Reagan Hubbell Professor Cantrell ENGL 1113 29 February 2024 Alex Morris in her article “The Price of Isolation,” discusses how during the Covid 19 pandemic we have worsened the ongoing “epidemic of loneliness,” and how that has affected our mental health. She explains that we are social animals and need each other and is worried that this will hurt our physical health as well. Alex Morris creates compelling arguments through credibility by demonstrating knowledge and her professional background. Through experts and factual evidence, also by giving an emotional appeal to humanity. Alex Morris is very knowledgeable and persuasive. It is clear she has done extensive research on the topic. In her argument, she uses words like “we’ve all” …show more content…
She quotes experts and references studies and experiments. Repeatedly she speaks of neuroscientists Matthew Liberman, Naomi Eisenberger, and Jamil Zaki, just to name a few. Also referencing surgeons, psychologists, and college professors. The author quotes Mattew Liberman in his 2015 study in which he states, “We are literally wired such that, when other distractions fall away, our brain automatically switches to a mode that's more social in nature.” Morris does this to convey the point that we must socialize, it's part of our brain. She uses this same tactic when she references a 2018 study in which “18- to 30-year-olds found that the odds of depression were significantly lowered by face-to-face moral support.” This supports her point that in-person interaction is beneficial to one's mental health. Another way she uses quotes is to compare old information with new information. She uses the example of Aristotle who wrote 2,348 years ago that “man is by nature a social animal.” Morris then compares it to more modern science that suggests in actuality “being social is what makes us human.” When talking about health concerns, she cites Steve Cole, the director of UCLA Social Genomics Core Laboratory, in his research to find out why closeted gay men are dying faster from AIDS than others. Cole found a difference in gene expression, which suggests that closeted gay men are in a constant “fight or flight mode,” …show more content…
She empathizes with the audience and uses imagery to provoke an emotional response. At the very beginning of Morris’s article, she paints a picture of French kids during the Covid 19 pandemic, playing in their own individually drawn out chalk boxes, “playing all alone, together.” She goes on to describe it as “a vision that is imponderably sad.” She uses this image and compares it to everyone during the pandemic who had been in their own “depressing little boxes.” When Morris is talking about how loneliness can harm our bodies, she makes the comment, “what the hell? Why would loneliness do this to a body?” Putting herself into the audience's shoes and reacting to her evidence as she assumes the audience would react. Morris also gives a glimmer of hope when she describes "eudemonic well-being," which essentially is a way to trick the brain out of being lonely. It works when you have a purpose or meaning in life that is greater than “your own immediate self-gratification.” The author believes that the trauma of Covid can make us kinder as a community and values the importance of life. Four years later, and unfortunately, I believe she was