Articles for In-Class Writing

On Monday, December 2nd, you'll do the second part of "essay 3," responding to a series of questions exploring the readings you've been doing. You can find the questions below under the "Essay 3 post."

This time, you'll be bringing your book together with one course text and two other articles, or one article and one film. They don't have to be about exactly the same topic: think about articles that touch on your themes and questions from a different perspective: maybe they update the information in your book, or compare how a certain issue arises in a different kind of work.

For your articles, you can begin with the suggestions on the "essay 3" handout. You should be able to google most of these articles by using the title, the author's name, and the name of the publication.

If you want to look for other articles, or for recent articles about labor issues in the news, here are some places to look.

The New York Times has one reporter, Steven Greenhouse, who writes about labor. Try looking at his recent articles.

Other journalists who write about labor issues we've been discussing include Josh Eidelson, Sarah Jaffe, Liza Featherstone, Michelle Chen, and Jake Blumgart. Search their names and you will find some interesting articles. Publications that do good stories about labor include The Nation, Mother Jones, Dissent and In These Times. 

Take notes as you read. Bring your book, articles, and course text to class on the 2nd.

"Essay" Three

As we've been discussing, our main goal for this last essay is have the experience of reading a serious non-fiction book related to the topics of our course work. You'll also look at at least two articles (or an article and a film) and course text that connect to it.

Instead of writing one formal essay, you'll do a series of in-class writings in which you describe what you're reading, think about the questions it asks and the arguments it might make.

Carry your book with you over the next month. Work on finding blocks of time to read. Take notes. When you come to the end of chapter or a section, take a minute to write down the most important ideas and examples from what you've read. Notice what challenges you face as you read. We're building this skill just as you're building your writing.

Outline of In-Class Writing: 

You are responsible for making up writings that you miss. Your grade for essay three will be based on your ability to show that you have read carefully and worked to make connections to the ideas we've been discussion all semester.

*Note* You want to make your final decision on your book this week. If you are waiting for a book, start with one of the articles or course texts related to your topic - see the handout for suggestions. Many of the article can be googled if you include the author's name and the title.

Begin each in-class writing with an update as to how far you are in the reading.

Monday, November 18th

- What un-googleable questions is your book asking? Think about the categories we discussed: interpretation, ethics, and policy/solutions.

- What key terms from our list relate to your reading and how? Are there new key terms from the reading we need to add to the list. Think about what makes something a key term: not just a new vocabulary word, but something that relates to a concept about work.

- What detail (a story, a fact, an example) stuck with you from the reading most and why? What will you remember from the reading in a year or five years?


Monday, December 2nd

- Update me on your readings. How far are you in the book, what course text(s) did you (re)read and what other articles?

- Choose one short passage (between a paragraph and a page or so) from your readings that you found particularly surprising, upsetting, inspiring, or interesting. Summarize the passage in your own words, using indirect citation. Then talk about why you selected it. What specific things were you surprised to learn? How do you think it relates to the text as a whole?

- Describe the connections you found between the book, course text, and articles. Are the situations they describe similar? Do they take place in similar or different contexts (time, place)? Do they make similar or different arguments about the issues discussed?

- Find three arguments you MIGHT make about the topic of your book, articles, and/or course texts: one interpretive argument, one ethical argument, and one policy argument. Which of these arguments do you think your authors are making or would agree with?

Revisions

You have the option to revise either or both of your first two essays. If you haven't yet received a grade for one of them.

 If you wish to revise your essay(s), follow these guidelines:

- Add something new. When you turn in the revision, I'll ask you to star where you added a new quotation, a new detail, a new point of connection. You might include examples or connections from a different class text or from your book.   

- Revising is not the same as editing. You want to correct typos and grammatical errors, but doing only this will not improve your grade. 

- Be sure you're putting your texts into relationship with each other: put them in the same paragraph and perhaps the same sentence.

- Having done more work, go back to your first paragraph and think about your main idea ("thesis") that responds to the questions in the assignment. 

- Use chapters from They Say on summary, quotation, analysis and transitions to add you.

- Consider meeting with me or going to the writing center B200 to work on your essay. You don't need an appointment to go to the writing center: just come at the beginning of a class hour. 

- Turn in both the graded version of your essay and the revised version. Mark what you have added.

