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Logan Purcell

ENGL 101 05

Prof. Haney

9/21/17

Tearing Down Walls: Joanna Kadi’s Writing Technique

Effective, persuasive writing is an intricate and complex task, but it has the power to

fundamentally change a person’s viewpoint or open up new ways of thinking. For Joanna Kadi,

in her essay “Stupidity ‘Deconstructed,’” the goal was to change the conversation on working-

class discrimination in America, particularly emphasizing the misuse and double standards of the

rhetoric behind this discrimination. In the essay, Kadi effectively communicates the hypocrisy

behind working-class stereotyping by interweaving her personal experiences, getting readers to

think about their own perceptions of human intellect.

To open her essay Kadi begins with a description of a job site at a university, painting a

vivid picture of the dangerous tasks carried out by the workers. She notes that a mistake on this

job site “could mean the loss of a hand or life” (41). This reinforces the importance and skill

required by these workers’ jobs. Kadi wants to paint as positive a picture of working-class people

as she can, to support her belief that intelligence is not based on one’s social class. In her

opening, Kadi also describes the ways she connects with other working class people, an example

of the use of personal experience to strengthen a narrative. Subsequently, she describes the

disdain that wealthier people treated her and her peers with. She points out that a large amount of
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research on people in lower social classes has been done by the upper class, which provides no

room for the personal narratives of those actually in the working-class. She presents this

information in dialogue format, which helps readers form a conclusion about the thinking behind

the “theory” of class discrimination. Finally, Kadi forms a segue into the next section of her

essay by simply telling readers “it’s time to forget that shit” as a defiant and argumentative

statement against the hypocrisy of the stereotypes at play in the current narrative (41).

Another way Kadi supports her argument against class discrimination is by giving

examples of intelligence exhibited by working-class people, including herself. In fact, she titles a

section of her essay “Yes I’m a Worthy Person, I Have Two University Degrees,” using humor

and her credentials to highlight her point. Throughout this section of her essay, Kadi describes

her personal success in college but contrasts it to her struggles to fit in with the college crowd.

These personal accounts are very important in Kadi’s support of her argument, because they

provide real world evidence that supports her claims. According to the Purdue OWL, a proper

piece of writing requires “[e]vidential support, whether factual, logical, statistical, or anecdotal

(Baker, et al). Kadi creates this evidential support by describing a working-class student she

studied alongside as “smart as a whip” (42) and a working class professor who taught one of her

classes as “one of the most brilliant minds in this country” (43). Kadi uses these personal profiles

to counter the narrative by showing exceptions to the stereotypes against working-class people.

In this way, she challenges the language used by those who try to perpetuate class discrimination

by facing it head-on.

Challenging such a widespread system also requires careful comparison of both sides. In

an article published by the Journal of Experimental Education, proper argument must

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“combin[e] the arguments and counterarguments into support for an overall final position”

(Nussbaum, Schraw, 60). Kadi states the argument in favor of class stereotypes as “simple

explanations about why poor people… take orders from men in suits” (Kadi, 43). Kadi also

compares her own working-class rhetoric to the language used in studies by upper-class scholars

on the topic of class, and gave examples of misused language and vague dialogue used to distort

the truth. Kadi points out the difference between the way working-class people use the word

“build” (physically constructing something) to rich professors talking about how they “built”

their vacation homes. Also, she applies these principles to society as a whole (through examples

of the logic of capitalism and national media portrayal) and compares them to smaller scale

issues like the specific instances of discrimination and ignorance in universities. And finally,

Kadi presents the argument that there are working-class people who are unintelligent, and flips it

on its head by describing the “boring, idiotic, repetitive” tasks that they performed (46). These

uses of comparison, coupled with Kadi’s personal experiences, provide a stable foundation to set

up her call to action on her readers.

After considering the devices and methods used by Joanna Kadi to argue the hypocrisy

and illogical arguments of class discrimination, how are readers to use this information? Kadi

calls for her readers to challenge their own perceptions of intelligence, and to see the world in a

more broad sense. Our society needs to “analyze stupidity and intelligence” and challenge the

rigid academic definition of intelligence (47). She also challenges people to consider the work

experiences provided in the American workforce, by comparing dangerous manual labor jobs to

boring, unstimulating office jobs. Both of these kill the creative intelligence that can be

cultivated in more engaging work. Kadi calls for more consideration, thought, and education on
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the subject of working-class discrimination, and a careful look at the specific duties of the

workforce as a whole.

In conclusion, Kadi’s structure, use of personal narratives and experiences, and

comparisons between concepts and arguments create a rich dialogue that thoughtful readers will

be sure to consider. The audience sees through her lens how she and other working-class people

were forced to validate themselves based on other people’s assumptions of them, and how

intelligence can take many forms. These concepts raise some serious question that need to be

considered. Does society truly grasp intelligence as it relates to creativity? Can people of any

class apply their own skills and talents to be effective members of society? In creating these

difficult and open ended questions, Kadi forces readers to open their eyes to a new perception on

the true beauty of intelligence, no matter your class, beliefs, or background.

Works Cited:

Baker, Jack, et al. “Welcome to the Purdue OWL.” Purdue OWL: Essay Writing, 11 Mar. 2011,

10:04:15, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/02/.
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Kadi, Joanna. “Stupidity ‘Deconstructed.’” Thinking Class, 1996, pp. 39–57.

Nussbaum, E. Michael, and Gregory Schraw. "Promoting argument-counterargument integration

in students' writing." The Journal of Experimental Education 76.1 (2007): 59-92.