Analysis Of Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel And Dimed

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.

The topic of Nickel and Dimed is to determine whether a person living a low waged job can survive on what they earn through hard work. Barbara Ehrenreich, the author, attempts to make a living the same way the unskilled figure out how to everyday. Throughout the book, Ehrenreich experiences many of the hardships and obstacles that the blue collared workers go through. In the book, she works in three different locations

Ehrenreich describes the success that her book achieved, but like every other book, there is some critics that do not agree with what the author stated in the book. She explains that in 2006 a graduate named Adam Shepard who was forced to read the book during college decided to make his own argument and experiment like she did to refute the main claim her book. She makes clear that his experiment was more successful than gers and that after only ten months he ended with “ an apartment and several thousand dollars saved” ( Ehrenreich, 224) In her eyes, through her writing, it does not seem that she agrees with the way that he conducted his own

In the quote where she is curious about her coworkers she says, ¨How poor are they, my coworkers? The fact that anyone is working this job at all can be taken as prima facie evidence of some kind of desperation or at least a history of mistakes and disappointment¨ (Ehrenreich, 47) The quote demonstrates the formal language that she writes in, but the way that it is unchallenging to understand. The word desperation, mistakes, and disappointment are the three words that stand out and are easily understood. It describes how some of them feel, which is really low to think of themselves. Nobody deserves to feel bad about themselves no matter the situation they are currently in. It makes them seem that since they aren't that good about themselves, then that is why they accept the job. Seeing that, as a reader, it made me think if that is how every worker like them thought of themselves. Did they believe they deserve the poverty they got? and did they believe they could achieve higher? The quote is written formally in a way that is easy to understand, but also with some confusing words like prima facie that need to be well understood or even researched to know what she is trying to