I'll give you the new grade. If you go from a C- to  an A, you get an A. I won't lower your grade no matter what, but if you don't do any real revisions, I won't raise it either.

Revisions are due on our last regular day of class, Wednesday, December 4th. 

essay II Revisions

No matter what you are everyone has to work. When I apply for a job at a restaurant I seen how both the men and women are treated. I saw that in the restaurant that the women wear colorful outfits, had make-up on, and always smiling. While the men just work in the back gound wearing the same uniform and having a miserable face on. The way the two genders were looking shows how the work place views them. Also how the work place veiws them. The genders point of view is shown in two pieces of writing. In the book called "Working" by Studs Terkel talks to stewardesses named Mason, and talk about an example of a job that came easy for women. He also takes to her about how she got the job and the benefits. In the second passage called "The politics of Housework" by Pat Mainrdi, talks about the true lines of work for a house hold couple. Using both of the passages, I can connect the point of view of men, women and the work place. In the interview in the novel called "Working", Studs Terkels talks to a woman named Mason about an example of the relationship between women and thework place. In the beginning of the interview, Mason begins to talk to Terkel about life as stewardesses. As Mason stated "I think our average age is twenty-six. But our supervisors tell us what kind of make-up to wear what kind of lipstick to wear, if our hair is not the right style for us, if we're not smiling enough. They even tell us how to act when you're on a pass"(Terkel, 42). At  the work place the women are shown to not have any say. The work that they are able to have is based on their own looks. This is because the work place used the womens look to draw in more customers. This can't be the same for the men because they used them for the backgound and women are albe to bring in a crowd then men. Later in the interview, Mason told Terkel one of the job benefits she gets as stewardesses. Terkel then later put a side note about one benefit she gets. He stated "In New York, stewardesses live five or six girls to one apartment. They think they can get by because they're in and out so much. But there's gonna be a few nights they're all gonna be home and a couple of 'em will have to sleep on the floor"(Terkel,43). This is one of the benefits that she gets at her job. This is an example of how the women see the work place. They are willing to used there looks for the work place in order to get a head. But not all women as some of them see getting ahead cause of there looks as sexist. Mason is shown not to be one of these women, but gladly use her looks at the work place. In a passage called "The politics of housework" by Pat Mainardi, she goes in to detail of the connection between men and the work place. In the middle of the passage, Mainardi talks about how men are able to go far in work. She states "Man's accomplishment has always depended on getting help from other people, mostly women. What great man would have accomplished what he did if he had to do his own house work"(Mainardi). This show that man could not have gotten where they are at without the help from other. That is what the job do for them. Jobs know this about the men, and use the skills that they have to better themself. Also the more the job drive the men the more work the job place can accomplish. This can't be the same for women because women aren't really driven as men. They give the men a purpose in their lifes. Mainardi later in the passage talks about an idea of men in the work place. Mainardi states "In a sense, all men everywhere are slightly schizoid-divorced from the reality of maintaining life. This makes it easier for them to play games with it"(Mainardi). This shows that over time men have often put their work over themselves. They see the work place as an escape from their everyday lifes. They are willing to work hard not just for the escape but also prove themself to other and themselfs. This can not be the same for women because don't see jobs as an escape but as a place they have to go too. The idea of gender in the work place has a big impact. Some of these big impacts can be based on gender discrimination. For example you can get paid less than everyone else just because of your sex. In some of the cases you can’t either get a job or get fired base on your gender. There has been court case hearing crimes like this, year and year again. This shows what impacts that gender really has on the world today.

WORKING WITH QUESTION

WORKING WITH QUESTIONS:

            1) Should people who do care work (teachers, nurses, elder care workers) have the right to strike?

No, they should not. I think that if people who do care work stop working many people could suffer consequences about that because if teachers do not work, many students cannot assist to college. If nurses stop working many sick people could die because of the lack of care and if elder care workers stop working too, elder people can get sick and also they can suffer accident because they could not have nobody to take care of them.

             2) Should there be a limit to the amount of wealth someone can make in a year? (e.g. a 'maximum' income as compared to a minimum income)?

 Somewhere in between, because I think that If everybody would have a limit of income it would help to succeed in their jobs to achieve the limit and it should not exist poverty, but in the other side of the coin there are many people who go to college to have a better job in order to get a good income an success in their lives.

            3) Should your boss have the right to fire you without giving a reason?

