How does Terkel characterize and or/question the “nature” or the “reality” of work? Keep in mind how he talks about worker’s roles, experiences, values and purposes. Include at least one human example from your selected interview.  

From my understanding Terkel views the work force as challenging in a way that can get the best of those participating in it. By this I mean that people do not always see the worth and importance of their positions, thus causing them to perform at a lower level. They say things such as “A monkey can do what I do,” and “I’m an object.” (Terkel Introduction) The nature of the work place can be seen as “humiliating” and in some ways depressing. If a worker is able to change their mindset in regard to their job there with be a plethora of positive effects. In his introduction Terkel mentions a young woman named Dolores Dante who was a waitress. Not many people would necessary categorize that as their dream job, but Dolores was not ashamed and made the best of her situation. “Yet pride in her skills helps her make it through the night.” (Terkel Introduction) This is the exact same mindset that Kitty Scanlan developed in her job as an occupational therapist.

Initially Scanlan did not see her worth as an Occupational therapist. She was constantly comparing herself to the doctors and their life saving operations. Yet despite her jealousy she still viewed the hospital as an extremely rigid and unhappy environment. She decided she was not going to conform to this mindset. While the surgeon receives immediate gratification, Scanlan receives long-term gratification. It began with her realizing how much she enjoyed helping all of her patients, as well as how much she enjoyed learning from them. After she re discovered her joy in helping struggling people she came to a realization. Scanlan stated, “I finally learned it didn’t matter what he (the doctor) though. If I believed in what I was doing I didn’t give a damn what the doctor thought.” (496 Scanlan) This was her realization of her value and the importance of her role. From that moment forward she decided she would not stand by idly and allow everyone to go about their jobs miserably. She stepped forward and made differences that otherwise would not have taken place. With her new found self-confidence and appreciation of her job she was able to help teach more students how to be the best occupational therapists that they could possibly be.

If you had asked me before taking the ERH 101 and 102 courses what aspect of my writing that I thought needed the most work was I probably would have given you a stereotypical answer. Something along the lines of “my grammar” or “organizing my paragraphs.” While both of those aspects could always be improved upon, neither is the main issue within my writing.

Before now, I never truly put any thought into what the issue has been. Because of this I was unable to provide an accurate and thought out answer. Whenever I was asked this question, whether it is in conferences or peer reviews I always gave the same response of edit grammar or focus on my five-paragraph structure. I didn’t think deeper. This coincidentally is my exact issue. I fail to elaborate and go further with my thoughts.

Before my freshman year of college I had always thought that I had been clear and elaborated thoroughly. I never had any reason to believe differently. Based off of the feedback I have received from teachers in the past I was under the impression that the way in which I was writing was clear and acceptable, with only minor details to correct. Imagine if you were sitting in a theatre watching a movie, and right as the climax begins to form and you are at the edge of your seat the director abruptly cuts the scene and the movie ended. This is how you can imagine reading one of my earlier papers would be like. Sitting there and typing wasn’t nearly enough to get my thought process flowing in the direction that I needed it to go. It was clear that I needed a new strategy, but had no idea as to what that new strategy would be.

“If the United States implemented a system similar to this I believe it would help raise not only the generally education of the population, but change the lives of many in ways that could benefit us all.” (The price you pay) In that statement I mention changing our American School system to one that is similar to the Europeans, but I make no mention as to how specifically or how this change would affect people’s lives. Looking back as I re read this now even I question myself. What ways should the system be similar and how would this benefit people of the population in the long run? I continued reading and waiting for answers to my questions, answers that never came. Instead I continued my writing onto the next paragraph leaving all of those questions un answered. The paper was then concluded.

Something that has always been beneficial to me are the one on one conferences that are held before each paper is due. The purpose is to review my progress and answer any questions that I had about the assignment. I usually understood the assignment but still struggled to identify what exactly the paper was asking or expecting. To help jump start the process my professor would ask me a few basic questions; what audience was I trying to reach, what was my goal, and how did I plan on achieving this goal. This spurred instant conversation as thoughts began to flow out. During all of this he pointed out that I was physically able to tell him what I intended to write and it made sense. The issue was being able to translate my thoughts onto paper as smoothly as I spoke about them. By just talking about it I was able to get my thoughts across fully

Another break through in my writing process occurred at an appointment at VMI’S s writing center. I showed up with a printed copy of my second paper of the Spring 2015 semester, Annotated Bibliography and synthesis, ready to be altered and edited. When I showed up to my appointment the first thing Ms. Affronti had me do was begin reading what I had written thus far out loud. She sat there quietly as I critiqued myself paragraph by paragraph. We only stopped for short moments during the reading to edit sentence structure and wording. It was not until the completion of my paper that she asked me to clarify what she found unclear. Ms. Affronti would ask what exactly I meant and for further elaboration on points that I thought were already solid. Once again leading me to explaining out loud, and bettering my writing information. This is when I knew that in order to better my writing I was going to need to start reading everything I write out loud.

In a perfect world this correction would have showed itself right away. The improvement has gone through a variety of stages. In my second essay of the spring 2015 semester we wrote an Annotated Bibliography and synthesis. After re reading this essay multiple times I realized some progress in my current issue of elaboration. “The National Research Council held a workshop for students with different stations that covered various skills to prepare you for life, such as adaptability and basic communication skills. This workshop proved that while there are still some issues to be worked out, for the most part the scientific proficiency in students has increased. These types of social and business skills are essential in any work place. They are life skills” (European traditional education system) That elaboration on the workshop held by the NRC shows the progress beginning to come along. In my writing before I would have stated that they held stations demonstrating various skills to prepare you for life and it was successful. That would have left many unanswered questions.

