The article is one that engaged me and kept me amused till the very end. The apt title stated “So, what school did you go to”. This creative title was not only attention grabbing but also thought provoking. Especially for me, as I acknowledge that I myself am somewhat elitist. When I saw the article, immediately the thought “I am from Raffles Institution, the elite school in Singapore” came to my mind. This shows the relevance of this article which discusses elitism in Singapore is to me.
Although the title of the article is rather vague, the introduction paragraph shows clearly the main topic of the article. That is embedded in the thesis statement “A society which oils its engines with meritocracy, is Singapore nurturing a breed of elitist?” This statement refers to Singapore’s system of meritocracy leading to elitism. To develop his thesis statement, the writer uses cause and effect to show the causal link between the system of meritocracy Singapore adopts and the growing elitist culture.
The writer extensively used terms and illustrations that really blew my mind due to the depth of his vocabulary. These terms, which are fitted in with exemplifications of the causes and effects in the main top level structure of the article, have another role in the article besides just vivid diction and impressive wield of the language. In my opinion, these words could have been put there to make the article come across as so called “high class” and sophisticated, just like the way the elitist feel about themselves. I inferred this after reading the short but sweet conclusion where the writer wrote “It doesn’t take much to be an Elite Chauvinist Pig. I am losing the battle. Are you?” showing that he is also battling with elitism.
This article, besides entertaining me, also widened my perspective about the problems that could surface from this culture of meritocracy. This is as the writer gave viewpoints from both sides when he used the example of what Wee Shu Min, “the daughter of a member of Singapore Parliament”, wrote in response to Derek Wee’s blog entry that lamented the rising costs of living and the falling availability of jobs for the group of “ageing semi-skilled workers”.
From these examples, the writer helped me to empathise with this group of people who are falling into poverty due to polarization; the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. For me, I live comfortably and go to a top school in Singapore and this problem was never so real to me before. This is due to the fact I did not realise it existed due to my circumstances. This article definitely fulfilled its purpose in invoking a sense of pity so as to help the readers to empathise with these victims of elitism in our society today. I shall end off similarly to the way the author did. It doesn’t take much to be an Elite Chauvinist Pig. Don’t succumb to it.
496 words
Although the title of the article is rather vague, the introduction paragraph shows clearly the main topic of the article. That is embedded in the thesis statement “A society which oils its engines with meritocracy, is Singapore nurturing a breed of elitist?” This statement refers to Singapore’s system of meritocracy leading to elitism. To develop his thesis statement, the writer uses cause and effect to show the causal link between the system of meritocracy Singapore adopts and the growing elitist culture.
The writer extensively used terms and illustrations that really blew my mind due to the depth of his vocabulary. These terms, which are fitted in with exemplifications of the causes and effects in the main top level structure of the article, have another role in the article besides just vivid diction and impressive wield of the language. In my opinion, these words could have been put there to make the article come across as so called “high class” and sophisticated, just like the way the elitist feel about themselves. I inferred this after reading the short but sweet conclusion where the writer wrote “It doesn’t take much to be an Elite Chauvinist Pig. I am losing the battle. Are you?” showing that he is also battling with elitism.
This article, besides entertaining me, also widened my perspective about the problems that could surface from this culture of meritocracy. This is as the writer gave viewpoints from both sides when he used the example of what Wee Shu Min, “the daughter of a member of Singapore Parliament”, wrote in response to Derek Wee’s blog entry that lamented the rising costs of living and the falling availability of jobs for the group of “ageing semi-skilled workers”.
From these examples, the writer helped me to empathise with this group of people who are falling into poverty due to polarization; the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. For me, I live comfortably and go to a top school in Singapore and this problem was never so real to me before. This is due to the fact I did not realise it existed due to my circumstances. This article definitely fulfilled its purpose in invoking a sense of pity so as to help the readers to empathise with these victims of elitism in our society today. I shall end off similarly to the way the author did. It doesn’t take much to be an Elite Chauvinist Pig. Don’t succumb to it.
496 words
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