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Cita Maldonado

English 1010 Tues & Thurs

Justin Jory

5 March 2017

Rhetorical Strategies

Many Americans in today's society assume that blue collar work is below white collar

work because one requires an education and the other doesnt. Two authors wrote different

articles talking about blue collar work in different ways. Mike Rose took a more of an emotional

connection direction in Blue Collar Brilliance as Matthew B. Crawford in Shop Class as

Soulcraft took the more logical outlook. Both ways were effective but the authors used different

styles appeal to the audience they were writing for. In both articles they talk about blue collar

workers and how they are equal to white collar workers.

Mike Rose the author of Blue-Collar Brilliance begins with talking about his mother, she

works in a diner and him and his father would occasionally hang out in the diner. There wasnt

much for him to do so he observed the people around him like the customers, waiters and the

cooks. Even though his mother had little education it didnt take long for him to notice how

much skill she had A waitress acquires knowledge and intuition about the ways and the rhythms

of the restaurant business. Mike Rose uses empirical evidence, he would observe his mother

and the other workers at the dinner and realized how much skill it took to work there. His mother

had a great memory, communication skills etc. Just by observing he realized working at a diner

isnt as easy as it seems to be. The workers there gain knowledge and skills by doing instead of

learning, some of those skills white collar workers may not or take longer to learn. Rose uses the
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story telling rhetorical strategy all throughout his text. This is a useful tool when trying to appeal

the audience using pathos because he shows compassion and love towards his mother and uncle.

That connection between the readers and the author may connect because the reader could have

experienced it first hand.

Mike Rose also talked about his uncle who had little schooling background but after a

career of thirty three years working at paint-and-body department he became supervisor. He

talked about his experience visiting his uncle at work, the conditions they worked in and how

hard everyone worked. Throughout the article he talked about past events that have happened to

him; it was told in an informal way, by talking about himself and sharing his opinions. The

article tells a story which has a personal connection with diction and tone. Even though the

article was written for a high audience Rose made the style of his article easy to understand for

most of the people who are reading it. It makes it easier to understand what you are reading if

you know what the author is talking about. His tone offers the audience a way to thoroughly

understand and connect to what he is talking about.

Matthew B. Crawford uses diction and tone in a different way than Mike Rose. Crawford

used facts and what others have said to prove his point. His article was written for which

explains the formal tone. It gives the audiences he is reaching out to a reason to understand what

he is saying because if he were to use storytelling like Rose they probably wouldn't agree or have

an opinion with what he is saying because there aren't facts or others reasons besides emotions

having to do with it. Stating the facts is beneficial for the audience because it makes it easier to

believe or agree with whatever is being read.

Crawfords article was fairly long but he use the arrangement of ideas strategy.
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Mike Rose and Matthew B. Crawford both used different rhetorical strategies in order to

reach out to their audience and prove their point of views. Roses took the more personal route

by sharing stories of his memories and his observations plus his opinion about how he felt. He

made his article personal which made it a lot easier for the audience to connect with the author.

Crawford pieces together different ideas to come up with one purpose. Crawford stated his

opinion and why using recourses to back up his thesis. Crawford and Rose used different

strategies based on whom the particular audience would be.

Works Cited

Crawford, Matthew B. "Shop Class as Soulcraft." The New Atlantis 13 (2006): Web. 06

Oct. 2016.

Rose, Mike. "Blue-Collar Brilliance." The American Scholar (2009): n. pag. Web. 04 Oct.

2016.