Personal reflection
It is fascinating how Joe Meriaglio (Rose 2009) rose in rank to become a supervisor at GM with the limited classroom knowledge he had. In today’s job market, one is compelled to face a panel of interviewers and evaluated for the post based primarily on academic excellence. Top jobs are therefore awarded to top academic achievers in most cases. Even so, statistics have often shown that even among the world’s richest individuals, some of them have limited classroom knowledge.
Joining the Conversion
Q1
Rose’s mother worked as a waitress in a busy restaurant, a job in the blue-collar category. Her prowess in this job, which Rose attributes to her passionate learning initiatives, is the basis upon which Rose builds his argument; that more formal knowledge acquisition occurs in the blue-collar workplace than people think and that this knowledge is not the only determinant of intelligence. This is an effective opening because it gives the story a solid background that also introduces the protagonist, Rose’s mother. The approach arouses interest in the reader.
Q2
Rose argued that the general beliefs that blue-collar workers need not undertake formal knowledge acquisition methods to be competent and that intelligence is based on such education are misconceptions. He supports this argument with convincing cases notably his mother’s workplace experience, and his uncle’s prowess working in General Motors’ paint-and-body department. He shows how his mother Rosie transformed into a psychologist through her workplace experiences and literature research.
Q3
After successfully presenting Rosie’s success as a competent blue-collar worker and his understanding of it, Rose mentions the society’s generalized view that intelligence and formal education are closely linked (Rose 247). Rose argued that this misconception has been upheld by societies for decades. He introduces it in order to bring out the conflicting issue that underlies the narration. Another view that he brings in is the notion propounded by culture that the mind and body are separate. As a result, intelligent is determined solely by processes that engage the mind rather than the body.
Works cited
Rose, Mike. “Blue-Collar Brilliance” 2009.