No, they should not have the right to fire anybody without a reason because if the work is done properly and you come and leave on time with a honest behavior ; they should no fire you at all otherwise it would be discrimination.

            4) Should people have a right to a basic income (a job or an alternative salary if jobs are not available) the way we have the right to freedom of speech?

            No they should not have the right to a basic income as the way we have the right to freedom of speech because if we have a career I think that we should have a better paid unlike to uneducated people. For example a doctor or lawyer should have a higher income than a person who work in a restaurant or a factory.

 

Working with Questions

1) Should people who do care work (teachers, nurses, elder care workers) have the right to strike?

2) Should there be a limit to the amount of wealth someone can make in a year? (e.g. a 'maximum' income as compared to a minimum income)?

3) Should your boss have the right to fire you without giving a reason?

4) Should people have a right to a basic income (a job or an alternative salary if jobs are not available) the way we have the right to freedom of speech?



*******************************************************************

For each of these statements, write down your gut response: strongly agree, strongly disagree, somewhere in-between.

Then choose one and explain why you feel the way you do. If you're in the middle, talk about qualifications you might make to the argument (i.e. 'teachers should be able to strike but not nurses.')

Discussion Thread: Your Books

In the comments below, give an update on your book search.

- Have you checked a book out of the library or ordered one from another campus?

- If so, have you decided if it's the book for you? What's leading you to that decision? If not, start looking at alternatives.

- If not, is there a book you think you're interested in that's not in the library. I will help you find a copy.

If you have the book you want use, start reading. Try to read a little everyday. Take it with you on the subway. Read while you're standing in line. Take notes in a reading journal - we'll be posting some online as well. Keep in mind the clues we discussed in class: the information about the author, publisher, date, introduction, and chapter outline.

Bring your books to class everyday until the end of the semester. Keep an eye out for when/if you need to renew them.

Essay two

                             GENDER INEQUALITY INDOOR AND OUTDOOR WORKS

The word gender generally refers to masculine and feminine. For further detail, it refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women. As far as we noticed that aspect of sex will not vary substantially between different human societies, while aspects of gender may vary greatly. The text “Who Built The Pyramid” by Mike Lefevre, “A Pecking Order” by  Stud Terkel,one of the interview with airline stewardess Terry Mason and “The Politics of Housework” claims that gender inequality does takes place indoor and outdoor which strongly gives the idea of separation of men and women at home and at workplace. It is typically saying in the culture that man is more stronger than women and men can do much more heavier job than women can do. However, there is always a inequality between men and women in everything they perform and always partiality comes between men and women that men can do that and women  cannot.
    From the text, Working Stud Terkel ”Who Built The Pyramid “by Mike Lefevre is the one example of showing gender inequality when it comes to a job. Mike is working as a steel worker at steel mill and his wife Carol works as a waitress in a neighborhood restaurant, and also a house wife that it shows the different physical work of men and women and also the separation from his or her job because  always hard and heavy jobs are seeing as men’s job than women. Mike Lefevre quoted that “It’s the not -recognition by other people. To say a woman is just a housewife is degrading, right? Okey. Just the housewife.” (pgh#6) that clearly shows that society in general does not value the house wife job. There is no way to measure the value of this job. women barely get recognition in the society for what they do and what they have achieved.
   
