An Analysis Of What Work Is By Philip Levine

Once I was able to associate these words to emotions and issues present in everyday life, the poem started to make me feel sad. I began thinking about all of the emotions and feelings that everyone hides as they go about life. For example, how the waitress I see once a week may have an eating disorder, or how the singer I look up to just lost her son, or the businessman who got laid off today. Everyone has their own personal battle that they carry everywhere, at any given moment. This explains why the setting is so plain, since the internal struggles people face affect them even at a bus stop. While each person waits, the waitress may be thinking about how much skinnier the person next to her is. The singer could be remembering when she held her baby. And the business man could be planning how to break the news to his wife. No matter how small, everyone experiences a type of trauma or bad experience, and this poem seemed to show what happens when these emotions become bottled up. No one can help each other because they are so stuck within their own issues. The difficulty helping others reminded me of the idea of having to take care of yourself before being able to take care of others.

Life is not always easy, at some point people struggle in their life. People who are in lower class have to struggle for a job every day and people who are in upper class having their own problem to deal with. These ideas are very clear in Mary Oliver “Singapore” and Philip Schultz “The Greed” and Philip Levine “What Work Is”. In Singapore a woman works at airport and her job is to clean bathroom and in The Greed Hispanic get a job first before white and black because they take lower wages. All three poems deal with class in term of the society. The moral of the poems is that people don’t understand the perspectives of each other and by assuming, it just leads to more hatred. The author of Singapore, the author of The Greed and the author of “What Work Is”, poem have similar perspectives of survival in lower class.

We’ve looked at work from many different views in this class. From the bottom in Mike Roses book, Mind at Work which looks at the, on the jobsite skills and intelligence needed in the work force. Along with the way our society and education play a role in that. And then there was the middle working class view by journalist and author Barbara Ehreinch and her book Nickel and Dimed, which saw a middle class person look at the low wage lifestyle of Americans, and her failed attempt to live off wages. It ended up very one sided and controversial since it was a wealthier person trying to look in on a subject they could never understand. But one thing that I never really felt or saw either one really look at is the connection between work and life balance they only looked at the different aspects of work and those factors. But I feel there was a factor left out and it is life, family, personal aspects.

Look again at the extract on page 24 starting with “Do you want to come and play?” and ending with “now you say after me: ‘I will always defend my brother’.”

Many people in today’s society find themselves guilty of believing the common misconception that money can buy happiness. They go to school to become a doctor, lawyer, or other high paying job, with money and social status as their only incentives. Many will find that they have fallen into a trap, when they start earning their large salary, but still are not happy. While there were many messages present throughout Studs Terkels Working: a graphic adaptation, the most important reoccurring message seemed to be that having pride and dignity as well as working at a job that fulfills one’s life passion or is simply enjoyable are more important qualities than earning a large salary and having a high rank on the social ladder. The interaction of

“The Importance of Work” is an excerpt, written by Betty Friedan, where Friedan defines work for women and men. Work, according to her, should meet the “creativity” of the individual, and should contribute to society. Although Friedan speaks about men and women, she tries to focus towards women and the subject of feminism. Personally, I disagree with her arguments; everyone is different. Many people can obtain fulfillment from different sources: whether it is through ordinary paid employment, helping the community, or even just being a homemaker.

“Our brothers and sisters are there with us from the dawn of our personal stories to the inevitable dusk” (Susan Scarf Merrell). Merrell, an American author and a creative writing and literature teacher at Stony Brook Southampton, states that since the early days of your youth to the end of our story our siblings are there throughout our whole journey. Life is similar to a play; parents pass away during the first half; while one’s children come in during the second half; but siblings are there throughout both acts. Tobias Wolff’s, The Rich Brother, portrays the relationship between two brothers that are complete opposites; yet they know each other’s strengths and weaknesses better than anyone else will ever be able. The Rich Brother describes a complex sibling relationship that is fairly common in today’s society; Tobias Wolff makes use of pathos by incorporating real life sibling abuse; and ethos in his own life and credentials.

