The Secretary Chant
Can you imagine going through stressful, exhausting, and depressing days repeatedly everyday? This could potentially ruin futures and also great opportunities in life. Marge Piercy’s poem, “ The Secretary Chant,” uses despondent vocabulary and a depressed tone to express her feelings on how your work could be the downfall of your life. The poem takes place in a secretary’s office where the secretary feels she is a tool in our society. Her body parts are being compared to a bunch of office supplies, thus making her seem like a tool not a human being. After a firm analysis on the Marge Piercy’s “ The Secretary Chant,” I have come to the decisions that people are tired of doing the same stressful work consistently without
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any breaks, this could lead to depression, suicides, etc. Throughout the poem, there is a numerous amount of evidence to fortify the claim. For example, the poet mentioned, “ My hips are a desk, from my ears hang chains of paper clips.” From much evaluation, the woman compared her hips to a desk, as well as her earrings to chains of rubber bands. This piece of evidence efficiently supports the claim due to the fact that this person no longer feels like a human being due to the fact that a lot of stress is being put on the person. Piercy also mentioned in the poem, “ I’m about to be delivered of a baby, Xerox Machine.” Usually women give birth to babies, but stated in the quote, the woman feels as if she’s about to give birth to a machine that copies other documents. Usually, people who are depressed or stressed over think about the majority of their problems and the woman is thinking how she’s actually a tool that is meant only for working. Although some people may be hard workers who are dedicated, too much of the same stressful work could pulverize the person. Unfortunately, we live in a world where your work is your life, all because of email, technology, etc.
With further investigation, I came across the line, “ My navel is a reject button.” Although there other extraordinary quotes, this one stood out because she’s feeling as if she’s a nobody. The line “reject button” infers that the woman is a nobody, while “my navel” is a reference to herself. The combination of the two lines translate to her feeling like a nobody, but just a bunch of tools due to stress repeatedly building up. At last but not least, Mrs. Piercy mentioned “File me under W because I wonce was a woman.” With the stress and possibly other emotions building up, the secretary no longer feels like a woman, but a bunch of office supplies since all she does is work. While discovering this quote, I noticed how “wonce” was a misspelled word for once due to the fact that the secretary is breaking down and losing it.
In conclusion, this is why I believe that people are tired of doing the same stressful work consistently without any breaks. Of course you would have to work hard to achieve good things
in life, but too much of a specific thing is never good. Many people will argue and mention how you need to be a hard worker in order to achieve good things in life. Although this is true, I oppose this and would like to mention that too much of an individual thing could really harm and stress a person out. After viewing my perspective, do you think that people repeating
the same stressful work day repeatedly can obtain happiness and not stress?
Tim Kreider’s “The ‘Busy’ Trap” from The New York Times (June 30, 2012) explores the different worlds of both, the busy and the free. His article evaluates and persuades the American working class to stop for a second and reassess their constantly busy lifestyles. His knowledge comes from his own and other’s life experiences. Relating on a personal level, Kreider encourages his audience to recognize that being busy may make them feel important, but they are sacrificing all their valuable time life has given them. In fact, he influences them to think about how much stress their work is, and how it most likely won’t amount to anything. He does this through logos, providing personal anecdotes and common knowledge; ethos, demonstrating that he
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...Piercy badgers the reader with Comstock's view of women (mostly in the descriptions of his dutiful wife and obedient daughter) to illustrate his sexism, however, the belabored point begins to fall flat and instead leaves the character feeling one-dimensional. Likewise, even men initially introduced to the reader as pro-feminist, like Theodore Tilton, meet with a predictable sexist ending. These men were no doubt chosen to embody the patriarchal society of then and today, but the unyielding portrayal began to feel overwhelmingly oppressive (perhaps her intent) and a novel so based in realism, on that point, began to feel contrived, therefore unrealistic. Nevertheless, Piercy compares and contrasts the experiences of the characters', offering them up to the reader, perhaps in hope that similarities can be identified and a feminist dialogue can be started or continued.
