The Cult of Busyness - Captivating and Thought-Provoking
The cult of Busyness is a creative non-fiction article whose author is Barbara Ehrenreich and published in 1997 by Pose model. The piece is captivating, and the author uses a unique technique to capture her audience throughout the entire story. Ehrenreich tries to remain true throughout her narrative and focuses on the issue that is real in the life of many people. Being ever busy does not mean it is the direct pass to becoming successful; in fact, it leaves one more desperate as a result of stress associated with multitasking.
The Author's Target Audience: Working-Class Individuals
In the analysis, I will be focusing on the author's target audience, her aim, and the general structure of The Cult of Busyness.
In this work, the author describes how the modern middle-class woman has come to believe that success is determined by how busy one is in her life. The narrative targets the contemporary working-class individuals and those who hold on to the idea that to be successful you need to multitask all day through.
Captivating the Audience Through Personal Experience
The beginning of the essay captures the reader when he or she encounters the experience of Ehrenreich while talking to her friend over the telephone. This experience will compel the readers to have a flashback of their experience when they found themselves in such scenarios. I see this article most suitable for working-class parents who have developed the typical stereotype of associating busyness with success.
This group of people has become so preoccupied at the expense of their families to the extent of mothers confusing the names of their children. "The children resented the fact that she sometimes got their names mixed" (Ehrenreich, 1997). The strong introduction depicting the personal experience of the author helps in capturing the attention of the audience. Besides, the use of a wide range of examples throughout the article plays a significant role in persuading the audience.
Revealing the Dark Side of Multitasking
At the beginning of the article, the reader is not sure about the author's inclination regarding whether she is supporting the effort of people to engage in multiple tasks to become successful or not. However, moving forward, the aim comes out clear that Ehrenreich is on a mission to portray the dark side of multitasking to her readers (Marilisa, 2017).
The cases that the author uses involving individuals who are ever busy in their careers are evidence to the readers that sometimes multitasking causes stress. The victims may find it hard to handle, and when they can no longer take it anymore, they revert to substance abuse, "she had taken to abusing white wine" as a result of work-related stress. Besides, the author intends to entertain her audiences by using funny examples that will leave the reader amused like: "doing calf-toning exercises under the desk, art dealing neurosurgeon and a four-paycheck couple" (Ehrenreich, 1997).
In the end, the author puts the reader to the task to evaluate the value that busyness has in their lives. This article left me with a feeling that is different from how I have perceived this issue; this reaction works best for the author as it helps in capturing the audience.
An Intelligent and Engaging Narrative Approach
Ehrenreich narrates her life experience giving a convincing opinion about how she views the issue of busyness. The entire article is based on her real-life story; she does not include quotations from other authors and citations from outside sources. The article is written in an intelligent manner where the author uses comic cases that make the audience want to continue reading to the end. She consistently makes use of the topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph followed by a comprehensive explanation and examples of real-life cases in support of her point. The article adopted a climatic approach, and at the end, the story reaches its climax with the reader being left to solve the puzzle of whether multitasking is in any way enhancing success.
Rhetoric Questions to Persuade the Audience
Barbara Ehrenreich subtly persuades or influences her audience by using rhetoric questions. "But if it is right that success leads to more busyness and less time for worthwhile activities like talking to a friend, reading novels or putting in some volunteer time for a good cause then who needs it?" (Ehrenreich, 1997). Rhetoric is a powerful tool for persuading readers, and Ehrenreich utilizes it to capture the focus of the audience successfully.
Conclusion - Challenging the Notion of Busyness and Success
As I read through "The cult of A Busyness," I notice that the structure that Barbara Ehrenreich followed and the cases she is using in her examples have been useful in persuading her readers as well as conveying her intended message. These examples show that busyness has become a cult, and the belief that being busy and multitasking is what will make people successful is indeed a mere stereotype. The people who intend to become successful by adopting busyness have instead suffered from stress and even found themselves becoming victims of substance abuse. In fact, people become more preoccupied and are forced to multitask after succeeding in life.
References
Ehrenreich, Barbara, (1997). “The Cult of Busyness.” Prose Models. 3rd
Canadian ed. Ed.
Marilisa Racco, (2017).The cult of busyness: How being busy became a status symbol. Retrieved from, https://globalnews.ca/news/3343760/the-cult-of-busyness-how-being-busy-became-a-status-symbol/
