TOW #19 - Article: "5 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Work Too Hard"

Writing Goal: Quote specific examples from the article to support my statements.

Reading Goal: Successfully identify at least three rhetorical devices/strategies.

“It’s just school.” For a student at the onset of his or her junior in high school, the message behind this simple piece of advice may be about as shocking as the fact that it was given by a teacher. Not only was this surprising to hear, but it was actually the opposite of what many students expected. But why? Why was the idea of making sure that we live a healthy and balanced life so astonishing? Brigid Schulte, Washington post contributor and author of the article titled “5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Work Too Hard”, would argue that it is due to the “vicious cycle of ‘work and spend’” (Schulte) that is so evident in American culture. Through the use of extensive exemplification, powerful statistics, and explicit organization, Schulte attempts to convince her audience that the American attitude towards work should be reconsidered.

She first uses the new Cadillac commercial in which a “boxy, middle-aged white guy in a fancy house” (Schulte) questions European work traditions, such as stopping at a cafe on the way home from work and taking the month of August off, to ultimately point out that working hard and long is what ultimately allowed himself to live the affluent life displayed in the commercial. This example clearly shows the American work attitude that Schulte says contributes to the “work and spend” cycle. Schulte continues to provide examples of work-related policies in other countries, such as child “nurture days” in Denmark and year-long paid parental leaves for mothers and fathers in Iceland, that ultimately allow their countries’ workers to live a more balanced life. She then states statics that point out how much we really devote ourselves to working, such as the fact that the average American now works about an entire month more than he or she would have in 1976 and that Americans didn’t even use an estimated 577 million vacation days at all in 2013. 

These examples and statistics act almost as the rising action of her article as we finally reach the climax that explains their negative effects: Schulte’s five listed reasons as to why we shouldn’t work too hard. She explicitly states in bolded words and numbers that Americans spend more time sick and more money paying for healthcare, that we are far more stressed, that the increased stress levels lead to decreased brain function, that we are ranked near the bottom of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s work-life balance scale, and finally that while we are working 70% of us are disengaged. These five reasons directly display the cost of working so much and leaves us to answer the question of whether or not all the work is worth it or not. She offers her final examples of leisure leading to innovation by using Bill Gates and the Wright Brothers before stating that “rather than working so hard to have stuff, better to work to have leisure, the Greek philosopher Aristotle said, upon which happiness depends.” Ultimately, I found the article to be extremely effective through its use of extensive exemplification, powerful statistics, and explicit organization. The only question left lingering in my mind after reading it was how long it is going to take for our country to rethink its work-related policies so that we may begin to shirk the serious detriments and enjoy the numerous benefits Schulte referenced.