattan itself is suspended on a kind
of concrete platform, propped up by a meshwork of wires, pipes, and water mains. (lines 103-112)
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English—Peeling Back the Layers Using Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
4. Examine the bold phrases above. Explain what Thomas’s words imply about Manhattan.
5. Based on your answer to Questions Three and Four, what argument might Thomas be making about any
living being’s relationship to the earth?
Activity Eight: Determining Author’s Purpose
Based on your close reading and work to this point, write a statement that makes an assertion about what you
believe the author’s purpose is.
Purpose: Now, read again the writing prompt:
In a well-developed essay, explain how Lewis Thomas uses the resources of language to support his purpose.
Write a thesis statement that answers the question of the prompt above:
In The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher, Lewis Thomas accomplishes his purpose of
(assertion about the author’s purpose)
by using (techniques the author uses to achieve his purpose)
Find several pieces of textual evidence to support your assertion. Mark them in your text.
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English—Peeling Back the Layers Using Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
Activity Nine: Writing an Analysis Essay
Look back over your analytical work on the passage and use it as you write an analytical essay that addresses
the prompt in Activity Six.
You must use textual evidence to support your assertions and organize your essay, using thoughtful
transitions and meaningful paragraph breaks.
Use the bullet points on the scoring guide to check yourself as you write your essay.
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