Ross Perlin is the author of Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy (2012), from which this article is adapted. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian (UK), the Washington Post, and Time magazine, among other publications. In an interview with Academe Blog, Perlin suggested, “For interns who are already saddled with college debt, unpaid internships can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, forcing young people to go still deeper into debt.” This article explores the structure of internships at Disney and the problems they pose for students and colleges. Since its publication, Perlin’s book has influenced three large and very visible class-
Reading the Genre
1. Perlin doesn’t write about himself in this report at all—
2. How does Perlin move back and forth between primary research on the ground at Disney World and secondary research about Disney’s policies and history? Go through the text and make note of secondary research and primary research, and discuss how the two types of research work together. Which of Perlin’s points are better made with evidence from primary sources? Which are better made with evidence from secondary sources? (See “Distinguish between primary and secondary sources”.)
3. What does Perlin want this report to accomplish? He may not make an overt argument in this report, but what sense do you get of his assessment of these internships? Where can you find evidence of his opinions in the text? (See “Aim for objectivity”.)
4. WRITING: Write a report on your own worst work or internship experience, using your own stories as a form of primary research. Then combine this personal narrative with secondary research into the employment or internship policies of this employer or others like it, so that your own experiences can lead you to answer bigger questions about why this experience might have been so memorably bad.
5. MULTIMODALITY—