    Other text “A pecking Order” by Stud Terkel on one of his interview with airline stewardess states how men and women are categories in their own job field. For this case, the airline flight attendant is a job of a women who need to put on smile for whole hours to make others pleased and served well. It also mentioned about the job which is more likely to a women because women or females are the one who is best at out appearance to make others feel good to come again so most of the job like customer services, they used girls or ladies to attract customers and pleased them to come again that men barely does so this is kind of gender inequality at job. Terkel quoted that ”One guy got this steak and he said, “This is too medium, I want mine rarer.” The girl said,” I am sorry, I don’t cook the food, it’s precooked.” He picked up the meal and threw it on the floor.”( pg# 46, pgh#2nd) This points out that men looked down on women and humiliate them for small things and exaggerate things into bigger and makes issue without respecting women’s feelings which comes under the gender discrimination.
        On the second hand, The article “The Politics of Housework” by Pat Mainardi Of Redstockings points out that men and women are separated not only form outer job but also inside jobs like house work. Mainardi is trying to say that the talking of the division of the labor between men and women in different societies we are talking almost exclusively of gender roles rather than sex roles, determined by culture rather than biology. It is easy to see that the amount of work assigned to women is considerably greater and that their labor is much harder than men’s work. This article shows how men and women are arguing on the house chores, example; buying groceries, carting them home and putting them away; cooking meals and washing dishes and pots; doing the laundry digging out the place when things get out of control; washing floors, etc(pgh# 3,pg#1) that who is more responsible and less. In here, men shows the power of standard that degrades housewife’s work and making things up that men are not supposed to be in this house hold work; however, this is one of the male and female discrimination on house work where it says women have to do inside work, not men. It also argue that “husband and wife earns same amount of money and have both careers for living so why shouldn’t they share the housework?” on the second paragraph of the first page which strongly agrees that mean and women have same ability to do work indoor and outdoor so there is not such inequality doing women’s work to men’s work. They should share the works and make themselves part of house members without partiality. Also  Mainardi quoted that “ We have different standards, and why should I have to work to your standards? That’s unfair” (pgh#7,pg# 2). it says housework is not count as men’s work and its specially recognized as women’s work .In somehow, men are pushing women to do house work showing their standard as lower grade and making men as higher grade and dominating towards women’s work.. So, purposely men shows the word gender inequality for not accepting the house work as men’s work too.
     So in all cases, men are more lousy and more powerful than women and bringing gender inequality between them to separated him/her from work. Some examples of gender characteristics :In the United States (and most other countries), women earn significantly less money than men for similar work. Like wise In Vietnam, many more men than women smoke, as female smoking has not traditionally been considered appropriate. In Saudi Arabia men are allowed to drive cars while women are not. In most of the world, women do more housework than men. On one hand women are expected to stay at home and look after the kids/household because a lot of men think that's the way things ought to be and so that men can be the breadwinner/head of household. A lot of men want to see a return to more traditional values/way of life. Therefore, gender does affect the work and working condition described on the above text showing gender inequality at workplace and inside the house too. Biologically and culturally males and females are separated from each other in every field making men in the higher level and women in lower hand. Most of the house have men, a house leader and women as a server. Summarizing all text in one word means gender discrimination and it has to be stopped. So, one can live freely and make their own decision without any fear and giving same standard to men and women without partiality and giving equal rights to do what they want. Finally, At this age, gender discrimination is taken less valuable and getting more advance doing men and women’s job equally far more without any separation at gender case.

Essay 2

In an essay of at least 600 words, explore ONE of the questions listed below. You can draw on your own experiences, but the main focus should be on our texts. Be sure to use the follow up questions to develop your idea. Think about the “so what” of your claim: why it matters, how it affects real people, what should be done about it.

Your essay should be typed, double-spaced, and carefully proofread. We will work on brainstorming and drafting in class the week of October 21^st.   Post a draft to the blog for Monday, October 28^th; essays will be due Monday, November 4^th.

You should use internal documentation to introduce your sources but need not include a works cited page. We will discuss internal documentation in class.

Option One:  Using at least two course texts, discuss how ideas about gender (the beliefs a culture has about what men and women are “like” affects the work men and women do, the ways they are treated on the job, and the recognition they get or do not get for their work.

NOTE: Both men and women are affected by ideas about gender. Be sure to talk about ideas of masculinity as well as ideas of femininity in your essay.

Suggested course texts: Any of the interviews we’ve read from Terkel, or any other from the book that interest you and you think might connect to the topic, Pat Mainardi, “The Politics of Housework,” Sara Jaffe, “A Day Without Care,” and Steve Fraser, “A Wall Street State of Mind.”

Some questions you might consider:

-       How do ideas about gender affect the work and working conditions described in these texts?

-       How do ideas of gender affect whether or not certain workers receive recognition for their work? Think about both concrete forms of recognition, such as pay and benefits, as well as they status and respect they do or do not receive.

-       How do stereotypes about what men and women are “naturally” good at affect

 these workers?

-       Some of these texts are about forty years old; others are more recent. Do your texts suggest anything about the extent to which ideas about gender have and have not changed? What about the change in working conditions for men and women?

Option Two: Explore the concept of “emotional labor” discussed in The Managed Heart by Arlie Russell Hochschild. Begin by summarizing your understanding of the term and the particular aspects of it in which you are most interested. Then discuss how this concept applies or does not apply to at least two other course texts.

