I was assigned to evaluate the two arguments. In “Why the
Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer,” Robert Reich makes the argument that
the 3 different “economic boats” are changing. One being the boat which
contains routine producers and is (as Reich claims) sinking very rapidly. The 2nd,
the service industry is sinking steadily from having to contain the burden of
the backlash that has occurred from the 1st. And the third is, unfortunately,
rising steadily from the use of global economic webs and competition for cheap
labor across the globe. This is Reich’s position and he wishes to convince his
reader of this claim. The medium that he uses is a scholarly journal. This is
no surprise to me because the argument is extremely objective and of his own
personal views. His argument simply wishes to make the case completely. The most
used type of appeal in his argument is logos. He is almost obnoxiously heavy on
his logos. His sources are cited. He uses concrete facts and statistics, e.g. “In
the early 1950’s, more than 40 percent of this group joined unions; by the late
1980’s, less than 20 percent.” This also adds to his Ethos (the reader thinks of
him as a more credible person due to the fact that his not just spewing his
opinion; rather he uses cold, hard numbers). However, Mike Rose in his “Blue-Collar
Brilliance” makes a quite different type of argumentation. Where Reich makes
appeals to reason, Rose makes an appeal to emotion. Through his use of
anecdotes (personal accounts of events that have happened), Rose exemplifies
pathos because the reader makes a strong emotional connection to the people in the
stories. His pathos also helps his Ethos because the reader is much more likely
to feel like he/she knows Rose and his family. His ethos is also established through
his anecdotes because it makes him seem like a relatable, empathetic person. Another
thing that I forgot to mention is the fact that one of the things that the
Bedford Handbook told us to look for is whether or not the source is scholarly.
Reich’s article is much more scholarly.
“Blue-Collar Brilliance,” by Mike Rose is an essay in which he argues that the level of someone’s education does not determine his or her intelligence. Rose proves his argument by recounting his experiences while growing up watching his family work blue-collared jobs. He uses his mother, a waitress, and his uncle, a supervisor for a General Motors factory, as examples of individuals whose jobs required more intelligence than those who work high paying white-collar careers. Rose gave several examples of scenarios that he believed showed how much intelligence blue-collar jobs require, such as having to memorize orders and being able to adapt to the emotional needs of customers. People without a higher education can be just as smart as someone who went to college and works a white collared job. In “Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor Are Getting Poorer,” Robert Reich argues that blue collar jobs are declining, and that white collar jobs are increasing due to the competition that exists within our society. The competition that is present causes more people to reach for higher paying jobs, but lessens the amount of small businesses and blue collar jobs available. He stresses the point that if we do not do something about it now, there will be no more blue collar jobs available at all. I preferred Mike Rose’s argument. I think he gave great examples and he really opened my eyes to the truth that a person’s education level does not determine their intelligence.
ReplyDelete