Mike Rose

Mike Rose, in his essay, “I Just Wanna Be Average”, claims that in order to see reality and reach success one must cut ties with all biases and look at life through a neutral perspective. He supports his claim with a story about how he got rid of the personal bias he had of himself belonging in voc-ed and moved up to college prep. The Authors purpose was to inform readers of his experience in order to help them see how to reach their success with their outlook on reality. Rose establishes a very informed and knowing relationship with the audience and effectively conveys his message. (A1)
In the essay “On Being a Cripple” Nancy Mairs claims that you can only live life to the fullest by breaking free from stereotypes and looking at life without bias. Mairs supports her claim through the story of how she looks at herself and finds what she can do even though she is “handicapped”. Her purpose is to teach us the lessons she learned after being diagnosed with MS in order to give insight on how to live without being bound to stereotypes. The Audience of the piece seems to be anyone who uses or is affected by stereotypes. (B2)
Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his piece, “Self Reliance”, claims that in order to become great and redefine knowledge on must challenge the conventional wisdom of the time with his own unique ideas. Emerson supports his claim through the use of examples of great thinkers such as Plato and Socrates and how they challenged the thinking of their day. His purpose is to inspire the audience to be individual and to avoid society’s stereotypes in order to develop new, better ideas on our own. His audience in this piece is young adults who are not yet corrupted by the will of society and conformity. (C3)
Henry David Thoreau, in his piece, “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For”, claims that only when you break free from all institutions and biases will you know what life and reality really are. He supports his claim with his personal experience of leaving society for a cabin on Lake Walden in order to illustrate what it takes to free your mind and to find reality. His purpose in this piece is to expose how he came to an understanding of the meaning of life in order to help the audience find themselves. His audience in this piece is anyone who is still trapped by the conformity and institutions of common life. (D4)
In the essay “Just Walk on By: Black Men in Public Space” Brent Staples claims you can find out who someone is by letting go of all predisposed stereotypes and meeting them for who they are. He supports his claim with stories of himself being judged as a scary criminal mugger just because he is black, rather than a nice educated gentleman. His purpose in this piece is to tell stories of the negative effects of stereotyping in order to keep people who read the essay from ruining possible relationships through stereotypes. The audience of his piece is to white people and people of high social class, the people who do most of the stereotyping. (E5)
Deborah Tannen’s article “The Triumph of the Yell” published in New York Times in 1944 complains that the public is becoming more hostile and blaming journalist, politicians, and academics for presenting the issues. Tannen presented a rational yet personal argument that defines a “culture of critique” as being “based on the belief that opposition leads to truth” (483) Tannen distinguishes “having an argument’ and ‘making an argument’ in order to help the public know the difference help them be less hostile. Deborah Tannen is trying to reach to the public through her writing.
There is no Unmarked Women – Deborah Tannen – Deborah Tannen, a Georgetown University professor who studies conversations. In “There is no Unmarked Women” Tannen comes to the realization how normal it is for women to be superficially judged on their character because of their appearance. This judgment is different for men who are attributed less in value based on attire. Tannen uses personal experience in order to present how she was “marked” along with other women when going to a business conference. The audience this article is projected towards would be society, those “marked” and “unmarked” along with those doing the “marking”.
Nancy Mairs in the essay “On Being a Cripple” suggest that Mairs despite her condition wants to be treated as equal as others and not being labeled “crippled”. Mairs supports her assertions by illustrating how she will not be named by others. “Mine is one of them. Whatever you call me, I remain crippled”. The author’s purpose is to inform the readers on her feelings towards labeling herself and her condition in order to persuade the readers to change their views on “cripples”. The author writes in an informant tone to people who judge cripples.
Hara Estroff Marano in the essay “A Nation of Wimps” explains that we have suffocated them from the outside world that in their adult years we find it “safer to lower the bar than raise the discomfort level”. Marano supports his claim by explaining many tests and facts on how we are making them wimps. “Although error and experimentation are the true monsters of success, parents are taking pains to remove failure from the equation”. The author’s purpose is to inform parents and parents to be, that having too much of a safety net will cause bad repercussions in the later years of life. “The severity of student mental health problems has been rising since 1988”. The author writes in a format tone to advise the Nations parents.
On Being a Cripple, Nancy Mairs argues for the sake of some physically incapable people and for herself that they are not bothered by the slang term “cripple” and find themselves being capable of most activities. Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his piece, “Self Reliance”, claims that in order to become great and redefine knowledge one must challenge the conventional wisdom of the time with his own unique ideas. Each piece relates to Plato’s allegory of the cave because both authors talk about getting through life doing their own thing and being independent. They both call cut out all the bias and went against the conventional wisdom and in “Plato’s Cave” one of the men stood up and left the cave to create his own “reality”.
