Exploring the Text

  1. What does Matthew B. Crawford mean by “such confrontations with material reality”? Do you agree that “[m]any of us do work that feels more surreal than real” (para. 1)?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: What does Matthew B. Crawford mean by “such confrontations with material reality”? Do you agree that “[m]any of us do work that feels more surreal than real” (para. 1)?
  2. In paragraph 4, Crawford quotes the last two lines of Marge Piercy’s poem, “To Be of Use.” How effective is his use of the poem?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: In paragraph 4, Crawford quotes the last two lines of Marge Piercy’s poem, “To Be of Use.” How effective is his use of the poem?
  3. What is the nature of economist Alan Blinder’s “crucial distinction” (para. 5)? What implications does it have for the world of work?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: What is the nature of economist Alan Blinder’s “crucial distinction” (para. 5)? What implications does it have for the world of work?
  4. Do you agree with Crawford’s characterization of schooling and learning (paras. 6–7)? Does it fit with your own experience and observation? To what extent? If it doesn’t, explain why.

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: Do you agree with Crawford’s characterization of schooling and learning (paras. 6–7)? Does it fit with your own experience and observation? To what extent? If it doesn’t, explain why.
  5. How does Crawford build his ethos in paragraph 7?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: How does Crawford build his ethos in paragraph 7?
  6. Note the particular detail with which Crawford characterizes Fred (para. 10). Do you agree with Crawford’s conclusion about Fred: “Here was a scholar”? Why or why not?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: Note the particular detail with which Crawford characterizes Fred (para. 10). Do you agree with Crawford’s conclusion about Fred: “Here was a scholar”? Why or why not?
  7. What is ironic about Crawford’s job at the policy organization in Washington (para. 12)? How does that irony contribute to Crawford’s characterization of work?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: What is ironic about Crawford’s job at the policy organization in Washington (para. 12)? How does that irony contribute to Crawford’s characterization of work?
  8. Crawford writes, “The attractiveness of any hypothesis is determined in part by physical circumstances that have no logical connection to the diagnostic problem at hand” (para. 17). Two paragraphs later he writes, “For me, at least, there is more real thinking going on in the bike shop than there was in the think tank.” How does this humorous remark relate to the meaning of the first statement?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: Crawford writes, “The attractiveness of any hypothesis is determined in part by physical circumstances that have no logical connection to the diagnostic problem at hand” (para. 17). Two paragraphs later he writes, “For me, at least, there is more real thinking going on in the bike shop than there was in the think tank.” How does this humorous remark relate to the meaning of the first statement?
  9. What is the virtue that, according to Crawford, is “at once cognitive and moral” (para. 20)? Do you agree with his claim?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: What is the virtue that, according to Crawford, is “at once cognitive and moral” (para. 20)? Do you agree with his claim?
  10. Think of an experience you have had that in some way resembles the one Crawford describes in paragraph 22. Were your feelings similar to Crawford’s? How effectively does the writer appeal to the experience of his audience?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: Think of an experience you have had that in some way resembles the one Crawford describes in paragraph 22. Were your feelings similar to Crawford’s? How effectively does the writer appeal to the experience of his audience?
  11. Paragraph 24 concludes with a claim about managers. Explain how Crawford develops his argument, using the Toulmin model described and demonstrated in Chapter 3.

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: Paragraph 24 concludes with a claim about managers. Explain how Crawford develops his argument, using the Toulmin model described and demonstrated in Chapter 3.
  12. What did Crawford learn from his job as a writer of abstracts (paras. 25–32)? How does that experience support the claims he makes earlier in the essay?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: What did Crawford learn from his job as a writer of abstracts (paras. 25–32)? How does that experience support the claims he makes earlier in the essay?
  13. Paragraph 30 concludes, “But none of this damage touches the best part of yourself.” What, as implied by Crawford, is “the best part of yourself”? Do you agree?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: Paragraph 30 concludes, “But none of this damage touches the best part of yourself.” What, as implied by Crawford, is “the best part of yourself”? Do you agree?
  14. How effective is the rhetorical question that concludes paragraph 36?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: How effective is the rhetorical question that concludes paragraph 36?
  15. Crawford concludes that the economy will be improved by “enlightened self-interest” (para. 39). Do you agree with his assessment?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: Crawford concludes that the economy will be improved by “enlightened self-interest” (para. 39). Do you agree with his assessment?
  16. In an interview about his book Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work, Crawford has said,

    There’s knowledge work and there’s manual work, and the idea that these are two very different things seemed very bogus to me. I needed to make the case for how much thinking goes on in the trades. And that this can be a life worth choosing—if you’re someone who likes to use your brain at work. And once you get into that, it becomes a very interesting question of psychology: how using your hands and using your mind are connected. Another thing that prompted the book is the year that I spent teaching high school Latin, which I was barely qualified to do. There’s some simile here to be made with fools rushing in. At any rate, the kids were being told that they had to take this course to get their SAT scores up—because everyone has to get into college. The class was something of a disaster: Half of them were jacked up on Ritalin just trying to stay awake. I felt like if I had been able to take some of these kids aside and say, “Hey, let’s build a deck,” or, “Let’s overhaul an engine,” they would have perked right up.

    How effectively does this essay serve as a response to the situation Crawford describes in the interview?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 7 - The Case for Working with Your Hands - Exploring the Text: In an interview about his book Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work, Crawford has said, There’s knowledge work and there’s manual work, and the idea that these are two very different things seemed very bogus to me. I needed to make the case for how much thinking goes on in the trades. And that this can be a life worth choosing—if you’re someone who likes to use your brain at work. And once you get into that, it becomes a very interesting question of psychology: how using your hands and using your mind are connected. Another thing that prompted the book is the year that I spent teaching high school Latin, which I was barely qualified to do. There’s some simile here to be made with fools rushing in. At any rate, the kids were being told that they had to take this course to get their SAT scores up—because everyone has to get into college. The class was something of a disaster: Half of them were jacked up on Ritalin just trying to stay awake. I felt like if I had been able to take some of these kids aside and say, “Hey, let’s build a deck,” or, “Let’s overhaul an engine,” they would have perked right up. How effectively does this essay serve as a response to the situation Crawford describes in the interview?