The Working Life
John Alberti, Northern Kentucky University

ISBN-10: 0321094220
ISBN-13: 9780321094223

Publisher: Longman
Copyright: 2004
Format: Paper; 528 pp
Published: 10/27/2003

Suggested retail price: $67.80
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Timely, smart, and hip, this engaging reader teaches students to think critically about the importance and place of work in their lives.

A particularly relevant reader given the career-minded orientation of today's students, The Working Life helps students “see” work more practically and critically, both in terms of their eventual career paths and their immediate college environment. Approaching the idea of work from multiple perspectives, the readings present work as both a source of fulfillment and meaning and a place of frustration and fatigue. Throughout The Working Life helps students use writing to examine their own complex attitudes, values, and beliefs about work in life, work as life, and our lives at work.

Each of the six sections focuses on a different aspect of work and contains readings ranging from scholarly articles to contemporary journalism, visual representations of work from the media and fine arts, fiction and non-fiction stories about work, and a sample of screenshorts from a work-related Website.

  • Work-related themes are explored through proactive readings on education as “work,” working mothers, the work ethic, work and racial divisions, class divisions, and sweatshops in the global economy.
  • Each chapter begins with “Foundational Readings,” which provide an overview for reading and discussion.
  • “Stories of Work” include fiction, autobiography, poetry, songs, and plays; these creative pieces expand the range of perspectives by looking at connections between the work of writing and the art of writing.
  • “Media Images” provide opportunities for students to extend their critical reading skills to the reading of visual culture, including advertisements, promotional pieces, and cartoons.
  • “Writing as Work” questions and assignments end each chapter by showing students to how writing done in school can ”work in the world” by impacting their community and places of work.
  • Sample Websites provide students opportunities to explore the research possibilities of the Internet and to consider the challenges posed by writing for the Web.



Preface: For Students.


Preface: For Instructors.


1. The Writer's Work.


2. Work, Labor, Career: The Meaning of Work.

Foundational Readings.

Genesis 3:17-19.

Aristotle, from The Politics.

Benjamin Franklkin, from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.

Bob Black, from “The Abolition of Work.”

Reading the Web: A Sample Website.

www.monster.com.

Stories of Work.

Horatio Alger, from Ragged Dick.

Herman Melville, “Bartleby the Scrivener.”

Kathryn Carmony, “Surfing the Classifieds.”

Media Images.

Scott Adams, Dilbert.

The Work of Writing/Writing as Work.



3. Education and Work/Education as Work.

Foundational Readings.

Jean Anyon, from Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work.

Ron Nixon, “Caution: Children at Work.”

Focus on the Future of College Work: The Role of Technology in Higher Education.

Robert Cwiklik, “A Different Course.”

James Traub, from “The Next University. Drive-Thru U: Higher Education for People Who Mean Business.”

Neal Postman, “Of Luddites, Learning, and Life.”

Reading the Web: A Sample Website.

Comparing College Websites: Three Views on School and Work.

University of Phoenix.

Portland State University.

Mount San Antonio College.

Stories of Work.

Samuel Clemens, from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Mike Rose, from Lives on the Boundary.

Media Images.

Matt Groening, “Life in School.”

Nicholas Nixon, Photographs from School.

The Work of Writing/Writing as Work.



4. Work and Social Class.

Foundational Readings.

Adam Smith, from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.

Gregory Mantsios, “Media Magic: Making Class Invisible.”

Michael Zweig, from The Working Class Majority: America's Best Kept Secret.

Barbara Ehrenreich, from Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.

Reading the Web: A Sample Website.

Justice for Janitors.

Stories of Work.

Ben Hamper, from Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line.

Bertolt Brecht, “Questions from a Worker Who Reads.”

Selected Poems About the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

Media Images.

Phoenix Wealth Management Advertisement.

The Work of Writing/Writing as Work.



5. Work and Family.

Foundational Readings.

Alice Kessler-Harris, from Women Have Always Worked.

Stephanie Coontz, “The American Family.”

Juliet B. Schor, from The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure.

