The articles “Blue-Collar Brilliance” and “Shop Class as Soulcraft” are both written about humanity’s loss of appreciation for hands-on work and those who work with their hands. The author of “Blue-Collar Brilliance”, Mike Rose focuses on the many, often unseen, levels of knowledge and skill that one needs in order to be in the working class. Matthew B. Crawford, the author of “Shop Class as Soulcraft”, focuses more on the process of how the world has come to not appreciate making and fixing things themselves. While these articles have similar topics, Rose wants to show the intelligence and skill of blue-collar workers while Crawford shows the audience the value of genuinely making something yourself. Rose seems to be addressing an audience that, consciously or unconsciously, has developed the notion that blue-collar workers are less intelligent than white collar workers. His article was published in a magazine that discusses public affairs, literature, and culture, meaning that his audience is likely to be the casual reader previously uniformed on his topic. Crawford seems to be writing to an audience of students or readers looking to learn something. I came to this conclusion because his article is published in a magazine about “Technology and Society” and because the article is longer, references more sources, and has a more scholarly sound to it. Each author uses different rhetorical strategies to fit their audience. Some of these include empirical evidence, storytelling, imagery, claims of fact and value, and invoking authority and credibility. In “Blue-Collar Brilliance”, Rose discusses how he watched his mother work and the skills he noticed she had developed. This is an example of empirical evidence because he is presenting data that he has collected himself through observation. This is a great firsthand experience that the author uses to show how blue-collar workers show intelligence through their skills. Some of the skills he points out are organization, memory, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence. This adds great evidence to the author’s argument that blue-collar workers have much intelligence that is often overlooked. Rose also discusses how he has seen his uncle Joe work and the skills he saw he had. This is also an example of empirical evidence because the author is discussing information that he has observed and collected in order to add to his argument that blue collars have intelligence that often goes unseen. Many of the mentioned skills the author points out in his mother are also seen in his uncle Joe, this validates the previously made claims related to his mother’s skills. The author also brings up skills such as time and workload management, multitasking, and budgeting. “With further promotions, he not only solved problems but also began to find problems to solve: Joe initiated the redesign of the nozzle on a paint sprayer, thereby eliminating costly and unhealthy overspray. And he found a way to reduce energy costs on the baking ovens without affecting the quality of the paint”(Rose).This is an example of good storytelling because the author is telling the audience about a time that his uncle Joe used the problem-solving skill that the author claims Joe has. This example adds to the argument of the author because it shows that the author is not simply sharing his opinion that his uncle is a problem-solver, but actually gives evidence for this claim. Using empirical evidence and storytelling contributes to the authority of the author because Rose is giving examples of his experience and knowledge on the topic. He also presents his credibility and authority to speak on the subject by saying that he began a study of the thought processes involved in blue-collar work eight years ago. He also states, “I studied the humanities and later the social and psychological sciences and taught for 10years in a range of situations”(Rose). When I was first reading this article, it sounded like it was only a personal experience, not necessarily the hard facts. But, since the author mentions his experience on the subject, the personal experiences feel more like an expert observing the world around him as opposed to some kid who likes to think his mom and uncle are smart. In the article “Shop Class as Soulcraft”, Matthew B. Crawford states “perhaps the time is ripe for reconsideration of an ideal that has fallen out of favor: manual competence, and the stance it entails toward the built, material world”(Crawford) After this statement, the author tells the reader why this claim of fact matters by providing claims of value. One claim of value given is a story about how the author was an electrician’s helper and how he gained great satisfaction and pride from installing an electrical system and having the lights turn on(Crawford). Giving this example makes the reader recall times they have completed a project and felt satisfied about the results. This helps the reader understand why it is time to reconsider the ideal of manual competence and working in the material world. When this is considered, it becomes clear to the reader why this article is titled “Shop Class as Soulcraft”. That is, you put part of your soul into every project you complete and when you do complete it, you feel a great deal of satisfaction. Crawford also uses imagery and storytelling to illustrate his point. He wrote, “There was more thinking going on in the bike shop than in the think tank. Socially, being the proprietor of a bike shop in a small city gave me a feeling I never had before. I felt I had a place in society….I got immediate recognition. I bartered services with machinists and metal fabricators, which has a very different feel than transactions with money, and further increased my sense of social embeddedness”(Crawford).The author uses storytelling to talk about how, in his experience, having a job as a mechanic gave him a feeling of identity in society that being in a “think tank” never gave him. This contributes to Crawford’s main point that the world needs to value blue-collar, hands-on work more than it currently does. Towards the middle of the article, Crawford discusses the history of the United States and how it has contributed to the shift from making things and completing projects yourself to being dependent on manufactured goods. The author brings up education journals around 1985, The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917, writings of Robert Hoxie in 1918, writings of a French sociologist in the 1950’s, and the assembly line in 1913 (Crawford). Bringing up all these different sources and more helps the author establish credibility off of the credibility of others. This is also what makes it clear that the author is writing to someone who wants to learn, such as a student. His article has an academic viewpoint mixed with personal experience to give his claims more credibility. In conclusion, both Rose and Crawford adapted their articles to their audience using rhetorical devices. Each of them used personal experiences to appeal to their audience and establish credibility and authority. They differed in that Crawford used more of a historical and academic context to establish credibility whereas Rose used personal experience on the subject to establish credibility. This distinction makes sense as you look at where their articles are published and what audience they were addressing and the purpose of their articles.

Works Cited

Rose, Mike. Blue-Collar Brilliance. 31 Aug. 2018, theamericanscholar.org/blue-collar-brilliance/.

Crawford, Matthew B. “Shop Class as Soulcraft.” The New Atlantis, 2006, www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/shop-class-as-soulcraft.