Currently, human beings are thinking more on the line of they need work in order to make a living. For that reason, work has become meaningless, disagreeable, and unnatural. Many view work as a way to obtain money and not a meaningful human activity that one does for themselves. The author states that there are two reactions of the alienated and profoundly unsatisfactory character of the modern industrial work. One being the ideal of complete laziness and the other, hostility towards work. Fromm believes the reason why people have animosity regarding work is due to their unconscious mind. Subconsciously, a person has “a deep-seated, hostility towards work and all that is connected to it” says Fromm. I believe what Fromm is saying to be true, after all I witness it everyday. Millions of people each day goes to a work which they are dissatisfied with and that can negatively impact their attitude
Most working adults can agree that they have seen their fair share of dysfunctional relationships in the workplace. Often, we can find some humor in the actions and events that cause these relationships to become dysfunctional. In the sitcom The Office, the focus was to exaggerate the actions of dysfunctional relationships in the workplace. The show makes light of the employees who are stuck in dead-end jobs, with mundane lives and their office mishaps. Daniel Orozco’s short story “Orientation” is about a current employee providing a new employee with too much personal information about other employees and the office environment during a new hire orientation. The “Orientation” by Daniel Orozco and the NBC sitcom “The Office” give a humorous and exaggerated glimpse of dysfunctional relationships within office environments.
In Dubliners, characters feel trapped in work related issues, which ultimatly results in unhappiness. In the story “Counterparts”, Farrington is unhappy with his job. Working as a copy clerk, does not provide Farrington with proper satisfaction. The mistreatment he receives from his boss, makes his job worse. Mr. Alleyne screams, “you have always some excuse or another for shirking work. Let me tell you that if that contract is not copied before this evening I’ll lay the matter before Mr. Crosbie... Do you hear me now?” (83). Farringtons boss is strict and demeaning. Feelings of worthlessness are quite evident. One might argue that Farrington abuses alcohol as a way to escape his work responsibilities. He does this by engaging in constant stops at the pub during his work day. “It’s alright Mr. Shelley, said the man, pointing with his finger to indicate the objective of his journey” (84).
When the U.S. is compared to the conditions of other workers in other countries the numbers come as quite a shock. According to the magazine Psychology Today, “The United States—one of the richest countries in the world--ranks 28th among advanced nations in the category of work-life balance, 9th from the bottom” (Cummins 1). This stressful imbalance of home life with excessive work hours has left us in desperate need of more time and is becoming a strong identifier of American culture in the world. As Cummins explains, “We log long hours at work with the fear of losing our jobs through downsizing hanging over our heads. Then we fight rush hour traffic to get home in time to be super-parents, putting dinner on the table, helping our kids with their homework, and checking in with friends and family members we feel we have neglected because we are so overwhelmed” (Cummins 1). This well pa...
The poem, “What Work Is” by Philip Levine is an intricate and thought-provoking selection. Levine uses a slightly confusing method of describing what work actually is. He gives the idea that work is very tedious, however necessary. It is miserable, however, it is a sacrifice that is essentially made by many, if not all able-bodied members of society. Many have to sacrifice going to a concert or a movie, but instead works jobs with hardly a manageable salary. This poem seems to have a focus on members of the lower-class or middle-class who live paycheck to paycheck and are unable to put money away for a future for their children or for a vacation and how difficult life can be made to be while living under this type of circumstance. Levine
...of workplace demands with a high level of control as well as implement a balanced effort and reward system. They also need to be aware of common stressors like work overload, role ambiguity, role conflict, occupation, working conditions, and resource inadequacy. Stress can lead to poor health, poor performance, absenteeism, and turnover.
People while at work are often under psychological pressure. In the "risk group" fall supervisors and managers, people who work with clients, secretaries, salesmen, teachers and indeed, almost any job - the source of stress. According to a 2007 nationwide poll by the American Psychological Association, “three-quarters of Americans list work as a significant source of stress, with over half of those surveyed indicating that their work productivity suffered due to stress” (2013). Why the cause of stress is usually related to our performance at work? Because we spend a third of our life time at work and there are different surprises awaiting for us.
In “Americans Are Overworked, but Still Surprisingly Happy on the Job,” Suzanne Lucas claims that an appropriate amount of work can make workers feel satisfied, but
Paludi, Michele A. The Psychology of Women at Work: Challenges and Solutions for Our Female Workforce. Vol. 1. Career Liberation, History, and the New Millennium. Westport: Praeger, 2008. 15, 42-43. Print. 3 vols.
The pressure can come from the need to make minimum wage money or a parent deciding on what their kids need to fulfill financially. When choosing something partaking interest in, they are content and adore what they do. Love for their work profession encourages a positive attitude and this is needed for productivity. When an employee loves what they do, they attain a constructive behavior. But, when productivity is sacrificed, it begins to suffer with negative employees who only work to make a piece of change. The only determination they pertain to is to increase their productivity in order to get more money, but in due time this makes them traumatic and hostile. Undesirable employees have no interest in the work, soon the satisfaction is hard for them to achieve, leading to insufficient motivation. The two major ways for employees to improve, productivity in their professional ranges is the choice of profession