An analogy compares two similar things to explain a concept. In the essay, Sanders uses the analogy of a fitness studio in comparison to a college education. One pays for a membership to train at the gym. This gives the person access to the building, the equipment, oftentimes a personal trainer, and any other amenities. However, by signing up for a membership to a gym or health club, it by no means guarantees the member will get in shape. College operates similarly; a student doesn’t for an education because education cannot be purchased any easier than a fit body can. Instead, one is paying for access to professors, the library, services, etc. The education is up to the individual student or learner to achieve.

An anecdote is a short story often used to support an author’s point. Sanders provides several anecdotes from employers who prefer to hire college graduates with degrees in areas that appear to be counterintuitive for that specific job. For example, on Page 1 of the essay, there’s an anecdote about a recruiter for the computer science field. The recruiter admits to preferring to hire honors history majors rather than computer science majors simply because it is more important in this recruiter's eyes that a new hire be someone who can think critically than that they come in with a specific set of job-related skills.