“The Importance of Work” is an essay from The Feminine Mystique, by Betty Friedan. The whole essay talks about how humans can contribute to the society with their full capacities through work and that women should hold jobs equivalent to men. Friedan insists that men and women need work that satisfies their creativity and contributes to human society. Today, doing paid work is a necessity because it helps us get through the day wether for our needs or our pleasures. The money earned from work supports the whole family. According to Mrs. Olive Schreiner, “if women did not win back their right to a full share of honored and useful work, women’s mind and muscle would weaken in a parasitic state; her offspring, male and female would weaken progressively, and civilization itself would deteriorate.” (Friedan 8) I strongly agree with this statement. I believe that the work ethic of most generations are influenced by parents. It is obvious that we look up to our parents. If the parents do not show any desire to work, their children will copy them and will not contribute to society. If a mother who is a stay-at-home mother or has a different job does not work hard or does not show any work ethic, her children will look up to her and follow her footsteps and eventually “civilization would deteriorate.” (Friedan 8)

Logos is a literary device that can be defined as a statement, sentence, or argument used to persuade or induce the readers. By utilizing logos, the essayist displays insights and facts to aid in the point being argued. Throughout the “Importance of Work”, Friedan practices this beneficial method of persuasion repeatedly. For instance, she states, “Psychiatrics have long used “occupational therapy” with patients in mental hospitals…” (5). Friedan used a meaningful idea of work by stating proven information that has transformed therapy. Additionally, Friedan states, “The very argument, by Riesman and others, that man no longer finds identity in the work defined as a paycheck job…” (4). This statement explains that work is not just a paycheck, work is who you are as a person and the drive an individual contains to do the job. The men during that time period proved this to be true by

By reading the poem the readers feel as if they were there, waiting in line, and feeling the rain in their hair. Compared to, “Waiting” by Green Day when they say “Downtown lights will be shining On me like a new diamond” – Green Day. Levine makes the readers realize, that they know what work is, whether they do it or not. Not even realizing it, as the readers keeps on reading Levine makes it so that the audience could have a feeling of what the pain would be if they were the ones waiting by talking about “This is about waiting, shifting from one foot to another.” (Levine) as he waits in line. Levine truly makes the reader believe as if they were the ones standing feeling the pain in the lower back, slowly feeling the legs cramp up. In the song “Waiting” the narrator makes the reader picture their ‘glory’ is around the corner by saying “So close enough to taste it Almost...I can embrace this Feeling....on the tip of my tongue” – Green Day. The reader can truly tell from reading the poem and hearing the song that both writers use imagery to make the reader feel how it is to have to wait for something for and at the end you may not really know what the outcome might be. One critic said “the descriptions the poet included which helped set up the depressing, sullen tone and mood, such as ‘feeling the light rain falling like mist into your hair …’” (Seo) Even though the imagery made readers picture something different it draws the reader into

Mayo Angelou explains the reality between struggles and the beauty of overcoming them in her poem called “Woman Work”. This poem is about a mother, preferably, a single mother that has children that she takes care of. The poem starts off by saying, “I’ve got children to tend / The clothes to mend / The floor to mop / The food to shop / Then the chicken to fry / The baby to dry / I got company to feed / The garden to weed / I’ve got shirts to press /

The division of labour ensures that each worker only does one job, and the labour market decides which job any particular worker will do. During labour, the worker uses capital not under his own control. The capital available determines the nature of the work. On top of all this, the worker has no choice but to work, as wages are needed to provide the worker's means to life. Work is seen to be 'not voluntary, but forced' (3). This shows that in a capitalist society, the worker is separated from the decisions of whether or not to work, what the work will be, and what form the work will take. This alienation of labour is the separation of man from his life-activity.

In this poem “Woman’s Work”, the mother is forced to do household cleaning which represents a domestic life and the impact of gender specific roles. This poem is written in the third person point of view. The speaker is the daughter of a mother who doesn’t work outside, but only inside of the house, and is forced to do household cleaning with her as she hears her friends playing outside in the street. Author Julia Alvarez uses imagery, simile, and alliteration to portray the meaning of the poem that women work harder than men.

Many people today find themselves in “dead-end” jobs, or they feel like work is purposeless and frustrating. At the same time, some people figured out that work is a blessing to them. People who suffer their lives in a slavery for many years in another country, think that work is a curse because they were ruled by people. They work because they are forced by other people. Work is a blessing for most people, but for some people work is a curse because of the lack of opportunity. Work is a blessing for those who understand it. To understand that work is a blessing was one of true understanding the purpose of life. It is important because not knowing the purpose of life brought people depressed. As Honore said “I'm retired from the Army, but

"Work" is a positive thing for many people. To some people, it may be described as a place to escape from the kids, or even a time consumption thing for a single or retired person, but most importantly it is what we do in order to provide for our families and ourselves. Work is something that we all will experience at one time or another during our lives.