Ellen Galinsky, “Do Working Parents Make the Grade?”

Reading the Web: A Sample Website.

Families and Work Institute Website.

Stories of Work.

Ellen Trevio Hart, from Barefoot Heart: Stories of a Migrant Child.

Deb Casey, “ZOOOOOOOM: A Familiar Story: Drop-Off/Pick-Up Panic.”

Welfare, Before and After: Two Essays by Annie Downey.

“Is There Life After Welfare?”

“The Journey to Not.”

Media Images.

Working Mother and Dadmag.com Websites.

The Work of Writing/Writing as Work.



6. Work and Diversity.

Foundational Readings.

Ronald Takaki, from A Different Mirror.

Cose, Ellis “A Dozen Demons” from The Rage of a Privileged Class.

Lisa Belkin “Showdown at Yazoo Industries.”

Shelley Donald Coolidge, “On the Job, It's English or the Pink Slip.”

Reading the Web: A Sample Website.

Ragged Edge Magazine.

Stories of Work.

Frederick Douglass, from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

Lalo Guerrero, “Corrido de César Chávez.”

Wanda Coleman, “Office Politics.”

Molly Martin, “Nina Saltman: Carpenter Foreman.”

Media Images.

McDonalds Job Advertisement, 1989.

The Work of Writing/Writing as Work.



7. Ethics of Work/The Work Ethic.

Foundational Readings.

Max Weber, from The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.

John Judis, “Value Free.”

Walter Kirn, “Summertime Dues.”

Focus on School Work and Ethics: Plagiarism and Cheating.

Richard A. Posner, “On Plagiarism.”

Kathy Slobogin, “Survey: Many Students Say Cheating's OK.”

Kelly McCollum, “Term-Paper Website Has Professors Worried About Plagiarism.”

Reading the Web: A Sample Website.

“Schoolsucks.com” and “Turnitin.com.”

Stories of Work.

Randy Cohen, Letters from “The Ethicist.”

Media Images.

World Trade Center Rescue Workers.

The Work of Writing/Writing as Work.



8. Work in the Global Economy.

Foundational Readings.

Pico Iyer, “The Global Village Finally Arrives.”

Benjamin R. Barber, “Jihad vs McWorld.”

The Controversy over Sweatshops.

William Greider, from One World, Ready or Not.

Nicholas Kristof, and Sheryl WuDenn “Two Cheers for Sweatshops.”

Reading the Web: A Sample Website.

The Controversy over Sweatshops: Focus on Nike.

United Students Against Sweatshops.

Nike, Inc.

Stories of Work.

Woody Guthrie, “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos).”

Andrew Revkin, from The Burning Season.

Media Images.

Undocumented Workers Lost in the World Trade Center.

The Work of Writing/Writing as Work.



9. Work in the Information Age/The Future of Work.

Foundational Readings.

Robert Reich, from The Future of Work.

Nicholas Negroponte, “An Age of Optimism.”

LynNell Hancock, “The Haves and Have-Nots.”

Paula Span, “The On-Line Mystique.”

Reading the Web: A Sample Website.

Charting the Changes in the Web: The Internet Archive.

Stories of Work.

William Gibson, “Burning Chrome.”

John Katz, from Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho.

Media Images.

Personal Daily Assistant.

The Work of Writing/Writing as Work.



Epilogue. The Joy of Work.

Albrecht Drer, “St. Jerome in His Study.”

Jacob Lawrence, “Carpenters.”

Maggi Hambling, “Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin.”

  • Exam Copy
    Alberti
    © 2004 | Longman | Paper; 528 pages | Instock
    ISBN-10: 0321179617 | ISBN-13: 9780321179616


  • Instructor's Manual
    Alberti
    © 2004 | Longman | Paper; 120 pages | Instock
    ISBN-10: 0321179609 | ISBN-13: 9780321179609

    Instructor's Manual
    Alberti
    © 2004 | Longman | Paper;120 pages | Instock
    ISBN-10: 0321179609 | ISBN-13: 9780321179609

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