Running head: CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Critical Analysis
ENG 122: 8-2 The Final Edits
Critical Analysis of a Part Time Factory Worker
Jebidiah Johnson
Southern New Hampshire University
Critical Analysis of a Part Time Factory Worker
In 2005 Andrew Braaksma authored a persuasive article called “Some Lessons From The Assembly Line”. Throughout this piece, Braaksma illustrated his opinion of the bleak blue-collar life as a factory worker contrasted with his superb experience attending college. During said essay, the reader was informed of a couple of hard-learned life lessons from Braaksma’s experiences on the production line, and the effect it had on his outlook of the importance of obtaining a higher education. The article’s theme was one that emphasized higher education as the best path in life. The article was ineffective and poorly argued because it was written from a singular perspective of a seasonal employee; the author used seemingly embellished stories instead of actual cited facts to support his claim and the article had a tone of apprehension and discontentment toward blue-collared work.
The purpose of Braaksma’s article was to persuade his audience into the thought that the demand and effort of blue-collar work are not worth the sub-standard reward. Additionally, a secondary and more subtle goal of Braaksma’s writing was to lead his audience to the conclusion that blue-collar work, specifically factory work, is arduous, unsafe, and an unstable means of income. While I do not completely disagree with the author that education is important, I do however find major fault with how he fashioned and conveyed his argument. As a fellow Michigander, growing up around factory workers and seeing their lives first hand, I couldn’t help but take Braaksma’s article personally.
Temporary factory employee, Braaksma, made a clear indication that he considered the college life and coursework to both be more enjoyable than that of any life factory work could provide. During the writing, Braaksma exhibited contrasting examples of his experiences at college verse his personal experience with blue-collar employment (2005, para. 1). In the following quote, Braaksma exemplified his feelings toward working the early hours required of factory employees and went on to compare it with his fond memories of college life.
For a student like me who considers any class before noon to be uncivilized, getting to a factory by 6 o'clock each morning, where rows of hulking, spark-showering machines have replaced the lush campus and cavernous lecture halls of college life, is torture. (Braaksma, 2005, para. 3)
Throughout the previous passage, Braaksma attempted to support his purpose by providing a detailed illustration of his perceptions of the factory’s uninviting nature, monstrous equipment, and its ostensibly dangerous environment. Evidence that was used by the author directly supported his quest to reveal factory work in a negative light. While the factory may not have been...
