Review of Blue-Collar Brilliance Final Draft PDF

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Review of “Blue-Collar Brilliance” Society has considered blue-collar workers to be less intelligent, than the other working classes, for a very long time. Mike Rose, a professor at UCLA, wrote “Blue-Collar Brilliance” to provide evidence to show that blue-collar workers are just as intelligent as anyone else. Rose’s works typically focus on eliminating the “gap between the academic and nonacademic worlds” (Rose 1033). Through his article, “Blue-Collar Brilliance”, Rose has effectively shown what he believes about the intelligence of blue-collar workers. Rose provides two examples of blue-collar workers, in his article: his mother, who was a waitress, and his uncle, who worked at General Motors. Rose explains to the reader that his mother stopped attending school during the seventh grade and his uncle stopped during the ninth grade. From society’s standpoint, people would consider Rose’s mother and uncle to be unintelligent compared to someone who completed their education. This is exactly what Mike Rose provides evidence against, in “Blue-Collar Brilliance”. Rose tells the reader how his mother and uncle are still intelligent, even if they did not finish their education. Mike Rose tells us that in both places, where his mother and uncle worked, the employees were frequently learning something new. Rose also informs the reader that both, his mother and uncle, were regularly faced with different challenges. Each challenged they were faced with came with at least one problem or obstacle that needed to be solved/avoided. Rose’s mother, Rosie, had many challenges, but they were usually intertwined. She was juggling herself, the emotional state of her co-workers, and the demands of her customers’, all at once. She made decisions based on what everyone else was feeling and needing. This was a lot to juggle all at once.

For Rosie to be work effectively, she developed strategies and abilities. One of her strategies made it easier to recall what a customer ordered and avoid mixing up orders. Rosie also developed the ability to interpret social cues and to manage her feelings and her customers’. Since Rosie developed these strategies and abilities she could juggle her challenges, even when it was difficult. Rose’s uncle, Joe Meraglio, also faced many challenges and learned many things while working at General Motors. While Joe was working at General Motors he went from working on the assembly line to supervising the paint-and-body department. While Joe was working on the assembly line he learned how to move efficiently, so that he could save as much energy as he could. While he was a supervisor, he learned about budgets and management. However, this is not what shows how Joe was still intelligent, regardless of when he quit school. While Joe was working for General Motors, he was solving problems and finding others to fix. One of the issues he fixed was the “nozzle on a paint sprayer” (Rose 1039). He managed to take away the problems, the cost and health hazards, that the “overspray” (Rose 1039) was causing. Joe solved this issue without even finishing his education. He fixed this problem because he had experience with the machine and knew the machine’s abilities. So, how would an unintelligent person manage to fix and solve this kind of issue? In reality, an unintelligent person would not have been able to correct those problems. Throughout the rest of his article, “Blue-Collar Brilliance”, Mike Rose provides more evidence that proves that blue-collar workers are intelligent. He tells the reader about the different skills blue-collar workers are sometimes required to have, some of which most people would not think they would need. Rose continues by informing the reader that by considering blue-collar workers to be unintelligent, society is limiting people by convincing them that certain

working classes are more intelligent than others. This form of thinking causes people to think they are better than others and widens the gap between the working classes. Rose concludes his article by informing the reader that acknowledging “diverse intelligence is not a retreat to a softhearted definition of the mind” (Rose 1041). I would recommend this article because through it Mike Rose shows the reader that bluecollar workers are still intelligent, regardless of the level of formal education they acquired. He provides examples of how blue-collar workers are just as intelligent as workers, from other classes, are. In “Blue-Collar Brilliance”, Mike Rose also tells the reader where he stands regarding the intelligence of the blue-collar worker.

References Rose, Mike. “Blue-Collar Brilliance.” Everyone’s an Author with Readings. Ed. Marilyn Moller. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2017. 1033-142....