TOW #5: Things We Think We Know (written, non-fiction text)

Chuck Klosterman is an American columnist and author who writes about American popular culture. In 2007, he wrote the short article “Things We Think We Know” for Esquire demonstrating his belief that stereotypes are incorrect and based on coincidence but people irresponsibly utilize them to “fabricate who we are (or who we are not)” (Klosterman 2). Klosterman starts his essay with the description of human nature’s hypocrisy, how people pretend like they hate stereotypes but passionately use them to make themselves be someone they are not. To illustrate this hypocrisy, he uses paradox. He writes “We all hate stereotypes. Seriously… Except that we don’t. We adore stereotypes, and we desperately need them” (Klosterman 1). People seem like they hate stereotypes because to fabricate their integrity and open-mindedness people will often equate stereotypes with ignorance. However, when stuck in a situation when stereotype is required to escape, the same kind of people will claim that all stereotypes are based on some facts. To establish more credibility for his point, Klosterman uses anecdotes in which he experienced Germans stereotyping Americans in his tour to Germany. He says a German teenager that he had encountered assumed American Dream meant “watching Baywatch twenty-four hours a day” (Klosterman 7), indirectly stating Germans’ view of Americans as sluggish and careless beings. By using an idea that most Americans would object to, Klosterman attempts to achieve his purpose that stereotypes are incorrect. However, overall, Klosterman fails to achieve his purpose. He would write about all the generalizations and stereotypes he had discovered about Germans during his tour in Germany, but hastily dismisses all these observations as stereotypes. He weakened his points by being overly obsessed with the idea of avoiding stereotypes that he is incapable of judging between what is actually based on fact and what is based on biased fabrication.

Article:
http://www.esquire.com/print-this/ESQ0307klosterman?page=all