In the reading Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America written by Barbara Ehrenreich the struggle of living for most Americans is modeled and is also the main focus. Ehrenreich whose a sociologist writer goes undercover to what the “low-wage economy...has to offer” (Ehrenreich 245). The image portrayed by Americans of the lower class makes it difficult for one of the middle class to understand. Survival of both parties are no way‚ shape or form similar and this struck Ehrenreich’s curiosity
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Selling your life by the hour “What you don’t necessarily realize when you start selling your time by the hour is that what you’re really selling is your life‚”as Barbara Ehrenreich once said. In Nickel and Dimed: On Getting By in America‚ Barbara Ehrenreich sets out to work on a project‚ as well as investigate on the impact of the 1996 welfare reform act on the working poor in the United States. Ehrenreich appeals to the readers with the true reality and struggles with money that society has taken
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Analysis of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America In “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America”‚ Barbara Ehrenreich‚ a well-off white woman with a Ph.D. in Biology questions how low-income workers‚ especially females‚ make a living. Due to the welfare reform‚ 4 million women were about to have to enter into the workforce‚ usually for less than minimum wage. Ehrenreich decides to make an experiment out of her ideas. She decided she would travel to three different cities: Key West
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These would be the low-income workers: people who sacrifice their time and efforts working long‚ relentless hours just to make ends meet‚ who struggle to pay their monthly rent or buy enough food to feed their family for the rest of the week. In Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America‚ the author Barbara Ehrenreich takes on an experiment in order to better understand the working class. She leaves her desk job as a highly acclaimed writer and decides to take on the lower paid jobs herself. In
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Analysis: Nickel and Dimed Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich is a mentally challenging read in more ways than one. In this book‚ Ms. Ehrenreich guides us through her adventure into starting over from the bottom of the social barrel. Her experiment with poverty begins with an agenda‚ a few amenities‚ some rules‚ and a lot of ambition to dive into her new lifestyle. The overall take from this book I received is one that left me critically thinking. Ehrenreich’s uses her arguments‚ examples
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Ed Fleming Rhetorical Analysis Paper English 102 Thurs Hybrid In Barbara Ehrenreich’s book "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by In America" we read about a middle aged journalist undertaking a social experiment of the greatest magnitude. The journalist is Ehrenreich herself and the experiment was to find out how a woman‚ recently removed from welfare‚ due to policy reform‚ would make it on a six or seven dollar an hour wage. The experiment itself started out as just a question in the
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A Final Thought on Nickel and Dimed In an age where the gap between the top one percent of the nation and the bottom nine ninety percent continues to grow‚ it becomes paramount for those that enjoy a life of privilege and opportunity to build and evoke a sense of empathy and understanding for those that struggle to get by on a daily basis. Barbara Ehrenreich’s‚ in her novel Nickel and Dimed‚ explores the struggle to achieve the American Dream‚ by placing herself in the shoes of a blue collar
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Book Review Nickel and Dimed and the Working Poor | Abstract In this book review we were asked to read Nickel and Dimed by Ehrenich and The Working Poor by Shipler. After reading the two books throughout the first half of the semester I would like to answer; the reactions the readings gave to me. What impact did the books have on my thinking? Also describe the experiences of the people that are in the readings closely resembling myself. I would also like to answer what I have learned in how
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place herself in the position of her subjects‚ Ehrenreich strived to see if she were able to survive on the minimal income provided by a series of low level and low paying jobs. In was her foreknowledge of laws and the inclusion of these laws in Nickel and Dimed that brought about exposing historical and present-day 21st century contradictory practices‚ laws‚ and regulations that exploit the poor working class (if not through her experiment but by the subjects’ honest experience). In addition to exposing
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"Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America." by: Barbara Ehrenreich Barbara Ehrenreich’s‚ Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America‚ is a book that strives to change the way America perceives its working poor. Achieving the American Dream can be difficult‚ if not impossible for many people with stumbling blocks and obstacles along the way as portrayed in Nickel and Dimed‚ due to the cost of living in contrast to the wage of low or middle class earners. Nickel
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