Argumentative Essay

Essay 5: Argument Rough Draft

The people of America are categorized into different classes: the upper class, middle class, lower class, and the (sometimes mentioned) working class. In Gregory Mantsios’s article “Class In America – 2009,” he explains that there are distinct differences between each class through every day life-styles as one example, explaining how a person lives determines not only their social statues, but also their economic status. Diana Kendall’s article on “Framing Class” also explains how the lives of people in different class standings are portrayed in media, describing how the media shows how living life as a part of the upper class is better than how the average person in a lower class lives. Equal opportunities are available to the people in America despite class categories, as it depends on the individual and how they choose to pursue each given opportunity through things such as a job and living conditions, education, and chances to survive. People in America have equal opportunities to succeed in life in however way they may choose to do so. Individuals from any class can achieve success in different ways, with a starting point of getting a job. In Mantsios’s article, he gave descriptions of two people of different race and gender, and both have jobs at around the same age seventeen and nineteen. Both had the equal opportunity to receive the jobs they work for and also work subsequent jobs at different places. Having a job at a young age is a start to receiving an income and working towards the goals a person sets for them selves. Everyone in America has the equal opportunity to get an education in America. In different areas of the country, there are schools with better academic standards than others, but that doesn’t restrict the fact that there are still schools in every neighborhood of America. The American profiles of the two persons in Mantsios’s article show that they both attended public schools for their primary and secondary education, even though their races and genders were different. Education is offered to all persons in every class, and getting into college also has the same opportunity for those people. According to the same “Class in America – 2009” article, the chances of getting into college have gone up for the people in the average and lower classes. SAT scores in the year 2006 were analyzed and stated that many scores “correlated strongly with family income.” In this year of 2013, my SAT scores and many of my fellow classmates’ scores as well did not match up with our incomes at all. My family receives an income of nearly $30,000 a year, and my results came out to a 1690. That is equivalent to the median score of a family that receives an income of less than $10,000 with a median score of 886. My family’s social and economic status did not affect my academic ability and opportunity of a good education. People of each class in America have an equal opportunity to survive in this nation they are born in. People have the opportunity to live under a roof, whether it is a house, condominium, or apartment. Both people profiled in Mantsios’s article are surviving under the support of a roof over their heads. It may have been more difficult for one of the people over the other, but they both had that opportunity to secure a home that satisfied their life-style.
Equal opportunities are also given in life through health. Clinics are offered for those of lower classes as hospitals that people of the higher classes pay for are available for upper classes. Planned Parenthood is an example of health opportunities for lower classes. I personally go to Planned Parenthood for my needs as a young lady because I do not have insurance at the moment. They have everything they need when I need their services and give me the same hospitality as any other hospital would for someone with insurance. I do not feel as if I am definitely a part of a lower class when I make appointments at their clinic.
The people of America have equal opportunities in the standards of living, education, and survival areas such as health, even if there are differences in each. There may be a hospital offered for someone in a high class that can afford their services, but there is a clinic right around the corner for someone who cannot that offers the same services a hospital has. Having a higher income can buy a student a tutoring session to help them receive higher scores on their tests, but it does not prove that higher incomes affect all scores that are higher than others, me personally being an example alone. Living in a house can give a person the privacy and space they may desire, but living in an apartment can have the same comfort a house gives a family. The differences do not shake away the fact that there are still opportunities given to all people, despite the categories of classes. Although there may be differences in the standards of living, jobs, education, and survival areas such as health, equal opportunities are given to Americans, no matter which class they may be categorized in. People can be defined and put into the classes of America and portrayed by others such as the media in a certain way, but as a citizens of America, individuals can choose how to pursue their lives with the opportunities given to them.