Company Men Theories

Furthermore, stereotypes are used to increase an individual’s self-esteem and strengthen their social identity. Social identity theory contributes largely to the formation of stereotypes, as it states that a person’s social identity is formed from being part of a group. To justify one’s own group, they often pick out real or imaginary differences and flaws in other groups and compare those to their own group (Ford & Tonander, 1998). This led Ford

Stereotypes are socially constructed, over-generalized views regarding a particular group of persons with certain characteristics that are widely accepted, and usually expected, in a society. The dominant group of a certain society, which in this case is probably Caucasians and men, usually creates these social constructions. Claude M. Steele, a researcher from Stanford University, performed multiple research studies on the idea and psychological effects of stereotypes on its victims. In his studies, he coins the term “stereotype threat” as the “social-psychological predicament that can arise from widely-known negative stereotypes about one's group,” which implies that “the existence of such a stereotype means that anything one does or any of one's features that conform to it make the stereotype more plausible as a self-characterization in the eyes of others, and perhaps even in one's own eyes” (Steele 797).

The descriptions of Phil in “The Company Man” are sardonically accusatory of the present way people live in society. Goodman makes light of how Phil is a heart attack waiting to happen, his seventy-hour workweeks and egg sandwiches. “Of course,”

The first apparent trace of prejudice that is quite evident to the reader is the prejudice that Denver Moore experiences from Ron Hall. In this situation, Ron Hall produces the prejudice feelings towards Denver Moore because of different qualities about Denver’s life. First and foremost, Ron feels superior to Denver in many ways because of class. Since Denver is a homeless man, and Ron a successful businessman, Ron feels as if he does not owe anything to Denver— especially his time. Debbie Hall, Ron’s wife, successfully persuades Ron to help out at the homeless shelter after a long period of prodding and encouragement. Without Debbie, Ron may never have overcome his prejudice

Corporation life consists of putting work and your career in front of everything else, and author Ellen Goodman uses her writing to warn others of its downsides. In the passage “The Company Man”, Goodman uses many rhetorical devices to illustrate her displeasure and irritation towards Phil. Goodman incorporates a unique style of diction, repetition, and anecdotes in her writing to achieve her emphasis on Phil’s lifestyle and to caution the reader about prioritizing work over personal health and family. In the brilliantly written piece of satire, "The Company Man", Ellen Goodman discreetly attacks the atypical hard-working middle class men in the 1980's society, who tend to be blinded by the illusion of wealth and prosperity and forget what is truly important – their own families and their own values. It seems that almost everyday on the news there is a new death mentioned of someone taken far too soon. There are always different stories behind them

Stereotypes are no secret. Everybody develops them in some way or another and uses them in social interactions. These generalizations, both positive and negative, about a characteristic(s) of a group (“Stereotypes) have existed throughout modern and historical societies. The husband in Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” interacts with Robert based off of stereotypes formed from social norms and media portrayals of disabled persons. He treats Robert in a negative manner at first relying on those prejudices, but as he comes to know Robert, he re-develops his stereotypes and interacts with Robert in a more positive way.

In today's society, people are judged by their looks, actions, status and more than often, mistakes. People never have a chance to be themselves if everyone else is still stuck on what they are labeled to be. This is illustrated through the novel, Fifth Business, where categorization of the characters is a common theme. For instance, Dunstan and Amasa Dempster are seen as outcasts Mrs. Dempster is seen to be simple. Davies demonstrates how actions show who you are as a person and one wrong move can shape the minds of others.In the novel Fifth Business, Robertson Davies illustrates how, through archetypal characters, people are categorized rather that seen as individuals.

Stereotyping is a normal part of every one’s life. Humans, by nature, classify things. We name animals and classify them by common characteristics but stereotyping can have negative repercussions, and everyone does it. In a recent study it was proven that everyone has an unconscious need to stereotype (Paul). In Junteenth and The Invisible man, Ralph Ellison argues that stereotyping can cause mayhem by making the people become something they are not.

This movie portrayed people of different races and present how people from different cultures stereotype others. The first concept that I want to illustrate is “out group homogeneity”. “Out group homogeneity” means that people tend to see outgroups less diverse than themselves whereas they view themselves as unique and individual. Outgroup members are viewed as highly similar. The ingroup members tend to attribute that the outgroup members have the same characteristics and personalities. The outgroup homogeneity effect was observed in wide and diverse groups,

The piece “The Company Man” by Ellen Goodman employs many rhetoric techniques commonly used by writers today. The story revolves around Phil; a recently deceased businessman who many claim “worked himself to death”. Ellen Goodman attempts to make a statement about business men and their devotion to only their job with no true emotions. Goodman utilizes her rhetoric techniques to convey her opinion on the death of the protagonist Phil.

Ellen Goodman knows how to get an audience thinking. In Goodman’s story, Company Man, the character Phil is made to seem as an irrelevant and unnecessary member of society through Goodman’s uses of repetition and tone.

Ellen Goodman’s, “The Company Man,” reveals the legacy left behind after a man named Phil dies of overworking. The workaholic has no lasting relationships formed with his family and is easily replaceable at his job he worked so hard to achieve. Through the use of many rhetorical devices, Goodman’s disappointment and distaste of Phil and the obsessive American working class is apparent.

Knights, D. & Willmott, H. 2007. Introducing organisational behaviour and management. Australia : Thomson, 2007, pp. 344-372.

In the writing “The Company Man”, the author, Ellen Goodman, gives us a brief, yet, fulfilling summery of a big company man’s attributes, life, and death. In this work, the author uses referential writing as her primary purpose of writing, while she also uses narration as her primary pattern for the analysis of the writing. She begins, opening up with “He worked himself to death, finally and precisely, at 3:00 AM Sunday Morning.” in order to grab our attention. She then goes into the different aspects of his life, starting with his devotion to his company and some of the different characteristics about him. Next, she lists, in chronological order, the different people in his family, and analyzes what he meant to each person listed. Finally, in closing, the author repeats some of her work, reflecting her writing in her introduction, closing with more elements about him and his work ethic, but also reminding us of how he sacrificed work for family. She then finishes her writing with “So when he finally worked himself to death, at precisely 3:00 AM Sunday morning, no one was really surprised”

The presences of stereotypes are overwhelming and are developed by both the environment a subject is raised in and their family. Stereotypes, which are pervasive throughout different societies, become intertwined in the collective values of the society as justification for all forms of social, economic, and political inequality among groups (Devine and Elliot 2000;Kaplan 2004; Operario and Fiske 2004). As people become more exposed to stereotypes they start to become a permanent part of a person’s life, they begin to stereotype themselves almost always involuntarily.