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Nichole Bruce-Balasch

Professor Yordanka Penton

English Composition ENG 122-X4022

4 April 2019

Analytical Essay of “Some Lessons From the Assembly Line”

In the reading of the article, "Some Lessons From the Assembly Line," the author,

Andrew Braaksma, describes the differences between the hard, painstaking employment of a

factory worker to the leisure life of a college student. He writes of how difficult the day-to-day,

early morning rigorous work is so different from the late morning classes and writing papers.

Throughout the article, the author learns of the importance of a college education and how his

life may have been different had he not attended college. The article's primary claim is factory

work is far more difficult than the leisure life of a student attend college, as the author includes

first-hand accounts of the difficulties at the factory, personal stories from coworkers, and stories

of experiences as a college student.

After reading and analyzing the article, I intend to prove, through several points, that

the daily life of a factory worker that works twelve-hour days is much more difficult than the

everyday experiences of a full-time college student. I believe that this statement is correct in the

aspect of employment as a full-time employee at a factory. This job is a result of the difficult

tasks and long, hot days that they endure each day. One statement that made at the beginning of

the material backs up the claim. The writer states, "Sweating away my summers as a factory

worker makes me more than happy to hit the books." (Braaksma 17). In this statement, the
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author emphasizes the theory that a factory employee's work is much harder than the work of a

college student. This statement sets the tone of the article. He begins to understand the value of

a college education.

I have found several vital points to substantiate the claim that factory work is

difficult compared to a college student's life. In my first point, getting up early and spending

extended hours per day in a place where there is little to no air conditioning to cool you down,

makes for a long day. The job consists of repetitive motions. The writer states, "For a student

like me who considers any class before noon uncivilized, getting to the factory each morning by

6 o'clock each morning, where rows of hulking, spark-showering machines have replaced the

lush campus, and cavernous lecture halls of college life are torture." (Braaksma 17). In this

statement, he refers to factory work as early morning grind being something difficult for him.

With the work of a factory employee, it is loud, and the sparks flying from the metal grinding

flying around him make the factory hot. Factory work is a vast difference than the quiet morning

of a college student that wakes up at noon to attend a quiet, air-conditioned class. In this

repetitive, day to day life, it must affect your emotions.

The writer also speaks about feeling guilty while working at the factory, which

brings me to my second point. He only spends two months out of the year working at the factory

while some of his coworkers have been working there for thirty years. He learns how hard the

grueling hours and how hard the work is. In the article, he writes of the fellow employees he

meets in the factory. They give him some advice about what it means to dedicate yourself to the

kind of job that requires much from your body. One worker tells him, "This job pays well, but it
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is hard on the body." (Braaksma 17). This job takes its toll on the body with aches and pains.

Thirty years of this work will gradually wear down parts of the body. It usually tells repetitive,

back-breaking work. Most factory workers see this as another part of the job.

My final point is that through his experiences working at the factory, the author has a

glimpse of what his life might have been had he not gone to college and instead went straight

into the workforce. Braaksma writes, "Higher education always seemed like a foregone

conclusion: I never questioned if I was going to college, just where. No other options ever

occurred to me." (Braaksma 17). He has learned that he is blessed to have the opportunity to

receive an education that most people are not able to get. He has also learned how times are

changing in the factory industry. With the rise of technology and the low wages in other

countries, a factory position can disappear in no time. Searching for jobs that are slowly

vanishing from the United States without and education may result in a lower paying job.

In conclusion, the daily life of a factory worker that works twelve-hour days is much

more difficult than the everyday experiences of a full-time college student. With the early

mornings, hot days, sparks flying around, rigorous, repetitive work, and long hours with little

pay, the easy-going, daily aspects of a college student seems so much easier. The quiet

mornings, meandering to a class in air-conditioned to write a paper or take a quiz appears much

more relaxed. Who can argue that waking up at noon is more stringent than a 6 in the morning

requirement to be to work on time? Getting a college degree will help increase your chances of a

better paying, less stressful job. You will be more apt to find a career that you want to have

versus a job you have to do.

Works Cited

Braaksma, Andrew. “Some Lessons From the Assembly Line.” Newsweek 9/12/2005 Vol. 146 Issue 11

p17-17