"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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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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encountered the most difficulties finding housing‚ and specifically affordable housing‚ in the city of Minneapolis‚ Minnesota. Of her intense search‚ she writes: “The vacancy rate is less than 1 percent‚ and if we’re talking about affordable‚ why it might be as low
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Senior English 7 March 2013 Nickel and Dimed Essay After reading the story Nickel and Dimed it changed my view about minimum wage and how it really affects so many people in our society. When people talk about living on minimum wage and how difficult it is you don’t realize how hard it is until you experience it yourself or know someone who has. I do believe it is important to have a job‚ but if you’re basically paying to go to work because the wages are so low and you receive no benefits‚
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In Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed harsh living conditions can affect a person mentally‚ emotionally‚ and morally. Poverty is not a "in-between" lifestyle. The major reason why poverty is like this is because the government controls everything and puts limitations on the lower-class and does not provide a enough help economically. Also‚ if society continues to undermine the lower-class the world’s production will drop. Throughout Ehrenreich entire studies of living this lifestyle‚ she makes
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received per hour. In my opinion‚ Barbara Ehrenreich proved her two points in her story Nickel and Dimed. She showed wages were too low to provide for themselves or families and she proved the amount of effort put into the job was not worth the money they received per hour‚ by attempting to work several different low wage jobs herself. Barbara Ehrenreich worked different low wage jobs during her story Nickel and Dimed. She tried living off of the money she acquired working the low wage jobs‚ but had
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Nickel and Dimed was published in 2001 during the blow up of the internet. The book was spreading and a group of college freshmen were even assigned to read it. Ehrenreich even learned that a young man set out himself to try what she did but he started out in a homeless shelter and at the end‚ he had an apartment and thousands of dollars saved. He went on to write his own book and actually accuse Ehrenreich about her lack of motivation to succeed. She was even called “The Antichrist of North Carolina”
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The primary purpose for Nickel and Dimed are for literary purposes‚ as the author seems to write with the goal of entertaining the reader. Throughout the story‚ the author regularly uses humor with the express purpose to entertain the reader. "It’s good to know that something is cheaper than my time‚ or that in the hierarchy of the company’s values I rank above Windex." (Page 307) The author also employs the use of figurative language a couple of times‚ for example when portraying the image of
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Name of Book: Nickel and Dimed Author: Barbara Ehrenreich Plot Summary: The author‚ Barbara Ehrenreich‚ works for the prestigious New Yorker magazine. One day over lunch with a famous editor discussing possible stories to write‚ she comments that the minimum wage is too low. She thinks someone used to more money should try to live on this pittance. The editor‚ Lewis Lapham‚ assigns her the story. This is not good news for Ehrenreich. Having spent her childhood with middle class struggling
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Essay In Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich‚ Ehrenreich goes undercover as a low-wage worker‚ when she is really a reporter for New York Times. In Barbara’s journey‚ it explains all of the hardships workers have with low-wage jobs and makes your think: Does the accumulation of money and power inevitably lead to a loss of spirituality? Ehrenreich states that workers work long and stressful hours for almost no pay whatsoever but many people believe that these certain jobs are too easy and SHOULD
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