Rhetorical Analysis: Blue Collar Brilliance

Education is a resource that is available to most people in the United States. The value and the ways it is administered often various from person to person. Michelle Obama and Mike Rose are both advocates of educational value. They exhibit their positions on education in two documents; Blue-Collar Brilliance by Mike Rose and Bowie State University Commencement Speech by Michelle Obama. Rose’s document focuses on the degrading of educational attributes that are not gained in the preferred environment such as school. He seems to argue that the things that are learned outside of school through hands on experiences are just as valuable as the things learned in a schooling environment. However, Michelle’s speech does not argue on which intakes …show more content…
Rose admits to having a personal background with his topic which is displayed throughout the document. Rose states “When I was growing up in Los Angeles during the 1950s, my father and I occasionally hang out at the restaurant until her shift ended, and then we’d ride the bus home with her [Rose’s mother]” (Rose 702). He uses his mother and other family members as examples of people without a standard educational background; yet, they are still capable of learning and adapting to their environment and any task that is given them just as any other scholar. On the other hand, Obama uses a similar approach with the intention of gaining a different response from her audience. Obama wants to audience to be able to understand and relate to her experiences. Obama states “See, my parents didn’t go to college, but they were determined to give us an opportunity” (Obama 723). Obama uses her parents as an example to help her achieve the deliverances of her motivational purpose and tone. They have similar approaches and examples; yet they are aiming for two different responses from their audiences using their tone and word