In my last essays submitted, The Research essay, it seemed like I was beginning to overcompensate for lacking explanations in the first essay. This can be just as dangerous as under explaining. Multiple times through out this paper I use the same term “ As I stated before” on multiple occasions. (The epitome) That statement alone tells me that I repeated the same information more often than I should have. It was like I was caught in a vicious repetitive circle. This did not prove to be an issue throughout the entire essay. It was only in certain areas throughout.

This year of ERH has shown me not only what I needed to improve, but helped me develop methods to do this. This class was very significant in my process as a writer but was by no means a miracle worker. It has guided me on the path to success and it is my responsibility to continue developing and using the tools I learned. As demonstrated with my examples, the progress is there, I just need to continue working and bettering it.

Works Cited

“The European traditional education system versus the Modernized 21st century United States system.” VMI. March 12,2015

“The Epitome of a first world problem.” VMI. April 23, 2015.

“The price you pay for a college degree.” VMI. January 22,2015

If you had asked me before taking the ERH 101 and 102 courses what I thought I needed to work on most with my writing, I probably would have given you the usual answer. Something along the lines of “my grammar” or “organizing my paragraphs.”

Both of which are valid responses, but they would not been a truthful or accurate response in my case. My original response would not be meant to deceive. The honest the fact is that I never truly put any thought into it. This would limit me from providing an answer. For me it was always the same response, edit grammar or focus on my five-paragraph structure. I didn’t think deeper. This coincidentally is my exact issue. I fail to elaborate and go further.

Before ERH 101 and 102 I thought I was being clear and elaborating. I had never had any reason to believe differently. Imagine if you were sitting in a theatre watching a movie, and right as the climax begins to form and you are at the edge of your seat the director abruptly cuts the scene and the movie ended. This is how you can imagine reading one of my earlier papers would be like. I began to realize that sitting there and typing wasn’t nearly enough to get my thought process flowing in the direction that I needed it to go. I needed a new strategy.

“If the United States implemented a system similar to this I believe it would help raise not only the generally education of the population, but change the lives of many in ways that could benefit us all.” (The price you pay) In that statement I mention changing the system to that of the Europeans, but I make no mention as to how specifically. In the next paragraph I continue onto my conclusion completely leaving my previous statement open ended and lacking elaboration.

Like every paper before, a meeting was held with my professor to review my progress and answer any question that I had. I understood the assignment but was still uncertain about what exactly the paper was asking. Mr Hamilton asked me a few basic questions’ what audience was I trying to reach, and what was my goal. This spurred instant conversation as thoughts began to flow out.. During all of this he pointed out thatI was physically able to tell him what I intended to write. I just needed to put down on the paper what I was saying. I was able to start getting my thoughts across fully without actually realizing it.

Another break through that helped me co me to tis realization with my writing was a meeting that I scheduled with the writing center. I showed up with a printed out copy of my second paper of this Fall semester ready to be altered and edited. When I showed up to my meeting the first thing she had me do was begin reading what I had thus far out loud. She would mostly sit there quietly while I critiqued myself as I read on. We only stopped for short moments during the reading to edit sentence structure and wording. It was not until the very end that she asked me to clarify a few things. Like my professor had stated earlier in the year. She would ask what exactly I meant and for further elaboration on points that I thought were already solid. Once again leading me to explaining out loud, and bettering my writing information.

If you had asked me before taking the ERH 101 and 102 courses what I thought I needed to work on most with my writing, I probably would have given you the usual answer. Something along the lines of “my grammar” or “organizing my paragraphs.” Both of which are valid responses, but they would not been a truthful or accurate response in my case. My original response would not be meant to deceive, but the fact that I never truly put any thought into it would limit me from providing an answer. For me I t was always the same response, edit grammar or focus on my five-paragraph structure. I didn’t think deeper. This coincidentally is my exact issue. I fail to elaborate and go further.

Before ERH 101 and 102 I thought I was being clear and elaborating. I had never had any reason to believe differently. Imagine if you were sitting in a theatre watching a movie, and right as the climax begins to form and you are at the edge of your seat the director abruptly cuts the scene and the movie ended. This is how you can imagine reading one of my earlier papers would be like. I began to realize that sitting there and typing wasn’t nearly enough to get my thought process flowing in the direction that I needed it to go. I needed a new strategy.

During a meeting with my professor I informed him that I had a general idea of what I wanted to write but no idea how to get it across. He began a conversation with me and pointed out that what I was physically telling him was what I needed to put down on the paper. I was able to start getting my thoughts across fully without actually realizing it. It was my meeting along with attending a session at the writing center is what presented me with the technic that I needed to be a successful writer.

The American school system is not nearly as terrible as many students make it out to be. While it may not be the absolute best it provides students with opportunities that students in other countries, such as Italy in this instance, do not. To begin with, America allows its students to attend general classes up until the college level. The Italian system requires there students to take a test at a young age that places them on a path that they do not get to choose. The students either go on a path to college or to learn a trade. Imagine if something like this tried to take place in the United States, the land of “equal opportunity.” The use of technology is the classroom is also a big benefit that the US provides its students with. Italy is a country that is stuck in the past and main focus is maintaining their culture and traditions. With the 21^st century school system the use of technology allows students to connect to all areas of the world and stay up to date on the every changing technology. It also gives students the convenience of being able to share work without being with the person and re edit previously written assignments.   Compared to Italy, which is my no means a third world country, the United States strongly demonstrates its benefits over other systems. America is always looking forward and does its best to provide students with every opportunity possible, including allowing them to student what they want. Its not perfect but it is something to be proud of.