Two Homegrown Talents: An Analysis

In past years, when people was talking about higher education, they had no hesitation to mention university immediately. When others were mentioning that college also belonged to higher education, sometimes they reacted with a wry smile, and shook their heads. Yes, even if it is for today, university gets the higher appraisal than college, and even many people think ‘‘college as America used to understand it is coming to an end.’’ As parents, they prefer their children to study in university instead of college, no matter how high of tuition the university it is. They ignore the value of college. Although sometimes college is viewed as critical by other people, we still can find its value, and how it is really beneficial for our lives, even if we don’t pursue a degree.

Experts argue about whether or not we have control over our lives. They question if destiny is determined by fate or by choices we make in our life. Two authors both take their sides on this topic producing evidence to support their claim. David Epstein author of The Sports Gene and Malcolm Gladwell author of Outliers: Story of Success both make an argument on how much we control in our lives in which they take different sides. David Epstein wrote about a track and field athlete who had incredible jumping ability despite never practicing high jumping. Malcolm Gladwell talks about how violinists were never able to float through musical school without putting in the practice hours. They each support their side with

Almost every high school student when asked about school will most likely give an unenthusiastic answer. There are many factors that go into why high school students give an answer like that. The source of their disinterest in school does not only come from all the homework, but from dealing with stereotypes. They, like many other groups, face many stereotypes in places like school, home, and work.

Have you ever looked down upon a Blue-collar worker? Well, no need to anymore. Author Mike Rose, a professor at UCLA, wrote "Blue-Collar Brilliance," published in a reputable magazine in 2009 in the American Scholar. Rose argues that Blue-Collar workers are often overlooked. Additionally, Rose brings an overwhelming measure of thankfulness and support as this article assertively endeavored to persuade white-collar workers who before it demonstrated almost no appreciation for blue collar workers. He claims that in effect, intelligence cannot be determined only by the knowledge we collect in school but also through how we learn skills in our daily lives. Rose effectively argues his claim by using pathos, ethos, and logos through personal stories, and comprehensive counterarguments.

Academic work should not define intelligence nor should a job define ability; a person, regardless of grades, degrees, or job title, is an intellect. Together, Gerald Graff, a coauthor of They Say I say, professor, and former anti-intellect, author of "Hidden Intellectualism," and Mike Rose, professor, author, and in depth thinker, author of "Blue-Collar Brilliance," share two different perspectives on what an intellect truly is. Yet, both writings hold meaningful points and experiences to prove who qualifies to be an intellect. Society continuously focuses on what leads to a successful and rounded life: go to school, graduate, go back to school, get a degree, and then a job. It is believed that these high expectations of higher academics enables one to be more successful is correct; however, it is not. It is a person’s individual goals that give them the success they wish to have whether that be education, volunteering, or donating. Also, street smarts is not to be overlooked; a person with common sense can know more than a Doctor. Typically, a person can have either common sense or intelligence, not both. Street smarts is, without a doubt, a superior quality to possess as it encompasses more in life than just a degree does. For example, it is more appropriate to know how to cross a street properly in life than know how to perform a craniotomy. Furthermore, one does not gain knowledge and life lessons through school alone, but through experience,

Understanding and using intelligence is in all of us. The intelligence determines a person who uses it for their purposes that results that there are different categories of work that people work in. The different categories are different skill-sets consider the type of person in a group of people that coexists with the other people. This results that a person is to themselves based on what they can or cannot act according to their intellect. All people are not a welder or a doctor, nevertheless at least one person is one of them with the skills they gain from the intelligence or experience that they have. Understanding intelligence difference and its subjectivity are one view of understanding Mike Rose article "Blue-Collar Brilliance"

