Nickel and Dimed In the book of Nickel and Dimed‚ the author Barbara Ehrenreich‚ decided to go undercover as a low wage worker. She wanted to find out how non-skilled workers made ends meet. Barbara’s goal was to find if she would be able to live off the money she earned‚ and by also having enough money to pay the monthly rent. This was not going to be an easy task for her; she was used to having a home‚ a companion‚ reputation‚ and of course an ATM card. In June 1998‚ Barbara left behind everything
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Nickel and Dimed Book Analysis It’s a well known fact that everything in America is over priced‚ so with everything being over priced and citizens being under paid how are we supposed to expect citizens to survive in this rigged economy? Our economy is set up to benefit the middle-upper class and to take away from the lower class. As we stand by and say to the lower class citizens “get a job”‚ “work harder and longer”. In Nickel and Dimed‚ Barbara Ehrenreich proves that minimum wage cannot sustain
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Nickel and Dimed In reading the excerpt from Barbara Ehrenriech’s book‚ Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) getting by in America‚ I can certainly agree with the observations that she made regarding the treatment of people with lower paying jobs by society. Through personal experiences that I have seen first hand‚ the poor truly have a difficult time with trying to make a better life for themselves because of how society stacks the deck against them. My earliest experience with inequality happened in the
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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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Hayley Selvage Mrs. Weiser AP English Per. 1 September 10‚ 2014 Nickel and Dimed Passage B Analysis In three short paragraphs of the novel‚ Nickel and Dimed‚ Barbara Ehrenreich emphasizes that the middle‚ to upper class is oblivious to the misery of the working class. The lack of disclosure between the working and upper-middle class makes the upper-middle class oblivious to the working class’s hard work effort. In the first paragraph of the passage‚ Ehrenreich conveys a tone of annoyance 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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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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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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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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