Henry David Thoreau’s “Where I Lived and What I Lived For” is a personal experience of leaving society for a cabin on Lake Walden in order to illustrate what it takes to free your mind and find reality. Mike Rose is arguing that students in non-traditional classes are being intellectually undermined by society. Each piece relates to Plato’s Allegory because Thoreau is physically able to escape the chaos which in turn helps his mental state escape from societal views. Mike Rose uses a personal experience to understand that those with lowers IQ’s are still fully equipped to reach success without biases.
Hara Estroff Marano’s “Nation of Wimps” elaborates on safety nets parents use on their children which leads to depression, anxiety and similar illness in adulthood. Mike Rose is arguing that students in non-traditional classes are being intellectually undermined by society. Each piece relates to Plato’s Allegory because Marano stresses the point of self reliance at a young age to help with coping with issues in the future. Mike Rose uses a personal experience to understand that those with lower IQ’s are still fully equipped to reach success without biases.
Deborah Tannen’s “There is no Unmarked Women” is a realization that every women’s character is attributed to value based on appearances, Tannen has tried to make the point of not worrying about appearances because it’s the mind that matters. Mike Rose is arguing that students in non-traditional classes are being intellectually undermined by society. Each piece relates to Plato’s Allegory because Tannen was willing to let her appearance not determine her character like the mass majority of society. Mike Rose uses personal experience to the understand that those with a lower IQ are still fully equipped to reach success along with women to not worry about appearances.
In the essay “Just Walk on By: Black Men in Public Space”, Brent Staples claims you can only find out who someone is by letting go of all predisposed stereotypes and meeting them for who they really are. “On Being a Cripple”, Nancy Mairs argues for the sake of some physically incapable people and for herself that they are not bothered by the slang term “cripple” and find themselves being capable of most activities. Both pieces relate to Plato’s Allegory because Nancy Mairs was looked at differently because of her condition and Staples was treated differently because of the color of his skin. In Plato’s Cave they laughed at him when he tried to tell them what he had seen.
Deborah Tannen’s article “The Triumph of the Yell” complains that the public is becoming more hostile and blaming journalist, politicians, and academics for presenting the issues. “On Being a Cripple” Nancy Mairs argues for the sake of some physically incapable people and for herself that they are not bothered by the slang term “Cripple” and find themselves being capable of most activities. Both pieces relate to Plato’s Allegory of the cave because they both talk about the issues caused by standing out of what society thinks is “right”.
Malcolm X in the essay “Learning to Read”, explains about his life after being a thug, he teaches himself to read and become literate. In the essay “On Being a Cripple”, Nancy Mairs claims that you can only live your life to the fullest by breaking free from stereotypes and looking at life without bias. Both essays relate to Plato’s Allegory of the cave because just like the man that left the cave. Malcolm X had to teach himself everything he knew. “On Being a Cripple” Nancy Mairs argues for the sake of some physically incapable people and for herself that they are not bothered by the slang term “cripple” and find themselves being capable of most activities. Hara Estroff Marano in the essay “A Nation of Wimps” explains that we have suffocated them from the outside world that in their adult years, we find it “safer to lower the bar than raise the discomfort level”. Both relate to Plato’s because Plato talked about escaping the “cave” and being an autonomist, and figuring things out alone.
Henry David Thoreau, in his piece “Where I lived, and What I’ve Lived For” claims that only when you break free from all institutions and biases you will know what life and reality are. Hara Estroff Marano in the essay “A Nation of Wimps” explains that we have suffocated them from the outside world that in their adult years we find it “safer to lower the bar then raise the discomfort level”. This relates to Plato because Plato raised the discomfort level and began to form his own version of reality, which made him become self reliant.
Deborah Tannen’s article “The Triumph of the Yell” complains that the public is becoming more hostile and blaming journalist, politicians, and academics for presenting issues. Hara Estroff Marano in the essay “A Nation of Wimps” explains that we have suffocated them from the outside world and that in the kid’s adult years we find it “safer to lower the bar then raise the discomfort level”. This relates to Plato because he went out to try to find his new reality instead of just accepting the one that is given. Like Tannen’s he escaped from the normal argument and did it his own way.
Malcolm X lived the life of a hustler and by then being thrown in jail; Malcolm X realizes the life style he had been missing. Hara Estroff Marano in the essay “A Nation of Wimps” explains that we have suffocated kids from the outside world and that in their adult years; we find it “safer to lower the bar than raise the discomfort level”. This relates to Plato because Malcolm X was self reliant, and by teaching himself to be literate he came to create his own reality.