Marxist Criticism

Read the handout entitled Marxist Criticism. Take notes and complete the following discussion questions. Provide your answer below each question.

1. To Marx, what is the most important difference between people (50)? Underline or highlight one.
   a. Religion
   b. Race
   c. Class
   d. Ethnicity
   e. Gender

2a Why is this particular difference the most important for Marx? Paraphrase your answer. (1 sentence)

1. According to the text, what would happen if the proletariat “spontaneously developed class consciousness” (51)? Paraphrase your answer. (2 sentences

minimum)

1. Why don’t the economically oppressed fight back? (p.52) Paraphrase your answer. (2 sentences)
2. According to the text, why do the middle class tend to resent the poor? (p. 53) Paraphrase your answer. (2 sentences)
3. At the bottom of page 54, there is a list of the ways that the American dream has failed. How did capitalism (an economic system in which a country’s

trade, industry, and profits are controlled by private companies for profit) cause one of the tragedies on this list. Paraphrase your answer. Paraphrase your

answer. (3 sentences)

1. How does the American dream enlist the support of all Americans, even of those who fail to achieve it? (p. 55) Paraphrase your answer. (2 sentences)
2. What is classism in your own words? (p. 55) Paraphrase your answer. (1 sentence)

Sample Solution