William Greider, "Work Rules" and:

• Jon Gertner, "The Futile Pursuit of Happiness"
• Jon Gertner, "The Futile Pursuit of Happiness" and Karen Armstrong, "Does God Have a Future?"
• Jon Gertner, "The Futile Pursuit of Happiness" and Robert Thurman, "Wisdom"
• Amy Chua, "A World on the Edge"
• Amy Chua, "A World on the Edge" and James C. Scott, "Behind the Official Story"
• Michael Pollan, "Playing God in the Garden"
• Michael Pollan, "Playing God in the Garden" and Eric Schlosser, "Global Realization"

For more assignment ideas involving this essay, please visit the Greider link-o-mat.

The Ideal of Happiness in American Society (Assignment 2)

In the first paper, we examined the impact of one ideal on the health of American culture. In the second paper, we will discuss the role of perception in establishing healthy social relations. In “Work Rules,” William Greider argues that although Americans may think they live in a democratic and free society, this belief is a false one that stems from the workplace’s “socialization of powerlessness” (52). Central to his essay is the idea that Americans ought to become aware of the exploitative, feudal nature of their social environment. In contrast, Jon Gertner’s essay speculates that a more accurate perception of one’s place in society may be detrimental to social health.

In what ways is an accurate perception of oneself and one’s place in society important to the health of a society as a whole?

Write an essay in which you take a position on the importance of self-knowledge to societal health. Strengthen your argument by using evidence from both Gertner and Greider to confirm, contradict, or complicate your position.

Jennifer Garrison, Rutgers University, Fall 2005

From The Ideal of Happiness in American Society.

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Tensions between the Public, the Private, and the Personal (Assignment 1)

Instructions: Write an essay in which you explore the issues discussed below. Your essay should have an introduction and a thesis (project) followed by a well-developed argument that uses the assigned reading for support.

Discuss the ways that Greider claims that the “master-servant” relationship of the current workplace undercuts democracy. How does this contribute to a “socialization of powerlessness” (p. 215)?

Do you agree or disagree with Greider’s analysis of the problem? With his proposed solution? In your opinion, are capitalism and democracy fundamentally at odds? Or can they co-exist in a mutually reinforcing way? Give your reasons in as much detail as possible with supporting evidence from the text.

Focus on developing the following aspects of your essay:

PROJECT- Develop an argument or thesis, rather than relying on summary. Use the text to support your ideas.

ORGANIZATION- Pay attention to the structure of your essay. Organize paragraphs to support the overall argument you are making. Each paragraph should have a point to make to support the larger argument.

WORK WITH TEXTS- Use the text intelligently to support your point of view. Move appropriately between paraphrase and quotation. Make connections between the text and your argument.

PRESENTATION- Pay attention to overall style, spelling and grammar, and the clarity and structure of your argument.

Laura Smith, Rutgers University, Fall 2005

From Tensions between the Public, the Private, and the Personal.

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The Ideal of Happiness in American Society (Assignment 3)

In the first two papers, we examined the effect of ideals and perceptions on society. In the third paper, we will examine the effect of spiritual belief on American societal health. In “Does God Have a Future?” Karen Armstrong argues that “the prevalence of fundamentalism, apocalypticism and ‘instant’ charismatic forms of religiosity in America” suggests that America is not a “spiritually healthy society” (90).

In what way does religious belief contribute to or detract from America’s societal health?

Drawing on Gertner’s and Greider’s discussions of societal health, write an essay in which you take a position on the value of religious belief to American society. Strengthen your argument by using evidence from Armstrong, Gertner, and Greider to show how they confirm, contradict, or complicate your position.

Jennifer Garrison, Rutgers University, Fall 2005

From The Ideal of Happiness in American Society.

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Happiness, Wisdom, and Work (Assignment 3)

How can the individuals in our society effectively overcome years of social indoctrination into ‘’master-servant relationship’ in the workplace without compromising their right to individual happiness? How are Greider’s reforms, based on collective happiness, possible in view of the ideas of Thurman and Gertner?

If you think that the individuals do not need to overcome years of social indoctrination you will need to explain in detail the reasons behind this conclusion. You must use all three texts to support your ideas.

Your answer must use Greider’s, Gertner’s and Thurman’s essays to support your own project. You do not need to pay the same amount of attention to all the three essays, but you should use and refer to all of them (at least once each) in your paper.

You should also incorporate quotes in your essay and have proper citations.

In this paper I want to see that:

• you considered the ideas in all three texts and put them into conversation with each other
• you have your own project that goes beyond the ideas in Greider, Thurman and Gertner
• you are choosing relevant quotations and examples, and you are explaining the connections between this evidence and your larger project
• you state your project and the way you will achieve it (road map) at the end of your introduction. (your project and road map can be a couple of sentences long)
• you are using effective topic sentences
• you are proofreading your essay carefully for grammar and spelling errors

Alla Gaydukova, Rutgers University, Fall 2005

From Happiness, Wisdom, and Work.

