Values And Balance In Ellen Goodman's The Company Man

She uses very casual word choice in the sentence “He was a perfect Type A, a workaholic, a classic…” to humorously convey Phil’s character. In addition, Goodman also uses informal diction, such as the phrase, “heart attack natural” in the sentence, “Phil was a Type A, a heart attack natural. You could have picked him out in a minute from a lineup,” to describe Phil’s weight. The use of idioms in “The Company Man” helps achieve an informal and

In “The Company Man” by Ellen Goodman, throughout the passage Goodman illustrates her feelings of distaste and anger toward Phil, as he in her mind represents Corporate America: routine, indifferent, almost robotic. Goodman uses numerous rhetorical strategies to convey her attitude toward Phil, including tone, repetition, the use of statistics, sarcasm, anecdotes, differing syntax, and irony.

In order to pick up the slack of the other parent, both authors make sacrifices to ensure their children’s needs are met. Edelman feels like she was expected to reduce her work hours instead of her husband because of the gender roles forced upon parents in society today. Edelman became angry with the fact that she felt pressured to prioritize her husband’s career and give up her own career to care for their child. Edelman states “...there was something vaguely unsettling about feeling that my choice hadn’t been much of an actual choice”(51). Edelman also angrily states that the reason she was forced to give up her career was because “...he was ‘the husband’ and…his career took precedence...”(54). Edelman is angry at the fact that society made her believe her career was inferior to her husband’s. Bartels also makes sacrifices for his family. Bartels makes the sacrifices to take pressure off of his wife, who is constantly running their children around to daycare and

Some people say that work comes before play. While this is mostly true, the real implications of this expression can be monumental. The Working Man by Ellen Goodman is about a man named Phil who died due to heart failure. Goodman however, believes that this was not the true cause of death, instead being that he worked himself to death. Phil put his work above all else, even at the expense of his health and family life. Goodman has a very negative point of view on Phil’s life, viewing it is pointless and stupid. She uses several rhetorical devices throughout the story to convey her negative attitude towards the way Phil lived his life, including, sarcasm, irony, and repetition.

Ellen Goodman uses satire in The Company Man to inspect the lifestyle of a worker named Phil, “ a workaholic,” a “perfect type A” who, for most people, “worked himself to death.” Phil was busy, working “six days a week, five of them until eight or nine at night.” Until one Saturday morning precisely at 3:00 a.m., Phil dies unexpectedly on his day off. Goodman displays that Phil was just a “ Company Man,” all he did was work hard, and get nothing. Showing bitter emotions towards Phil. Goodman uses repetition and very direct and organized language to create a report out of Phil’s life. Ellen Goodman feels that Phil is a victim of his own

The narrator was writhing in the misery of the burden of brotherly love. The narrator’s mother, via tasking him with looking after Sonny, asked him to serve as his sibling’s keeper and protector. The narrator was riddled with grief throughout his life right from the burden of brotherly love that was placed upon his shoulder, to the dilapidated living conditions he and Sonny had to endure while shaking up in the projects, to the imprisonment of his younger brother and the death of his own daughter-

The death of the narrator’s daughter, Grace, is something that the narrator suffers a lot and it is shocking for him as a father and a family. He remembers that his mother has given him the responsibility to take care of his brother, Sonny, which he is not able to do so. The death of his daughter leads him to approach his brother and listen to Sonny about what does he feels about life he has been going through for a long time.

Writing back to back examples of not just blue-collar workers, but of loved ones really help to hone in on his point. Rose attempts to achieve an even deeper connection with his readers. Rose reveals memories of his uncle Joe by saying, “When I was a young man, Joe took me on a tour of the factory. The floor was loud—in some places deafening—and when I turned a corner or opened a door, the smell of chemicals knocked my head back. The work was repetitive and taxing and the pace was inhumane” (248). Rose is giving another example of blue-collar work that his audience can possible relate to. His uncle’s everyday duties required him to be sharp, focused and proactive not only in order to get the job done, but to get the job done in a safe manner. Rose then goes on to describe his uncle Joe’s blue-collar work as one who, “Joe constantly faced new problems and became a consummate multi-tasker, evaluating 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 maintaining a cool head under pressure of grueling production schedules” (248). Rose’s intention is to express the high demands blue-collar workers face. Rose wants his readers to understand that blue-collar work in not all physical; moreover, by

Similarly, Peter Houghton’s home life also displays parental neglect. Growing up believing that his older brother, Joey, is the favorite, Peter feels as an outcast at home. When Joey suddenly dies in a car accident, Peter’s relationship with his parents continues to worsen. His parents are too depressed to pay any attention to Peter (“Nineteen Minutes”).

This summer my workplace was nannying for two kids that live down the street. It was not a life-changing experience like Jesse Bent had, but it did impact my life in many ways. I started making money which caused me to not fully rely on my parents for everything. In the article Jesse Bent says, "The job gives me a paycheck. A purpose. A chance to buy things for himself, which recently is a 1999 Honda Civic." He says he is feeling like more of a man than he used to and he is more proud of himself. I can relate to this because with the job I am able to go out with my friends or pay for gas and not have to ask my parents for money. With the job, I have to be more responsible and I gain a lot of independence. Bent and I relate in this way because he also has to be more responsible and he has to use the money he earns for things he needs, not drugs. He has gained more control over his illness by working at Hyvee. The workplace is a place in the society where people are learning traits that they would only learn in this agent of

Phils family is forgotten and is over looked by the work that is going on in his life. In “The Company Man”, Ellen Goodman usues multiple rhetorical devices and shows her resentment side torwards the working class of society and how they work themeselves to death. Goodman’s resentment

Build a career for yourself that you do not need a vacation from but always keep the separation of work and life. In Ellen Goodman’s piece “The Company Man”, Goodman describes the habits of a workaholic named Phil who worked himself to death. The author criticizes Phil for neglecting his family and expresses her feelings through rhetorical strategies. Ellen Goodman is bitter and disapproving about the way Phil lived his life because of how many hours he spent at work, how little his family knew about him, and how easily he was replaced.

There father son relationship was ruined because they lost sight of how it is when you have family and how you are supposed to help each other out no matter what both of you are going through. So his father finally gave up living that was the last thing he could take before he finally died. That why family is so important while going through life especially the tough

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.

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