Kaitlin Yates 14 August 2010 Contemporary Social Problems A sociological evaluation of Nickel and Dimed. “To be a member of the working poor is to be an anonymous donor‚ a nameless benefactor‚ to everyone else”.(221) Barbara Ehrenreich in her book Nickel and Dimed explored life as a low wage earner by working several “unskilled” jobs in different areas of the country and attempted to live off the wages she earned. I will evaluate some assertions she made and make some assertions of my own based
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In her bestselling book‚ “Nickel and Dimed‚” author Barbara Ehrenreich aims to give the reader a firsthand account of life as a worker on the poverty level. For her story‚ Ehrenreich‚ a writer from an upper-class family‚ decided to live the existence of a minimum wage worker‚ taking five low-level jobs at various locations around the United States‚ including positions as a waitress‚ health care aide‚ and Wal-Mart associate. To fulfill her objective‚ the author tried to obtain food‚ shelter and miscellaneous
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of this new phenomena when she used E-mail to organize five continents into signing a treaty. This idea of “super empowered individuals” falls short when actually applied to “real life” circumstances‚ as Barbara Ehrenriech‚ author of‚ “Nickel and
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John Doe Mr. Teacher Nickel and Dimed Summary Barbara Ehrenreich‚ author of Nickel and Dimed‚ is an award winning columnist and author of twenty-one books. Although she has her doctorate in science‚ she is well known as a journalist and muckraker. She has been featured in The New York Times‚ The Washington Post‚ and many other publications. Ehrenreich pondered how unskilled‚ uneducated‚ and untrained workers can survive and thrive in the American workforce with minimum wage incomes. She was
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In the book Nickel and Dimed on (Not) getting by in America‚ the author lived a life of a low wage worker. This experiment‚ while deemed insightful by some people‚ was considered dull and unrealistic to one of my classmates. In response to the question‚ “What parts of the book made Ehrenreich’s experience unrealistic?” my peer said‚ “She didn’t experience what low wage workers really went through. In Into the Wild‚ McCandless really went into the wild and experienced everything‚ but Ehrenreich didn’t
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In the book Nickel and Dimed on (Not) getting by in America‚ the author lived a life of a low wage worker. This experiment‚ while deemed insightful by some people‚ was considered dull and unrealistic to one of my classmates. In response to the question‚ “What parts of the book made Ehrenreich’s experience unrealistic?” my peer said‚ “She didn’t experience what low wage workers really went through. In Into the Wild‚ McCandless really went into the wild and experienced everything‚ but Ehrenreich didn’t
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Nicked and Dimed: A Bourgeois Woman’s Attempt to Enlightenment Barbara Ehrenreich‚ a political journalist‚ found her writing inspiration a couple of years after the birth of her first child. Filled with political opinions and an itch to write‚ she took to her first successful pamphlet Witches‚ Midwives‚ and Nurses: A History of Women Healers. This started a wave of inspiration and success‚ leading to her New York Times Bestseller‚ Nickel and Dimed. While originally Ehrenreich started with a Biology
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Sarah Levy Professor M.Marca English 97 2 December 2008 Shame and Humiliation Nickel and Dimed‚ written by Barbara Ehrenreich has been published in 2001 for the first time. This book explains and describes the condition of the working poor in United States in the 21st century. To write this book the author who is a well-known journalist at the New York Times decides to experience being a low-wage worker for a few months. She gives up her middle class life to become and live as a working poor
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By reading “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich‚ I learned being a minimum wage worker is extremely difficult. I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s hard for a minimum wage worker to find a place to live because they can’t pay the security deposit so they get stuck staying in a hotel or moving in with a friend or a family member. For example‚ Tina and her husband don’t make enough money so they had to stay in the Days Inn paying $60 a night. Getting stuck paying this every night would be impossible.
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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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