Critical Analysis Of Nickel And Dimed By Barbara Ehrenreich

The book Nickel and Dimed On (Not) Getting by in America, written by Barbara Ehrenreich is a book that relates the experience of how she survived living on poverty-level wages in America as a waitress, maid and a Wal-mart sales associate. Barbara left her comfortable surroundings as a journalist with a Ph.D in biology to work various "unskilled" and "under compensated" jobs in order to achieve, "the old-fashioned kind of journalism". In regards to leaving her comfortable lifestyles for a few months traveling through Florida to Maine and Minnesota, she discovered that people who are paid six to seven dollars an hour did not generate enough income for those who did not want to live

Ehrenreich’s housing situation also makes her stand out from the real poor working class. Ehrenreich (2002) states "As it turns out, the mere fact of having a unit to myself makes me an aristocrat..." (p. 70). Almost every other person she has met has to live with another person. A hefty security deposit is required to get an apartment which many people are unable to pay so they are forced to live with family, friends, or pay for a hotel room. Cohabiting is another system the working poor faces. Ehrenreich does not have to endure the hardship of living with another person.

Barbara Ehrenreich is a political/social journalist and writer. She is a best-selling author with a dozen book credits to her name. Her works include Blood Rites, The Worst Years of Our Lives, and Fear of Falling. She also has written articles for Time, Harpers, The New Republic, The Nation, and The New York Time Magazine. Her Ph.D. in biology endows her with the experience and discipline to approach as a scientific experiment the study resulting in her newest book, Nickel and Dimed.

In Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, Barbara Ehrenreich tells a powerful and gritty story of daily survival. Her tale transcends the gap that exists between rich and poor and relays a powerful accounting of the dark corners that lie somewhere beyond the popular portrayal of American prosperity. Throughout this book the reader will be intimately introduced to the world of the “working poor”, a place unfamiliar to the vast majority of affluent and middle-class Americans. What makes this world particularly real is the fact that we have all come across the hard-working hotel maid, store associate, or restaurant waitress but we hardly ever think of what their actual lives are like? We regularly dismiss these people as

“Serving in Florida”, is a narrative essay written by Barbara Ehrenreich.. In this essay, Ehrenreich describes what it is like to work and live in a low-class society in Florida, and live off of minimum wage. Throughout the essay she focused on describing her personal experiences as a waitress at the Hearthside restaurant. Ehrenreich used amazing imagery while describing the working and living conditions of low-class people. She went on to tell how the employees are forced to work in ridiculous conditions. They were often forced to work long hours, with no breaks, and were occasionally refused of food. Ehrenreich went on to describe how oftentimes, the managers of these establishments, would take advantage of the employee’s situations. The

Do you believe in the American Dream? Barbara Ehrenreich, the author of Nickel and Dimed, used to believe in it, which changed after she replaced her identity as a writer and a biological scientist with a divorced, childless, middle-aged woman and worked at the bottom of the society for several years. Serving in Florida was an excerpt from Nickel and Dimed, describing her experience as a restaurant waitress in Florida. In the excerpt, to show the harsh working condition and busy working schedules of the impotent working poor in America so as to reveal the inequality of the society, Ehrenreich uses imagery, builds up an urgent tone, and utilizes irony on page 394 to 396.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, Is about a woman, a journalist who goes undercover to witness the Welfare Program the government provides for the poor and people in need. Ehrenreich is white and middle class. She claims that her experience would have been radically different had she been a person of color or a single parent. Ehrenreich had not much to worry about other than finding a job and a somewhat comfortable living space. If she had not been white , her experience would have been drastically different in my opinion. With little money, during this time period things were still not too expensive but not too affordable for some people.

1. What is the topic? Be as specific as you can as you summarize the issue, but don’t forget about style. Being logical does not mean that you cannot showcase a sophisticated prose style. In this response, tell us what the book is about, major characters, events, and more. Remember, you are establishing your ethos right here.

Nickel and Dimed, a memoir by Barbara Ehrenreich, is about the millions of Americans working full time on a low wage budget trying support themselves. Ehrenreich soon discovers that even a low paying job requires mental and physical effort. and one paying job is not enough, you need at least two. The Quote “ The American Dream has run out of gas. The car has stopped. It no longer supplies the world with its images its dreams, its fantasies. No more. It’s over.” by J.G Ballard can relate to the book Nickel and Dimed. This quote means everyone’s dream of a perfect house and going on vacation or even having money in this world is over. “Still, it’s a shock to realize that “ trailer trash” has become, for me, a demographic category to aspire

In episode three Barbara Ehrenreich still performs an adequate portrayal of how the low wage worker lives. In this episode Ms. Ehrenreich faces her greatest challenge to finding living quarters out of all three episodes. All of the hotels are either full or too expensive for her to afford on minimum wage. As a result Ms. Ehrenreich first stays in a motel that is very shady and lacks almost all commodities that are considered a given in our society. These include A.C., a kitchen or appliances, and a screen on the window. As a result Ms. Ehrenreich is very anxious during her stay in this motel as even the door lacks a lock and anyone who wanted to could very easily get into her room. Ms. Ehrenreich gets a job at Walmart and soon learns how exhausting

1. Title: Nickel and Dimed 2. Author and Date Written: Nickel and Dimed was written between 1998-2000 by Barbara Ehrenreich 3. Country of Author: Barbara Ehrenreich was born in 4. Characters: Barbara Ehrenreich: Author of Nickel and dimed Gail: She was responsible for training Barbara in Heartside Middle-Aged Phillip: Manager at Heartside Dapper:

Ehrenreich applies for many different jobs and ends up choosing between Wal-Mart and Menards. She picks Wal-Mart and find herself working in the women 's department organizing and hanging up clothes. She realizes that she must became friendly with the dressing room attendants in order to make her job easier. Again her supervisors constantly get on her about wasting time. She uses her break times to talk to her fellow workers about a union but quits before really getting anything started.

If a business wants to maximize their profit, one might up the cost of products and cut employee salary. If a business wants to keep the price of products low and steady, one may earn a lower profit, but keep a higher employee salary. If a business wants to raise the wages of employees, one might lose profit by keeping a high price on products. Is it possible to have all three perks? Yes, you bet. Companies that simultaneously maximize profit, keep products at a low price, and pay fair employee wages do exist, are growing, and should be models for the future business.

Nickel, an element on the periodic table has many different isotopes, but the two that stand out the most are Nickel-58 and Nickel-63.

Growing up, my family and I were extremely poor. The neighborhood I grew up in was referred to as felony flats. There were many nights that my mom wouldn’t eat just so there was enough food to feed me and my siblings. There were times where there would be no food in the house and we’d have to go to a food pantry. My mother was a teen mom with three children and no education. To make ends meet, my father would occasionally steal checks out of people’s mailboxes. My mom didn’t know he was doing it, but was desperate for any money that he brought in to keep a roof over our head, and the tiniest bit of food in our cupboards. As I was reading The Residue Years, I felt instantly connected to the characters in the novel because I could relate on many levels to Champ and his family’s struggles of living in poverty. The critical review “Nickel and Dimed,” written by Roxane Gay was an accurate account of the novel. A family living in poverty, struggling with addiction, all while trying to keep their family together. Roxane Gay is right that this is a story about how poverty keeps Champ and Grace stuck in the same place, and that their journey to home always out of reach. I believe she is wrong in suggesting that Jackson’s empathy for the characters lessened the plot.