The Value Of Hard Work

Hard work has gone unappreciated and avoided by society, as the toil associated with it are rather unpleasant. However, in avoiding hard work, society manages to avoid the many satisfactions that accompany it. In Home of the Free, Wendell Berry discusses how although he is a novelist, poet, and essayist, Berry’s greatest satisfaction comes from the labor he does on his farm. Berry states how society has moved past the struggles of physical labor to avoid labor’s uncomfortable difficulties; thus, society has rejected the unique satisfactions of labor that he finds fulfilling. I agree wholeheartedly with his interpretation that labor and its unique qualities can derive much satisfaction. I find the satisfactions of labor as the most fulfilling

One might argue that without formal education a person has low intelligence. Some people might say that blue-collar work is for the uneducated or for the lower-class society. Both of these opinions are challenged in Mike Rose`s writing Blue-Collar Brilliance. Rose uses multiple rhetorical methods within is reading to prove that blue-collar work is not for unintelligent workers. Rose reflects on his childhood and early adult hood with many references. Rose also uses many different tones throughout the duration of Blue-Collar Brilliance. Rose uses strong evidence to clearly show his opinion of blue-collar work.

The prospect of labor to earn money is a blessing for many people in the world. In the essay, “Work Is a Blessing” by Russel Honoré, the author makes a point that this prospect is vital for survival. Honoré starts his essay with a story from his past: “We grew cotton, sugar cane, corn, hogs, chickens and had a large garden, but it didn't bring in much cash. So when I was 12, I got a part-time job on a dairy farm down the road, helping to milk cows” (79). Readers can immediately infer that even if Honoré hated the job, it allowed him to help his family.

As a matter of fact, nobody has a car repaired or has unique earrings made every day. Monthly bills, insurance, and gas have almost inflexible prices while “the business goes up and down” unpredictably (n.p). However, the writer believes that when working with passion and enthusiasm, technical jobs will make more money than paperwork and bring an interesting life. From my perspective, because of the loss of ability to afford for living expense, trades may face the enticement of money, alternatively, “charge more than a fair price” (n.p). Of course, money doesn’t bring happiness, but it is a requirement to reach that goal. Working with ambition to pursue goals may not bring expected results; it is necessary to prepare for that harsh

His journey began by receiving his degree in physics, which led him to no job and therefore, he worked as an electrician. Afterwards, it states, “but I ultimately earned a Ph.D. in the history of political thought,” (104) which really just led him to a serious thought of what he wanted to do with his life, because he wasn’t quite satisfied with it. He then fell back to the mechanic lifestyle (105) in which he states, “The physicality of it, and the clear specificity of what the project required of me, was a balm for feelings of professional panic” (105). Because Crawford had left the mechanic ‘life’ in his teenage years, he had a hard time fixing some bikes; he eventually had to contact Fred to receive guidance. It states, “Over the next six months I spent a lot of time at Fred’s shop, learning,” (108) and even after being offered a huge salary in a job as a director, he kept returning back to the mechanic shop. Crawford states a strong statement, saying, “Fred’s life as an independent tradesman gave me an image of liberality that I kept coming back to” (109). He then chose liberty, opened a small shop, alongside Tommy and began his new journey as a self-employed business owner. Because the shop “supported a spirit of experimentation,” (111) Crawford increased his knowledge in many aspects, for example, he learned why someone should never let a bearing spin when drying it, how to bill, the amount of attention a bike needs, and finally, he realized that as committed he is to the bike, this commitment and responsibility transfers over to others or the owners. For example, Crawford was simply going to hand over a bike that wasn’t necessarily completely fixed, but instead “he felt compelled to get to the bottom of things” (123). It states, “The bike is for

First is the fact that labor is external to the laborer that is, it is not part of his nature-and that the worker does not affirm himself in his work but denies himself, feels miserable and unhappy, develops no free physical and mental energy but mortifies his flesh and ruins his mind. The worker, therefore feels at ease only outside work, and during work he is outside himself. His work, therefore is not voluntary, but coerced, forced labor. (3)

