The Brilliance Behind “Blue Collar Brilliance” “Intelligence is closely associated with formal education—the type of schooling a person has, how much and how long…” (Rose 247). This type of stereotype has always stuck around in our societies, no matter the time period. Whether it be cleaning the toilets in a Fortune 500 company’s bathroom, waiting tables to barely scrape by and make a living, or any “blue-collar” work, social class does not completely define a person. In his essay “Blue Collar Brilliance”, professor Mike Rose discusses how intelligence relates to the modern day work force. Through examining the lives of his mother, himself, and his uncle, Rose precisely depicts and justifies the stereotypes and opinions that the outside world associates with the blue-collar working class.
Quindlen’s first main assertion is “Teaching is the toughest job there is.” (100). To back up her assertion Quindlen uses Frank McCourt’s new memoir, Teacher Man, in which he explains to his new students that “Teaching is harder than working on docks and warehouses.” (100). Quindlen uses a strong assertion to let her readers think through how much teachers get paid and that there are no summer vacations and cushy hours, “mornings are for students who need extra help, and summers are for second and even third jobs to help pay the bills.” (100) With this assertion, Quindlen makes a strong appeal to her readers of how hard it is to be a teacher and be underpaid. Quindlen wrote, “The average new teacher today makes just under $30,000 a year, which may not look too bad for a twenty something with no mortgage and no kids.” (100) Majority of Americans went to school, passed and moved on to their jobs and didn’t realize that they wouldn’t be making the amount of money that they do if the under paid teachers hadn’t completed their job. Quindlen supports her argument with facts of how much teachers make, and how hard teachers really do have it.
In Rose’s essay, he argues that much of the skills acquired in blue-collar work are learned on the job. Rose wants us to believe that work experience is just as important as a formal education; and the people holding these jobs are just as intelligent as those who have attained a higher education. Rose tells us how he has extensively studied blue-collar workers and their behaviors and practices on the job. Throughout his essay he illustrates to us the direct connections between labor work and intelligence. Rose introduces us to his mother, Rosie, a career waitress.
Barbara Ehrenreich the author of the essay “Serving in Florida” tells her story, but in a different way than Rose does. Ehrenreich explains the struggles of becoming a waitress, and the hardships of having a low income paying job. Ehrenreich states the frustrations she has with management and the lacks of dedication that they show was a leader of the restaurant. How managers are their just for “one reason and that reason is to make sure the money I being made” (137). She soon finds out how hard it was to make end meats making minimum wage , so she had to get another job.
the first thing that we can choose to look at would be at his school. they support him eith his education, reconizing his talent whtn other people could not and they transfer him to a private school in hope that he will achieve greater success there. not only did they want him to show his talents off, but they also wanted to make him feel comfortable at his new school so they placed him on the basketball team. They had Jamal's best intrestes in mind when doing so. another social insitiution is william, who not only supporst his writing talents, but also helps him gain confidence within his work.
The consequence for the lack of critical thinking in decision making has been revealed through recent corporate scandals such as Enron (Braun, 2004, p. 232). To improve these skills, business leaders believe that more focus be made on teaching critical think in business schools over anything else (Braun, 2004, p. 232). While many professionals agree with this, I believe, rather than waiting until college, these skills and tools can be developed at a young age by shifting from the more traditional passive teaching methods to a more active teaching style. Traditionally, passive teaching has been the most common approach used by professors. This method usually involves professors delivering lectures to students with little to no opportunity for student input through “discussion or experiential exercises” (Michel, Cater, & Varela, 2009, p. 400).
I read “Work in Corporate America” by Russell Baker, and I do believechildren are mystified by the jobs parents have. I also agree with the strategies he used to get his point across in his essay. Russell Baker adds interest from the beginning and ending with a perspective of a child. He discusses what children may think about their parent’s work, and how they may be confused about what goes on. In today’s society, some children still don’t know what their parents do at work; therefore, children are puzzled.
As Mary’s brother Laurie ran way from home after the clash with their father Calvin Pye, their mother got sick. Since Calvin was very irritated with his children, life was somewhat lonely for Mary which eventually forced her to get close to Matt. An excerpt from novel as narrated by Kat can exemplify how solitude contributed in fabricating the bond between Kate and Matt: “Mrs Pye was in a really serious state that summer, and that worry about her, coming on top of everything else, was more than Marie could bear alone. So she turned for comfort to matt. If she’d had more friends, or if her mother had had family living near, or if Calvin hadn’t alienated the whole community … then maybe Marie would not have needed to turn so hard, so appealingly to Matt.
English 2 07 May 2013 False Impressions In the autobiography Hunger Of Memory, written by Richard Rodriguez the book recounts his personal experience of his education starting in childhood all the way to adulthood. Although Rodriguez has had much success as a student and as a writer, he always felt misplaced among is peers. Rodriguez argues to be successful students in the classroom that they need to sever their familial and cultural ties, especially if their home lives are very different from what they experience at school. Additionally, Rodriguez claims that our standards of beauty often determine our sense of worth in society. In reading the book I found fallacies that Rodriguez had in his writings, which included
That parents stress to children the importance of education all their school lives, but they continue to give money things that are less important, instead they should put money towards the teachers who wants to help make a difference in every child's life. Barber believes that parents should actually display their actions that they care and value their education. He explains who are to blame for the lack of quality education in America. The generations before the young and the government have a partial blame in why the school system is failing. Barber's argument is more superior, because he takes the sociopolitical context of education in to account, where as Henry does not.