In this story, “Blue Collar Brilliance” the author Mark Rose protested that intelligence can be consistent by the amount of education a person has done. Rose advises that blue collar and service jobs lacks more intelligence. In the essay, Rose talks about “how he grew up observing his mother as a waitress in coffee shops and restaurants” (1034, Rose). He describes his mother as charismatic because she loves her job and a hard worker, also she puts her heart and soul in being a waitress. Rose describes her mother’s job on how she what orders people wanted, how much time it took for each dish to be made, and how she became a professional at analyzing the affecting rights of her customers and employees. “ He also describes his uncle’s job  at the General Motors factory and demonstrates tons of amount of intelligence that was mandatory of him as he jumped from being in the production line to administer paint jobs” (1036, Rose). “Rose explains in the story on how he observed different blue collar workers and he came to the closure, that each blue collar worker has a skill that takes a great deal of mind power to master” (1038, Rose).  The central claim of the story is, “many kinds of physical work does not require a high literacy level” (1041, Rose). Some examples of this claim would be, “like anyone who is effective at physical work, my mother learned to work smart, as she put it, to make every move count” (1034, Rose). “I couldn’t have put it in words when I was growing up, but what I observed in my mother’s restaurant defined the world of adults, a place where working habits of blue-collar workers and have come to understand how much my mother’s kind of work demands both body and brain (1034, Rose). “Still, for Joe the shop floor provided what school did not, it was like schooling, he said, a place where you’re constantly learning, Joe learned the most efficient way to use his body by acquiring a set of routines that were quick and preserved energy” (1036-1037, Rose). “He lacked formal knowledge of how the machines under his supervision worked, but he had direct experience with them, hands-on knowledge, and

Gibson, by this time, could now compete against tennis players globally because the segregation barrier had been somewhat transcended. She won the 1955 Italian Championships and the following year, her first Grand Slam titles win, capturing the French Championships in singles and in doubles with partner, Angela Buxton. Gibson became the first black person to win a title at Wimbledon, capturing the doubles title with

Serena Jameka Williams in an American professional tennis player who is ranked number 1 in the singles to six separate occasions. Serena is a tennis star and sporting legend who has to Her credit 32 major titles and several Olympic medals .She is the reigning champion of the French Open, Wimbledon and Olympic women’s singles and doubles. Williams is properly known as the greatest female tennis player of anll time. She is the most recent player, male or female, to have held all four major singles titles simultaneously.

Over many centuries, society tends to frame the obscene differences to antagonize and alienate each other whether it's about a political or religious view, social reasons, or financial situations. In “Blue Collar Brilliance”, Mike Rose provides an invigorating story to persuade his audience to understand that having a blue collar job compared to a white-collar job does not determine how smart someone is. Rose uses anecdotes, rhetorical question, and logos to show that blue-collar workers learn just as much without a formal education.

Andrew Davis started his career in journalism in Spain, as a freelancer. He then got a staff position with Bloomberg and now is a reporter for Bloomberg in Honk Kong. Although he started his career many years ago, his experience was very interesting to me, since he manage to make the transition from freelance journalist to staff correspondent. He was at the right place at the right moment: Bloomberg was starting its operation in Europe in that period, and, as Davis said, “It was desperately looking for reporters in Spain.” He also has many connections in Europe, where he worked for several years as a correspondent for the news agency.

He has many accomplishments in tennis as well. Possibly his best accomplishment, was when he entered a tournament unseeded, but ended up sweeping every person he played, 6-0 and 6-0. The tournament was a well-regarded tournament

Despite 17 straight losses to rival Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova has beaten out her top competitor by becoming the highest paid female athlete for the 11th time in a row. Sharapova is ranked No. 2 in the world and has won a total of five Grand slams. She is the only Russian to hold a career grand slam and has also earned a Olympic silver medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Serena Williams is the number one women’s tennis player in the world. Her outstanding skills have earned her 50 million dollars through just prizes; that is more than any other athlete in the world (“Serena Williams Fast Facts”). Her fast reflexes, amazing skills, and outgoing personality have made her known as a powerful woman and an inspiration to many young girls. This African-American woman is almost six feet tall and is made of steel. With her long, muscular legs and her quick arms, no wonder she is number one!

Both articles use quotations, but the article by PBS used them most. The quotations were mainly used to convey personal narratives on why they are unable to vote and why it is upsetting. The article by Freind uses quotations from the opposite position he holds and uses it to explain why his view is better. Illustrations are more prominent in the PBS article also. The stories of people who are currently unable to vote help to convey their message that photo identification should not be required or that there should be easier ways to vote so that their rights are not infringed upon. The articles use many statistics, but with different approaches. Chris Freind uses the statistics from President Bush's narrow presidential win claiming that it could