In the chapter, Working Hard, the main idea of the chapter is paying attention to advancing through the workplace. Roberto, one of the Lions, say that the work ethic of many Mexicans when they arrive in America is to work endlessly for whoever their employed to. Not only doing the tasks that’s listed under the job description, but even doing things outside of that description as in helping in other areas of the employer. For example, Roberto was hired as a busboy but has also assisted the restaurant in taking down and

Roszak makes a point in his essay about jobs being our salvation, where he describe there is no end to a working life. Roszak describes the waste of time in people’s jobs and that most employees don’t even put all of their effort into them. He figures

However, the sources differed immensely through the use of language. In fact, one of the themes most evident amongst the language that set the sources apart rhetorically was the tone. Throughout the article “Blue-Collar Brilliance,” Mike Rose set a very serious tone discussing the matter of economic inequality. For example, Rose conveys “As a foreman, Joe constantly faced new problems and became a constant multi-tasker, evaluation a flurry of demands quickly, parceling out physical and mental resources, keeping a number of ongoing events in his mind, returning to whatever task had been interrupted, and maintain a cool head under the pressure of grueling production schedules” (1037). As Rose portrays the life of a Foreman, he keeps a very serious tone to convey to the audience how real these struggles are. Although Joe may have not received a formal education passed middle school, he still has to work efficiently and intelligently in his own manner. At the same

This is more representative of the European’s view of work than of Marlow’s. The Europeans believe that work is something for slaves and people who aren’t as privileged as they are.

In Mike Rose’s essay “Blue-collar Brilliance” published in “The American Scholar,” the author describes the intellectual powers of blue-collar laborers. Rose portrays personal experiences that formed Rose’s view on blue-collar workers. He describes how blue-collar work is perceived within society begging from the United States’ early beginnings. Rose proceeds to use tangible examples to disprove the idea of separation of intelligence from blue-collar jobs. Although some professionals categorize blue-collar work as inferior, Rose affirms that such jobs require an equal degree of intelligence as those of white-collar professions.

Working in society is an important experience in our life. Some jobs could be our life career. During working, we could gain something other than money, but sometime we have to sacrifice for what we want. Everyone wants to gain what they want without any sacrificing. However, most of the society is a zero-sum game. It means when someone gain, it must be someone lost. Therefore, not everyone could gain what they want. Somethings sacrificing would be larger than gaining from work. In the stories, “Cakes” by Salvatore La Puma, “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair, “The Smell of Fatigue” by Melida Rodas, and “Goodfellows” by Antonya Nelson, those protagonists have different background. Most of them are come from different countries and have their family

Many people in today’s society find themselves guilty of believing the common misconception that money can buy happiness. They go to school to become a doctor, lawyer, or other high paying job, with money and social status as their only incentives. Many will find that they have fallen into a trap, when they start earning their large salary, but still are not happy. While there were many messages present throughout Studs Terkels Working: a graphic adaptation, the most important reoccurring message seemed to be that having pride and dignity as well as working at a job that fulfills one’s life passion or is simply enjoyable are more important qualities than earning a large salary and having a high rank on the social ladder. The interaction of

Preindustrial labor, or “old” labor, was not easy. Days were long and pay was never sufficient enough for

C. Wright Mills defines the meaning of work for white-collar workers. A white-collar worker is an educated person who performs non-manual, professional, managerial, or administrative work. He states “ White Collar stands, after sixty years, as the most comprehensive work that American social science has produced in the study of the new middle class. “ classifying white collar workers as the new middle class full of intellectuals in intermediate positions, to what he describes as the “enormous file” of clerical labor. C. Wright Mills connects the meaning of work for white-collar workers to the types of leisure activity they pursue. Modern white-collar workers attach an extrinsic value to their wage work because they work to live. Jobs have lost their intrinsic value due to the emptiness that comes with the job. For example, white collar workers are subjected to manipulations and control of their superiors thus in return; they lose their creativity and freedom of action.