Summary Of Blue Collar Brilliance By Mike Rose

Nick Smith

Professor Rocha

Intro to College Writing

7 October 2017

Education vs. Intelligence Every contemporary society endures a division among the people, whether it’s because of social, financial, or political reasons. Mike Rose, the author of “Blue-Collar Brilliance,” is a professor at UCLA and an outspoken contributor on the topics of literacy. Furthermore, “Blue-Collar Brilliance” was published in a prestigious magazine, American Scholar, in 2009. As the storyline of the article revolves around the working American class, Rose writes it as a rebuttal to misconceptions that people who are on a higher social ladder hold. What Rose tries to convey in his article is that blue-collar jobs are much more complex than just its physical component.

As a professor who specializes in literacy and learning, Rose applies his acquired knowledge to establish a high level of authority in his article. Rose explains how neither of his parents got a high level of education, and how he wasn’t inclined to excel in academics as well. But, Rose further elaborates about how he managed to succeed by saying, “I studied the humanities and later the social and psychological science…Then I went back to graduate school to study education and cognitive psychology and eventually became a faculty member in a school of education” (246-247). Rose acquired extensive knowledge throughout his academic years. His studies revolved around human behavior and psyche, which created the basis for analysis of his own family who endured a life of blue-collar community. Rose willingly exposes his childhood life as a way to express the complexity of such jobs, and to clarify that those jobs contain much more than just the physical aspects of it. Rose also attempts to demonstrate that coming from a blue-collar environment doesn’t necessarily place a boundary on success, and pursuit of greater

Rose supports his views by saying, “To gain a sense of how knowledge and skill develop, I observed experts as well as novices. From the details of this close examination I tied to fashion what I called, ‘cognitive biographies’ of blue-collar workers,”(250). Rose effectively compares the various levels of labor as a part of his study to generate a better understanding of the complexity of blue-collar jobs. As a part of the comprehensive argument, Rose’s research reinforces his ability to delve deeper into the topic, and make connections between his experience and the educated conclusion that was derived from his study. Rose’s thesis, which revolves around the argument that blue-collar workers need to possess more abilities that go beyond the physical ability gains a greater credibility because it encompassed diverse stages of labor and related it to his personal experience. Rose recollected his observations to succinctly conclude that blue-collar jobs require advanced cognitive abilities alongside with physical attributes to successfully execute tasks. Rose uses examples of plumbers, hair stylists, and others to show some everyday situations these workers would have to know for example what tool to use and how. These jobs often use the judgment skills, mathematical, verbal, and other requirements they