Abstract

This article reviews the complications in understanding some of the conflicting tenets of American working-class ethos, especially as it unfolds in the college classroom. It asserts that the working class values modesty, straightforwardness, and hard work and has a difficult time accepting an ethos based in formal education. The article also discusses some of the performance aspects of working-class texts and explores the difficulties that outsiders face in trying to analyze/critique working-class experience.

Highlights

  • If at one time American politicians and pundits deemed class irrelevant when discussing tensions within the United States, class has emerged as a significant variable that both major parties have to account for in their strategic planning

  • Our awareness of working-class issues must include an understanding of ethos and how it can impact working-class students’ attempts to learn in institutions of higher education

  • A working-class ethos is one of humility, and it is attached to a truth or a hope that still resonates with the working class

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Summary

Introduction

If at one time American politicians and pundits deemed class irrelevant when discussing tensions within the United States, class has emerged as a significant variable that both major parties have to account for in their strategic planning. Only 25% of Trump voters fit the stereotype of being white, non-Hispanic, lacking a college education, and making below the median household income (Carnes and Lupu 2017). As a college-level educator, I welcome this conversation, as I have advocated over the years for more attention to be given to working-class issues: in my experience, the conflict between “academic values” and “working-class values” can alienate working-class students. I examine this ethos, drawing from the scholarly conversation on the working class and rhetorical theory, but divining much from my twenty years of teaching working-class students. I do not view this piece as a sociological analysis as much as I do a conversation-starter, due to how much is missing from the field of Composition Studies and Rhetoric in its discussion of the ethos of our working-class students. I need to clarify what I mean when I speak of the working class by reviewing some important literature and showing where and how my definition diverges from those of others

Who Are the Working Class?
Findings
Conclusions

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