Kate Luna

English 1010
Rhetorical Analysis

Traditional School or Trade School?

Intro

For this rhetorical essay I will be comparing two articles, “Blue Collar Brilliance (Mike

Rose),” and “Shop Class as Soulcraft (Mathew B.Crawford)”. By looking at the titles, you’d

think that both articles talk about completely different things. They don’t. In a way they are kind

of similar in respect that they both talk about manual labor. But of course, the writing style is

different. Blue Collar Brilliance is a story told by Mike Rose about his mother Rose Meraglio

Rose, in other words, Rosie. This article was written on June 1, 2009. ​The second article, Shop

Class as Soulcraft talks about the value of manual labor. This article was written in the summer

of 2006. In this article, Mathew talks about the different types of manual labor that people

experience/do and he also talks about his experience about opening up a motorcycle repair shop

in Richmond.

Purpose

The main point of both articles is that both authors are fighting for manual labor.

After reading both articles, I liked Blue Collar Brilliance more than Shop Class as

Soulcraft. It was more intriguing to read because of the personal experiences that Mike

Rose shared about himself and about others.

Blue Collar Brilliance talks about how blue collar workers like a waitress and

how white collar workers like a doctor both work equally hard, both continue to acquire

new knowledge on the job, but they are not considered on the same level because of their

title or level of education.

Shop Class as Soulcraft talks about the undervalue of manual labor. Many people

don’t get recognized for the skills that they have. For shop class people to know that there
Kate Luna
English 1010
Rhetorical Analysis

are job opportunities for them. He mentions that he wants people to know that he

is not interested in the money, but rather the satisfaction that it brings to oneself. “My real

concern here is not with the economics of skilled manual work, but rather with its

intrinsic satisfaction” (Mathew).

Texts

In Blue Collar Brilliance, when Mike talked about his mom’s job and his uncle’s job, he

made it sound like you acquire new knowledge and you learn more when you’re doing things

that are hands on. I agree with him because it turns into muscle memory. Your body knows what

it needs to do because of how many times you’ve done the same routine over and over again. “A

waitress acquires knowledge and intuition about the ways and the rhythms of the restaurant

business. Rosie devised memory strategies so that she could remember who ordered

what”(Mike). In his article, Mike describes the assumptions of intelligence. That the more

schooling that you have, the more intelligent you are and “that work requiring less schooling

requires less intelligence”. I disagree with this assumption because there are many jobs who

don’t require a high degree. Of course, having a higher degree will help you get a higher position

or get paid more, but just because you don’t go doesn’t make you any less intelligent than

someone who did go to college.

In Shop Class Soulcraft Mathew talks about his experience of being an electrician and the

stories of others (for example: people who make furniture, electricians, engineers,etc). He goes

in depth about craftsmanship. How one feels when they get recognized for their work and how

oneself should feel. I agree to disagree with this statement. I agree because people feel a sense of
Kate Luna
English 1010
Rhetorical Analysis
accomplishment when they get recognized for their work, but I disagree because many people

beat

themselves up thinking maybe I’m not good at this. Should there be a specific way one should

feel when their work is appreciated or not? “Boasting is what a boy does, who has no real effect

in the world. But craftsmanship must reckon with the infallible judgement of reality, where one’s

failures or shortcomings cannot be interpreted away”. I disagree with him about his statement.

Everyone likes to boast whether you’re a child or an adult. It’s fine to share about what you have

or what you know, but there is a limit.

Relevance

Like I mentioned before, both articles are similar in a sense that they both talk about

manual labor. Both authors talked about their personal experiences and others experiences. They

also talk about school. Both of them went to college. Mathew said this in his article, “The fear of

acquiring a specific skill set means that one’s life is determined. In college by contrast, many

students don’t learn anything of particular application; college is the ticket to an ​open​ future”. I

find this credible because you hear it from students in their senior year of high school about not

knowing what they want to do next, or you hear about college students saying that they want to

change majors because they don’t like the first few that they chose.

Of course going to college will be beneficial to you because many jobs require degrees

and you’ll get paid more for having a degree. If you don’t want to take many years of college to

get your degree, then go to a trade school. If you’re absolutely sure about what you want to
Kate Luna
English 1010
Rhetorical Analysis
study, go to a trade school. You’ll get your degree in less time than if you were to go to a

traditional school

like a college or a university in which it will take you 4 or more years to get your degree.

If you go to a trade school, you’ll probably be finished within 2 years or less and you don’t have

to take unnecessary general classes like you would at a university, which you don’t need in order

to get your degree. In trade school you just take the classes that you ​need, ​and you’ll be paying

less money for tuition, living expenses, books, etc. According to statistics, “Students are taking

more than 4 years to earn their undergraduate degree, and many don’t graduate at

all”(penncommercial.edu). The amount of debt that students have is outrageous that some drop

out so that their debt doesn’t increase. “In fact, student loan debt in the US, skyrocketed to $1.56

trillion in 2020, with students of the class of 2019 averaging $28,950 in student loan

debt”(thecollegepost.com).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Blue Collar Brilliance talks about manual labor and the experiences of

people who didn’t finish school, but how they learn and acquire new knowledge and skills by

doing hands on work. Shop Class Soulcraft talks about the value of manual labor and how

sometimes it is not often appreciated or recognized. They both talk about college and how it

plays a role in their lives.

​Work Cited
Kate Luna
English 1010
Rhetorical Analysis
https://theamericanscholar.org/blue-collar-brilliance/

https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/shop-class-as-soulcraft

https://thecollegepost.com/college-or-trade-school/

https://penncommercial.edu/trade-school-versus-traditional-college/

https://careerschoolnow.org/careers/trade-school-vs-traditional-college

http://www.mikerosebooks.com/

https://www.thenewatlantis.com/authors/matthew-crawford