In “People like us,” the author, David Brooks delves into the issue of diversity in the United States. Brooks maintains that America is not as diverse as it looks since Americans segregate themselves into groups of individuals who are similar to them. Brooks takes a personally emotional viewpoint of how the Americans fail to appreciate the way diverse the United States is. According to him, the Americans stick to the other Americans who are like them because they do not care about diversity. In fact, Brooks disputes the notion that the United States is a diverse country in which individuals from different backgrounds come together and create a shared American identity. Consequently, the present paper analyzes this article. In particular, the paper starts by discussing the way the choice of title by the author creates expectations for the article. The paper then elucidates how Brooks identifies his intended audience as well as the way he introduces the topic in a way that encourages the readers to continue along. Next, the paper describes the way Brooks utilizes narratives to connect with the readers, and this is followed by a description of the way he includes specific examples to help develop his argument. The paper ends with an explanation of the way Brooks organizes information to strengthen his argument.
The title of any piece of writing by any writer plays a significant role in informing the readers what the article entails. Any reader can clearly understand what any piece of writing is all about by just looking at its title. In point of fact, it is the title selected by the writer that determines whether the readers will be interested in reading a text or not. The title, “People like us” effectively creates the readers’ expectations for the present article. In particular, this title effectively creates our expectations for the article by suggesting its main idea. We expect the writer to talk about people associating themselves with specific social distinctions. In essence, we get the main point of concern of the writer by looking at the article’s title.
Besides, the author’s choice of title effectively creates our expectations by making us understand what the article is all about as well as providing us with its compact summary. We understand that the article is about people who are similar doing similar things and segregating people from different groups from the article’s title. We also get a compact summary of the article by just looking at its title and trying to interpret it. It is essential to mention that this title effectively creates our expectations as readers by arousing our interest in the article. As a result, this leads us to read the article to substantiate our expectations for it. We get the urge of knowing what the article talks about from its title. Moreover, the title, “people like us,” successfully indicates the writer’s attitude toward the article’s subject. In fact, we understand that Brooks is against people from a specific group segregating themselves from other people. We expect the writer oppose people shaping their lives around social distinctions.
Brooks has successfully identified his intended audience by considering the content of his article, his tone and wording, and the background information about the issue of diversity that he offers. The content of the article clearly gives the clues about Brooks’s intended audience. In fact, his audience is the Americans. From the content of this article, we understand that Brooks talks directly to the Americans who in this case are his intended audience about their less concern for diversity, which the country boasts of greatly. Besides, Brooks clearly identifies his intended audience through his tone and wording. In essence, his tone in the article can be described as accusatory since he complains about the Americans’ failure to care about diversity in spite of talking about it a lot. Ideally, this tone helps Brooks efficiently identify his intended audience. What is more, Brooks’s wording successfully identifies his intended audience. For instance, he maintains that the Americans often have a habit of marrying the individuals with education levels same to theirs as well as befriending individuals with backgrounds same to theirs (Brooks par. 10). As a matter of fact, these words clearly identifies the writer’s intended audience. Furthermore, Brooks has effectively identified his intended audience by providing the readers with the background information about the issue of diversity in the United States. As a matter of fact, this helps us identify his intended audience.
The way Brooks introduces his topic arouses our interest in the article a great deal. In fact, Brooks has competently introduced his topic that the reader feels the urge to continue reading his article. His introductory paragraph clearly demonstrates that he understands the issue of diversity well. As a result, this encourages us to continue reading the article to be more informed. It is essential to mention that the article’s introductory paragraph grabs the attention of the readers and makes use want to read the article more. In fact, his introduction of the topic gets our attention because it is thought-provoking. He challenges the readers by maintaining that the Americans do not care about diversity although they talk about it a lot. In fact, this encourages us to continue reading the article. Additionally, Brooks provides the necessary background information when introducing the topic. As a result, this grabs our attention as readers and encourages us to continue along.
Moreover, Brooks catches the readers’ attention by using exaggeration. He introduces his topic by exaggerating that he has seen people around the United States making strenuous efforts to group themselves with the individuals who are similar to themselves. Ideally, this catches our attention and encourages us to continue along. We feel the desire to continue reading the article to be more informed about the way segregation still exists in the United States. Furthermore, Brooks successfully encourages us to continue along by establishing the scope of his piece of writing in the introductory paragraph. As a matter of fact, his introduction of the topic clearly establishes the scope of his article that the readers want to read more to comprehend further the issue of diversity in the United States. What is more, Brooks encourages the readers to continue along by effectively identifying the purpose of this writing in the introductory paragraph. As a result, this increases the urge of the readers to continue reading the article.
Brooks has succeeded in utilizing narratives to connect with the readers. Indeed, he has used narratives that emotionally connect the readers to his writing. For instance, in an attempt to make us understand how people can shape their lives around subtle social distinctions, he narrates the way the Democratic lawyers and Republican lawyers in Maryland and Virginia respectively tend to live (Brooks par. 2). In essence, this emotionally connects the readers across the political divide. Besides, this narrative gets both the affiliated republican and democratic readers involved in Brooks’s writing. The narratives used by Brook in this piece of writing also connects with readers by painting pictures in their minds. His different descriptions throughout the article paint clear pictures of different things in the minds of the readers. Consequently, these narratives connect with the readers.
Brooks also includes specific examples to help develop his argument. For instance, in developing the arguments that the institutions, which frequently talk most on the subject of diversity practice it the least, he includes an example that no group of individuals sings the diversity anthem more often and passionately than the university administrators (Brooks par.12). In essence, this example makes us see the seriousness of lack of diversity in the country. Brooks also provides an example to develop the argument that some neighborhoods in the United States turn into more segregated with time. In particular, he asserts that the new suburbs in Nevada and Arizona start rationally well integrated but develop personalities as they age, and segmentation eventually takes place (Brooks par. 6). Indeed, these and other examples help the writer makes us comprehend his arguments well.
In conclusion, Brooks has organized information in a manner that strengthens his argument. The beginning of the article essentially introduces the topic and, thus, orients the readers to the purpose of his writing. Besides, it effectively hooks the readers. In the body of the article, Brooks gives a detailed description of the issue of diversity in the United States. He ends the article with questions that helps him drive home the key point to the American people, who are his intended audience.
Works Cited
Brooks, David. "People like us." The Atlantic. Sept. 2003: n. pag. Web. <http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/09/people-like-us/302774/>.
