Author: R. Dragan
Last saved by: Richard Dragan

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ENG 101 -- Class Notes  
Session 10 
Thu. 10/20
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TODOs  
 
 1) ESSAY #1 REVISED VERSION DUE TONIGHT THU. 
        10/20 (11:59 pm) 
 
 	Upload your revised essay to: 
 
 	submit101.lagcconline.com 

If you have your Peer Editing Worksheet with the peer editor comments, pls. turn that in for credit (hard copy).

2) EXTRA CREDIT READING -- Alex Janin’s “Thanks to Remote Work, Many in Gen Z May Never Work in an Office. Will It Matter?” COURSE PACK, pp. 28-32   (15 min.)

	Extra Credit Reading Questions -- DUE TUE 10/25

You can use this reading for the Midterm on 11/1.

3) Finish Duhigg and Barbaza Reading Questions (20+ min.)

4) Videos on Amazon.com  (15 min.) 
 
***

5) Sarah O’Connor, “Amazon Unpacked” 
 
20 minutes reading + 20 min. questions – work in pairs + 15 min discussion / reporting out
  
*** 

Alex Janin’s “Thanks to Remote Work, Many in Gen Z May Never Work in an Office. Will It Matter?” COURSE 
PACK, pp. 28-32   

 
The Janin article can be paired with Andrew Curry’s “Why We Work” on the Midterm / Essay #2 to discuss 21st-century work. 

 

 

 

 
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"Amazon Unpacked” by Sarah O’Connor (pp. 100-111 in the Course Pack)  
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1) Describe the work life of workers at this Amazon.com warehouse. Does it seem like a good job or not?  

The workers said it was a “slave camp” and they were treated like robots (O’Connor 104).  
  
**There were complaints about people getting blisters 
(O’Connor 105).  
*Very physically demanding --   
**The boss is always watching you -- tablets / trackers  
**Security checkout 30 minutes  
**30 minutes breaks  
**Work for a staffing agency  
**Green badge for temp employees   
**Tiring -- on your feet all day -- 7 to 15 miles of walking  
***Scary because you don’t have job security   
**Lack of control  
*Wages are low -- no health benefits / no vacation / no raises  
(Temp agencies do the hiring)  
  
The author writes, Amazon workers “walk between seven and 15 miles a day” (O’Connor 101). In this quote, the author suggests this is a physically demanding job.  
  
“Blisters and sores” (O’Connor 105).  
  
Treated like robots (O’Connor 103).  
The author writes that one worker felt “like being in a slave camp” (O’Connor 104). In this quote, there is the suggestion of a harsh work environment.  
  
2) What is the history of Rugeley as a town? What kinds of jobs did people have before 1990? Were there advantages to working as a coal miner versus working in the new Amazon.com warehouse? Which was a better job?  
Why?  
**Coal miners -- working class -- wages were higher than Amazon.  
  
Job security!!!   Union and the union made sure that workers couldn’t be fired easily.  
Pensions / benefits  
  
**Coal mining provided benefits and a secure job (O’Connor 106).  
**Coal miners worked at their own pace -- team
 *After the collapse of coal mining, you have desperate workers. Amazon stepped in to fill the void in this town, but the town had different expectations about a better and more secure kind of manual job.  
   
3) On p. 104, the author writes that the transition to the new way of working at the Amazon.com warehouse has been a “culture shock” (O’Connor 104). What does this phrase mean to you? What’s different about the nature of work in the 21st century as typified by the management and work style demanded at the Amazon.com center versus the coal mines?  
Instead of regular, well-paid work, this kind of work is....  
  
Scheduling is random  
  
Not well paid  
  
Not secure  
  
No benefits  
  
**The workers were dependent on one company, but there is a different culture with Amazon. (Not the whole town).... How in the 21st century, despite laws, workers can be mistreated.  
  
4) Next, choose one of the photos in the article to look at. What does this photo tell you about work? What does it add to the written story? On p. 109, you might look at the contrasting photos of workers from different eras in Rugeley.  What does this photo tell you about the changing nature of work in the 21st century?  
**One group pointed out the coal miners look happy / contented & proud of their work.  
***Notice this is GROUP PHOTO. There is solidarity / a community of (unionized) workers.   
  
In the 21st century, every worker is alone, tracked by a computer. The photos for the Amazon.com article show individual workers (not teams).  
  
Notice you can find workers in the La Guardia and Wagner Archives who also show pride in their manual labor. (This kind of work was more respected and better paid in the 1940s-1970s.) With the end of unions in America, these kind of working conditions have become rarer. As Curry points out, we are more individualistic at work. (Our sense of success is also more individualistic. 
In the past, you could help your family / small business be successful in a place like Queens.)  
  
5) Challenge Question: Is there an argument in the last part of the article about why the new service--‑sector jobs are Rugeley may be not as well--‑paid or secure as the manual– labor jobs of the past? Does O’Connor speculate on the reasons why Amazon.com doesn’t pay its workers very much or offer them much job security? On balance, does the author seem to side with Amazon.com or the workers? Does this surprise you? (Also, does your team feel sympathy for   one side or another?) Also, combined with the article on iPad factories in China, can you generalize on the changing nature of repetitive or manual labor in the 21st century? Judging from our readings so far, what can you say about ‘new jobs’ at two highly successful companies (Apple and Amazon.com)? 
**Pride of work is diminished....  
**Then -- miners did their work in teams -- Now: Amazzon workers are controlled / tracked by management....  
  
**These two articles point out that 21st-century manual labor / factory work has changed for the worse since the 1950s - 1970s in the U.S. (according to Andrew Curry) when unions could negotiate contracts with good wages, security and benefits.  

 

 

  

 

 

 

------------------------------------  
 NEXT TIME -- TUE. 10/25  
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1)	Essay #1 Revised Draft is DUE. TONIGHT Thu. 10/10 (11:59 pm) 
 
Please upload your draft to out Submit Page: 
 
	  	submit101.lagcconline.com 

2) READING  -- Gautam Bhatia, "New (and 
Improved?) Delhi," COURSE PACK, pp. 48-50  
  
 	A personal essay on architecture (and tradition vs. 
new development) -- Shorter
 
3) WE WILL BE REVIEWING FOR THE MIDTERM (FOR TUE. 11/1) NEXT TIME! 

**GET READY FOR ESSAY #2 = MIDTERM (worth 20% of your Course Grade)!