Research Essay: Nickel and Dimed Looking at the state of low wage workers in America today‚ many are struggling to make ends meet and provide basic needs to themselves and their families. Is this a new situation or just a necessary part of the overall American economic structure? In her book‚ “Nickel and Dimed” (2001)‚ Barbara Ehrenreich steps out of her comfortable‚ middle class existence to find out how the people working in the lowest rung of America’s economy are getting by. Using her sarcasm
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Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America | March 29 2009 A riveting tale about the world of low class workers‚ Ehrenreich puts into words what most are don’t acknowledge or are afraid to acknowledge. Through first-hand experience‚ Ehrenreich successfully navigates her way through the low wage work by working such common low wage jobs as waitressing‚ housecleaning‚ and sales. While along the way discovering that each job encompasses their own organizational structure‚ culture‚ and
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Daniel Manoni Lisa Aurello Composition ENG H101 11 November 2009 Nickel and Dimed Essay In Nickel and Dimed‚ Barbara Ehrenreich delves into the `third world’ of America while attempting to make a living. She undertakes many noble trades‚ working in low wage and underappreciated jobs while trying to figure out how the people of this country do it every day. She works at Hearthside and Jerry’s in Florida waitressing‚ with The Maids in Maine cleaning houses‚ and with Wal-Mart in Minnesota‚ serving
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They are common in the low wage market and they hinder potential applicants while violating freedoms and having little perceptible and positive impact on work performance. In chapter three of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America‚ Ehrenreich comes to her realization how much real low wage workers are required to act (Ehrenreich‚ Barbara‚ & Christine 13). She is seen to be distressed by the difficulty of the personality test. She
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NICKEL AND DIMED BOOK REPORT Barbara Ehrenreich is a journalist who wrote the book Nickel and Dimed. She goes undercover to see how it feels to work for $6 to $7 an hour. She leaves her regular life to explore the experiences of a minimum wage worker. Ehrenreich travels to Florida‚ Maine‚ and Minnesota‚ looking for jobs and places to live on a minimum wage salary. At one point in time‚ she had to work two jobs to makes ends meet. As she worked all these jobs‚ she discovered many problems in the
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Is America truly the land of endless opportunities? People from all over the world come to the US in high hopes of becoming rich with minimal efforts. Sadly‚ this is not the case. After reading Nickel and Dimed‚ by Barbara Ehrenreich‚ I have a new outlook on individuals struggling to get by on low wage paying jobs in America. Barbara travels to Florida‚ Maine‚ and Minnesota to "investigate" life as low wage worker. She plays a different role in each of these three states to experience the true life
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Introduction: Getting Ready Page 1: What is the significance of Lewis Lapham‚ other than the fact that he is the editor of Harper’s? Why was Barbara Ehrenreich so inspired by him and the lunch they shared together? Page 2: Is Ehrenreich wealthy‚ middle-class‚ or poor? If I was in Ehreneich’s shoes and was wealthy‚ I would be very curious to see how other people live. Page 3: The introduction to this book seems kind of ironic to me-while eating at an over-priced restaurant‚ Ehrenreich considers
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2. Were your perceptions of the blue collar Americans transformed or reinforced by nickel and dimmed? Have your notions of poverty and prosperity changed since reading the book? What about your own treatments of waiters‚ maids‚ salespeople? My perception of the blue collar Americans was transformed as a result of the book. Previously I had always felt that is someone wanted to find a job‚ they could. If a hard working American went out into the work force looking for a job that could support them
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Chapter 1 She appeals the the reader’s emotions when she describes her plight and that of others of her position on page 26 and several other places. She uses logos when she does the number-crunching that shows that financially she won’t be able to just have one job on page 28. She Uses ethos in the beginning (mostly the introduction) when she tells about her success as a writer (this also makes it more dramatic when she fails at unskilled labor later. Chapter 2 Metaphor
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Dear William Hazlitt‚ The idea you have presented about money in an excerpt from “On the Want of Money” is quite relevant to the experiment I once conducted. Throughout my research‚ I came to the same conclusion as you did: Money causes one to undergo dreadful things such as embarrassment‚ harassment‚ and degrading. A person cannot simply get through life without money. There is a need for it whether it’s physically or mentally. It is necessary for survival in a world in which everything revolves
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