The Difference Between Family And Friends In The Organizational Culture

Family is defined as a group of people that may be made up of partners, children, parents, aunts, etc. Family is what makes people who they are, as well as creates morals, personal limits, and many other things that define who you are and why you are that way. The two essays that will be compared include: “The Company Man”, by Ellen Goodman, and, “Don’t Peak in High School”, by Mindy Kaling. These two essays are both similar and different in the ways they talk about family, as well as the tone, organization, context, purpose, and content, etc. They are both equally important in their own ways, and in their own definitions of family; However, “The Company Man” is more important when it comes to its definition of family.

“The Company Man” is a story of when a father of three gives most of his life to his work instead of his job. Since family is the most important aspect of life he did not give as much effort into his family as he did his job and it is what eventually killed him. In the article, it said that he was survived by his wife Helen, and the speaker said, “I know how much you will miss him.” Then she said, “I already have” (Goodman 452). That was a powerful sentence, because the context behind those words meant that he worked so much she never really saw him. He was also survived by his three children; the eldest is a successful business owner, who in the time he had before his father’s funeral went around the neighborhood and asked what his father was like. The middle child is a newlywed daughter; she was very close to her mother but never knew what to talk about with her father. He was finally survived by his youngest son, and he tried his best to keep his father around the house more by trying to mean more to him, and it seemed like it actually worked a little as, “Phil stayed up nights worrying about the boy”(Goodman 453). After the funeral, the executive of Phil’s company discreetly started asking around to see who the best replacement would be. That shows that all that time he was at work did not really pay off since they instantly began the replacement process.

Mindy Kaling’s “Don’t Peak in High School” is about her time through high school, and how she had a lot of restrictions that were put on her by her family. She began to talk about how her parents gave her a curfew, and if she finished her homework on time, then she was able to watch TV for a short amount of time. She also talked about the type of people who peaked in high school; that fits a song description called “Jack and Diane”, and how Jack and Diane are the type of people who, after high school and the rest of their higher educations, would always talk about how the best parts of their life was during high school or their biggest regret in high school. Kaling finally got to the part of how she would do homework in the hotel lobby that her parents ran, and how there was a boy that would help her study until they got both eventually got into the college of their choosing (Kaling 118), this was important because it is a life altering moment for her. Also, she spoke about how spending time with family is important because you only have a limited time with them. They want what is best for you, and that was why her parents were so strict. She finally understands that and is thankful for them.

The tone of both essays are very different. Goodman used a very regretful tone in her story; you can see this when she stated, “I already have” (Goodman 452). That was an emotional sentence, because in context she meant that her husband had been at work so much that he was not at their house all that often. She even said that he had “no extracurricular activities”, it was just work- sleep- repeat.

Kaling spoke about family in a happier and more thankful tone. Because since her family had more rules than others, she was able to be around her family more often. Even through high school, she was able to have good times with her friends and not be the type of girl who went to parties all the time. She even recommended spending time with them since you “never get to hang out with your family” once you move out. Both tones are different even though they are about the same topic. Goodman’s tone is used to make readers feel guilty for not spending as much time with their family, while Kaling’s tone to encourage readers the emotional reward for spending time with their family.

The Organization in both essays are very different. Goodman used a chronological and climactic approach, because in the story she starts at when he died and how the funeral was a few days later; then it is climactic, because, toward the end of the essay, she starts talking about how his kids never knew their father because he was always at work. That is where the persuasion in the essay comes from. Kaling had a climactic and spatial essay because her story, in the end, begins to persuade the reader that spending time with your family is a good thing and should not be skipped, then in her body paragraphs, she points out key moments in her high school career in chronological order. It is not chronological organization because she skips through the time of her high school a lot, and his spatial because it is like is looking at a memory book and only highlighting specific memories.

“The Company Man” is about family and says that nothing should come before family, and that spending time with them is important. This is because the story talks about how his kids never really knew him and that he was not ever there for them either. However, their youngest child tried to mean more to his father than his older siblings and it worked a little, so much so that it says that he stayed up nights worrying about him. “Don’t Peak in High School” is about family similar to “The Company Man”, in the sense that you should spend time with family because you only have a limited time with them. So Goodman’s “The Company Man” does a better job than Kaling’s “Don’t Peak in High School” because Goodman talks about what happens if you do not spend time with family, and that is a better persuasive topic than knowing what would happen if you were able to spend time with family.