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Tensions between the Public, the Private, and the Personal (Assignment 2)

Develop a project considering the following:

Both William Greider and Amy Chua talk about the tensions existing between capitalism and democracy, Greider in the context of the domestic U.S., Chua in terms of the global scene. Chua adds the element of ethnic groups and “market-dominant minorities” into the picture. How would this factor change or explain the dynamics of the master-servant relationship and the “socialization of powerlessness” that Greider talks about? What connections can you make between the two authors’ views? In what ways do they differ? What conclusions can you draw? In your view, what is the best course of action to address the inequality of wealth and power both in the U.S. and globally?

Focus on developing the following aspects of your essay:

PROJECT- Develop an argument or thesis, rather than relying on summary. Use the text to support your ideas.

ORGANIZATION- Pay attention to the structure of your essay. Organize paragraphs to support the overall argument you are making. Each paragraph should have a point to make to support the larger argument.

WORK WITH TEXTS- Use the text intelligently to support your point of view. Move appropriately between paraphrase and quotation. Make connections between the text and your argument.

PRESENTATION- Pay attention to overall style, spelling and grammar.

Laura Smith, Rutgers University, Fall 2005

From Tensions between the Public, the Private, and the Personal.

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Tensions between the Public, the Private, and the Personal (Assignment 3)

Develop a project considering the following:

Using Scott as a “frame,” analyze the essays of Greider and Chua in terms of the ideas of the “public transcript” and “hidden transcript.” What, if any commonalities do you find between the two? What new light do Scott’s ideas shed on the other authors? Do Scott’s ideas suggest a key to the solutions that Greider and Chua talk about? Is it possible to “speak Truth to power?” (Scott 521)

Focus on developing the following aspects of your essay:

PROJECT- Develop an argument or thesis, rather than relying on summary. Use the text to support your ideas.

ORGANIZATION- Pay attention to the structure of your essay. Organize paragraphs to support the overall argument you are making. Each paragraph should have a point to make to support the larger argument.

WORK WITH TEXTS- Use the text intelligently to support your point of view. Move appropriately between paraphrase and quotation. Make connections between the text and your argument.

PRESENTATION- Pay attention to overall style, spelling and grammar.

Laura Smith, Rutgers University, Fall 2005

From Tensions between the Public, the Private, and the Personal.

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The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith (Assignment 2)

In his essay “Work Rules,” William Greider says that most people have a “shared powerlessness” (219) in working for someone else. He goes on to say that the way to correct this powerlessness is for people

to “own” their own work. That is, individually and jointly, they own the place where they work. They accept responsibility, collectively, for the well-being of the firm. They authorize the managers who direct things, but all participate in the rule making and other important policy decisions. They share the returns from the enterprise and agree upon the terms for sharing. None of these structural changes exempts anyone from the harrowing competition of capitalism or the demand for effective practices and productivity. (219-220)

In other words, the responsibility of employee ownership, according to him, can improve the quality of people’s work lives, including their wages. In Michael Pollan’s “Playing God in the Garden,” different kinds of workers are depicted, from farmers to biotechnology lab technicians. Do the farmers who Pollan talks to “own their own work”? What about the Monsanto employees? Greider suggests that “eliminating the artificial dividing line between master and servant would open…possibilities for individual fulfillment” (226); is such a “dividing line” apparent in Pollan’s text? Make an argument about whether work, in farming, might represent a master-servant divide, and how to remedy such an imbalance in society. (Feel free to disagree with Greider and suggest that there is no dividing line.)

Note: Try to quote from both Greider and Pollan, in the same paragraph. When doing so, you may find it easier to give a Greider quotation first, and then one from Pollan.

Danis Banks, Rutgers University, Fall 2005

From The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith.

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The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith (Assignment 3)

Toward the end of Eric Schlosser’s essay “Global Realization,” he says that in the German town called Plauen, “every Wednesday night, a few hundred people gather at The Ranch for line dancing” (517). He adds, “For a few hours the spirit of the American West fills this funky bar deep in the heart of Saxony…and the old dream lives on, the dream of freedom without limits, self-reliance, and a wide-open frontier” (517). But does the McDonald’s Corporation truly encourage self-reliance in the various countries where it opens? How would William Greider view the way that McDonald’s does business? What, if anything, might McDonald’s have in common with biotech companies?

If we assume that biotech farming and fast-food franchises both function according to a certain model of work, explore whether they operate under the model of a master-servant divide, or if they encourage self-sufficiency and independence (the worker-as-owner model). Should biotech and globalization—as seen through the actions and practices of the McDonald’s Corporation—change so that people benefit more? If so, how might this change occur? Make an argument about the responsibilities that biotech companies and fast-food chains have in providing food and employment for many of the world’s people.

You must quote from all three texts—Michael Pollan, Greider, and Schlosser—in this essay; provide quotation from more than one author at a time in your body paragraphs, to make connections. You also need to have a project.

Note: To avoid repeating what was said in Paper #2, use original quotation.

Danis Banks, Rutgers University, Fall 2005

From The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith.

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