David Brooks' "People Like Us" is an analytical essay on the issue of diversity seen from the eyes of the author. Brooks takes an emotional point of view of the way in which we take for granted how diverse our nation is although it is "relatively homogeneous" when looked at closely (Brooks 423). He believes that it is our nature to group ourselves with those who we are most alike, and in doing so, separating ourselves from those who are different. Using certain statistics to support his argument, Brooks points out that the segmentation created by us will always exist everywhere for one reason or the other.
Tags: David Brooks people like us, People like us by David Brooks, David Brooks people like us Summary
[...] The author is successful in reaching his readers through personal experience complemented by logic in order to explain the ways in which “human nature” work. The author's most effective technique is the way in which he makes us wonder about each situation or piece of evidence he gives us. For example, the marketing firm strategies, university statistics, and even what our own actions would be in these certain situations Brooks puts forth. Most importantly, he ends the text with the questions of you really in touch with the broad diversity of American life? [...]
[...] As in Brooks' title “People Like where he is simply showing us how we congregate to those we are most similar to, Angelou repeats the words are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike” three times in order to emphasize the way we group ourselves with the same kind, much like Brooks does, except without the emotion (421). Though consistent with his persuasiveness, it is this consistency that prevents his argument from stretching to another level. Brooks' text is one that is concentrated on the idea of creating awareness of the non- existent diversity in the United States. [...]
[...] Disregarding this situation creates a bit of hypocrisy in Brooks' argument, as well as the generalizations introduced in his ideas. For example, Brooks ignores these certain circumstances as well as believing that people are unwilling to diversify. The way that Brooks speaks, one can argue that he is blinded by his emotion and takes sides in the issue. This biased view can also make a reader biased when reading the text because one will automatically assume that the author is making a valid point. [...]
[...] Brooks constantly tells us how appalling the situation is, specifically how people seem happy to themselves off from everyone unlike themselves” (428). This statement makes us wonder if this is how we have been living all our life, and most people, including myself, come to realize that it is very true. By repeating his dislike for the situation, Brooks infers that the hundred years of boasting about how diverse our nation is turns out to be a lie, in his own view. [...]
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