Wande Adeyemo           

English 1100_35               

Prof. Young

24 September 2015

                                                                                Jean Anyon essay

                Merit. According to the online definition of merit, this means “the quality of being good or worthy” (www.dictionary.com). In 1979, Jean Anyon, a writer at Rutgers University wrote an essay explaining the different types of jobs, and behaviors in the classroom that correlated with the social classes. She surveyed classrooms and observed the students, teachers, principals, etc. to gather data. She concluded that the working class people were in poverty and their behavior in the classroom was just to listen to the teacher and not to ask questions. They were given steps to get the right answer but they didn’t know how they got to that final answer. She also said that the middle class didn’t know what they were doing or why they were doing it but they listened to the teacher and got their work done. The middle class peoples job were people who got paid for their labor. I, personally think that this essay doesn’t hold merit anymore. Considering the fact that this essay was written years ago, her point doesn’t stand strong now. In my own experiences, there are a mixture of working class and middle class people in public and private schools these days. Generally in high school, we are taught to be prepared for college. They teach students one way, no one asks questions and all we do is copy what’s on the board and we listen to what our teacher says. Also, with the jobs, I know people who come from struggles and rock bottom experiences that are now rising to the top. No job specifically defines where you came from. This essay may have been right when she wrote it years ago but today’s world has changed indefinitely and I don’t think that this essay holds merit.