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The Connection Between Social Stratification And Individual

Decent Essays

The Connection Between Social Stratification and Individual Opportunity Undoubtedly, those who find themselves under the label “working class” are often disrespected and suffer through emotional or physical discomfort, and sometimes both, in their jobs. The disparity of inequality between the American social classes are growing bigger and the chances of individual opportunity are growing lower for middle or lower class citizens. Political activist Barbara Ehrenreich details a life of a working class individual in her text “Serving in Florida.” In her text, Barbara describes her experiences of working in jobs that the lower working class are often employed in. Through her analysis of working in these jobs, she argues that many working …show more content…

The use of personal experience makes her claim stronger. Mantsios wants to help the reader accept his claim that social classes are real and that it influences the lives of many. In order to strengthen his claim, Mantsios adopts the use of statistics when he analyzes which social class holds the highest percentage of household wealth. This is seen when Mantsios writes, “The richest 20 percent of Americans hold nearly 90 percent of the total household wealth in the country” (Mantsios 380). This quote shows Mantsios using statistics to show that higher social classes dominate the household industry. Mantsios uses statistics again when he writes, “The middle fifth of the population holds less than 4 percent of the national wealth” (Mantsios 381). This quote is displaying Mantsios’s heavy use of statistics that he uses to portray the wealth disparity in different social classes. The use of statistics helps Mantsios’s essay gain credibility. Mantsios’s text illustrates Ehrenreich’s claim that the working class suffers from injustice because Mantsios uses examples that create a picture of what Ehrenreich 's claim is describing. For example, Ehrenreich describes how she is treated in her job. Ehrenreich describes this when she narrates the time when her coworker yells at her screaming “Barbara, didn’t you see

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