Suggested course texts (to use in addition to Hochschild): Any of the interviews from “A Pecking Order” section of Working, or any others from the book that you are interested in that you think might be relevant, Pat Maindari, “The Politics of Housework,” and Sara Jaffe, “A Day Without Care.”

Some questions you might consider:

-       What concrete effects does emotional labor have on workers?

-       What concrete effects does emotional labor have on culture or society as a whole?

-       What is the relationship between emotional labor and gender?

-       What is the relationship between emotional labor and the service economy?

-       How useful do you think the concept of emotional labor is in understanding the world of work today?

-       What would improve the lives of workers who do emotional labor?

ESSAY 2 (Improved)

        Battle of the Genders

Expectations that culture has had on women and men has deeply affected the working

environment for women and men in many different ways. From how/where they work, to how they are treated not only on the job but also at home, and the recognition they receive from the work they do or do not do. In text Exploring the Managed Heart by Arlie Russell and in article The Politics of Housework by Pat Mainardi, both authors seem to come to an agreement that society has utterly managed to segregate women and men when it comes to making a living.

The ideas about gender affects the work one does in many ways. In society it is believed that women are more “emotional” so therefore they should work at home, take care of kids, work at nursing homes, become nurses, or any job that requires an emotional attachment to another person. While men are believed to be professional, strong, and sophisticated, so therefore they are viewed as doctors, office men, negotiators, construction men, and mostly jobs that are “white-collar” or jobs that require physical strength. Centuries ago (before 1970’s, The Politics of Housework; Editors Note) it was believed that women should be absolute “housewives,” women did not have careers, they stayed home, took care of kids, cleaned the house, and had events with the rest of the housewifes. Although over the centuries, times have changed, most cultures still have the same kind of idea. For example, now a days, a couple with children, both have careers, and both work busy jobs. Although both work, it seems like the wife tends to work double. At work and at home. She might confront her spouse about it. It only seems fair that if both have jobs, then both should be doing housework. Yet something seems to happen when most men are confronted with house work, “I don’t mind sharing the housework, but I don’t do it very well. We should each do things that we’re best at.” (Paragraph 4, The Politics of Housework) Also suggesting that it is in a woman’s nature to do house work, not in mens. Stereotypes like “It is in your nature” have essentially set this mindset to the working community. For example, although it is illegal now, women were once (and still may be) paid less than a man who does the exact job as her. Why? It was believed that men worked due to the fact that they had to maintain their wife and family. Which was true, but it was also believed that women worked just to have a little more money in their pockets. Which might of been true but not always. So due to that little stereotype, till this day (although illegal in the United States) some women are paid less than men.

The segregation of men and women in the work force has also affected the physical environment in the workforce. For example, rules. In the 1980’s, flight attendants had become a very popular job, with good pay but not the best reputation. The rules of the job were extremely strict (compared to today), you had to have a certain look, a certain style, and act in ways that might of violated the flight attendants morals (depending on the person.) Smiling was the key rule, they were constantly reminded to smile, “Now girls, I want you to go out there and really smile, your smile is your biggest asset. I want you to go out there and use it. Smile. Really smile. Really lay on it.” (Exploring the Managed Heart; Paragraph 3) Although it sounds a bit stupid and simple, it is more complex than that. “There is smile like a strip of paint on the nose of each PSA plane. Indeed, the plane and the flight attendant advertise each other. The radio advertisement goes on to promise not just smiles and service but a travel experience of real happiness and calm…. this is no more than delivering a service...it estranges workers from their own smiles and convinces customers that on-the-job behavior is calculated. (Exploring the Managed Heart; Paragraph 5) Did I also mention that in the 1980’s this job was a particularly a womans job? Completely segregating men from this work force.

Segregation of women and men in the workforce has further lead to strikes and lawsuits (Wal-mart for example), stating that it is unconstitutional for women and men to be further discriminated just because of their genders. How ever till this day this is still an issue. And the solution to this problem is not in court or in the hands of the government, but in the hands of us, of everybody. We need to realize that all though we are all different, in the end we are all meant to learn. If a woman can not do a job that is consider primarily as a mans job, she can learn, and vise-versa. All we must do is accept the fact the each and everyone of us is capable of the same exact things.