Rhetorical Analysis
Joyner Crane
9 /10/2014
EH 101-BD Many people in today’s society tend to believe that a good education is the fastest way to move up the ladder in their chosen. People believe that those who seek further education at a college or university are more intelligent. Indeed, a college education is a basic requirement for many white collar, and some blue collar, jobs. In an effort to persuade his audience that intelligence cannot be measured by the amount of education a person has Mike Rose wrote an article entitled “Blue Collar Brilliance”. The article that appeared in the American Scholar, a quarterly literary magazine of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, established in 1932. The American Scholar audience includes, Company’s , Employees, Educators, Students, CEO’s, and many others. Author Mike Rose questions assumptions about intelligence, work and the social class. In the article, Rose uses Audience, Purpose, and Rhetorical Strategies to help the reader form an opinion on intelligence.
Throughout the article, Rose uses ethos to establish credibility and reveal his purpose. He establishes his credibility by using the personal experiences of blue-collar workers that employ thinking, reading, and interpreting, but do not require a college degree. This establishes credibility with the reader because his personal experiences cannot be disputed and therefore are considered fact. This also makes the reader more interested in learning the purpose of the article because the reader knows that Rose has an understanding of how intelligence is used in a blue collar job. After establishing credibility with the readers, Rose reveals his purpose. Rose says “Although writers and scholars have often looked at the working class, they have generally focused on the values such workers exhibit rather than on the thought their work”. From this quote the reader can understand that Rose believes that many people have no idea of the amount of intelligence a blue collar worker needs in
9 /10/2014
EH 101-BD Many people in today’s society tend to believe that a good education is the fastest way to move up the ladder in their chosen. People believe that those who seek further education at a college or university are more intelligent. Indeed, a college education is a basic requirement for many white collar, and some blue collar, jobs. In an effort to persuade his audience that intelligence cannot be measured by the amount of education a person has Mike Rose wrote an article entitled “Blue Collar Brilliance”. The article that appeared in the American Scholar, a quarterly literary magazine of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, established in 1932. The American Scholar audience includes, Company’s , Employees, Educators, Students, CEO’s, and many others. Author Mike Rose questions assumptions about intelligence, work and the social class. In the article, Rose uses Audience, Purpose, and Rhetorical Strategies to help the reader form an opinion on intelligence.
Throughout the article, Rose uses ethos to establish credibility and reveal his purpose. He establishes his credibility by using the personal experiences of blue-collar workers that employ thinking, reading, and interpreting, but do not require a college degree. This establishes credibility with the reader because his personal experiences cannot be disputed and therefore are considered fact. This also makes the reader more interested in learning the purpose of the article because the reader knows that Rose has an understanding of how intelligence is used in a blue collar job. After establishing credibility with the readers, Rose reveals his purpose. Rose says “Although writers and scholars have often looked at the working class, they have generally focused on the values such workers exhibit rather than on the thought their work”. From this quote the reader can understand that Rose believes that many people have no idea of the amount of intelligence a blue collar worker needs in