1.

Read the following text which contrasts the American “middle class” with the American “working
class”.

2.Write down the sentences which use transition phrases that mark/make contrasts between the
two classes. For example, the use of “whereas”.

“Whereas the working class is employed in factories, the middle class is employed most frequently
in offices.”

The transition phrase is “Whereas”, and the sentence is made up of two clauses, each one
separated by a comma. There are several other different transition phrases, scan the text, locate
them and write them down.

3.Make two columns; one for the “middle class” and one for the “working class” and organize your
information contrasting the two classes into their respective columns.

MIDDLE CLASS VS WORKING CLASS

Parental views are the perhaps most essential factor in determining the socialization process which
shapes new members of society.[5] The values and standards used in child rearing are commonly
closely related to the parent's occupational status.[2] Although parents from the professional
class tend to raise their children to become curious independent thinkers, working class parents
raise their children to have a more communal perspective with a strong respect for authority.[2]
Also, Middle class parents tend to emphasize internal standards and values, while working class
parents emphasize external values.[2]

Gender roles are also viewed differently by those in the higher and lower social classes. Middle
class individuals, who were more open towards "nonconformity" and emphasized individual self-
direction as well as critical thinking, were also less stringent in their application of gender roles.
Working class individuals, on the other hand, emphasized gender roles. Even though working-class
people have more and more assimilated to middle class culture regarding their view and application
of gender roles, differences remain. In contrast to the working class, professional class people are
more likely to have an egalitarian distribution of work in their household with both spouses being
equals in heterosexual marriages. According to Dennis Gilbert, "College life, generally a prologue to
upper-middle class careers, delays marriage and encourages informal, relatively egalitarian
association between men and women."[2][6]. Upper middle-class manners tend to require individuals
to engage in conversational discourse with rather distant associates and to abstain from sharing
excessive personal information. However, working-class speech patterns often include frequent
mentions of one's personal life.[16] Further research also suggests that working-class parents
emphasize conformity, traditional gender roles, and the adherence to external standards in their
children, such as being neat and clean and "[believing] in strict leadership". [17] In contrast to
professional-class households, where gender roles are more egalitarian and loosely defined, upper
middle class children are largely taught to adhere to internal standards, with curiosity, individuality,
self-direction, and openness to new ideas being emphasized.[14]

There is also an important difference in how professionals and workers relate to their jobs. We see
that occupation becomes more essential in determining class than income. [27] Whereas
professionals tend to create, conceptualize, consult and instruct, most working-class Americans do
not enjoy a high degree of independence in their work, as they merely follow set instructions. [8][26] As
a result, upper middle class employees enjoy great autonomy in the work place and are more
satisfied with their careers than non-professional working class individuals

In modern day America, a common view among some members of the working class or less
privileged members of the statistical middle class is that while the professional middle class is paid
better, they are less directly involved in the production of goods and services than those of the
working class. This difference in pay combined with the impression that professionals and
managers are less hands-on in their work often evokes an image of unearned privilege on part
of professional in the minds of working class persons. Conversely, the fact that working class
persons generally work with their hands may lead those of the middle-class to assume that those of
the working class are incapable of abstract, intellectual reasoning. One must also consider that
most professionals tend to work in their fields of interest; thus work may not be as perceived as
dreadful and menial by them. For working class persons however, the contrary may be true. This
difference in job satisfaction tends to be perceived by working class persons as further proof of
unearned privileged among their professional managers, further adding to class tension.[1][2]

Working class
Middle class

Independent Communal
Abstain
thinkers perspective
sharing
personal info Mention
Internal personal life
standards
External standards

Less stringent
Egalitarian Emphasized gender
towards gender
distribution roles
roles