Rick Zollo works for the University of Iowa and reports on the trucker community. Truckers drive large loads of goods across the country for hours without rest. They are only paid for the the time they are driving. This has become a concern to many workers because many truck drivers are being forced to unload their own trucks which can take hours, hours of unpaid work. Many truckers own their own truck and consider it their most valuable possession in the profession. Others value their log books which must be "altered" to keep within the legal constraints.
The author gathers his information by spending a day at a widely used truck stop. His research is composed of numerous interviews with a diverse group of truck drivers. The author is an obvious outsider and points this out numerous times. The truck drivers are very wherry of him at first because they believe him to be a "spotter" for a trucking company or a government worker. After proving himself friendly though, the truckers are happy to give out their feelings on the industry and trucking in general. The author is neither objective or biased because his entire essay is a series of interviews. The opinions and ideas of the truckers however are very biased towards the truckers and how they are treated and the problems with the industry.
The author presents his data in a formal fashion. He talks about his experiences at the truck stop and describes his interview with the different truckers. This is the kind of essay you would see in an academic setting. This is proved by the fact that Zollo works for the University of Iowa. Zollo somewhat tells a story with his interview. He explains what he did throughout the day and how he got into his conversations and interviews. This gives us a true view of the personalities of the truck drivers and how i can be sometimes difficult to obtain information from people. It was an interesting read and showed me the life of a truck driver. I was opened to new things about truck drivers and gave me a background of their everyday lives.
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1 comment:
You've really captured the important aspects of this community, and I'm glad you found the reading interesting. Good observations about the way the author points out his outsider status, and how that is kind of an important part of this piece, especially because outsiders are so easily spotted. Good point that although the community members themselves seem pretty biased, the author presents this piece as a series of interviews, so he keeps it objective in that way.
Nicely done
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