Nickel And Dimed: Book Review
analytical Essay
1149 words
Can someone really live and prosper in American receiving minimal income? Can someone create a good lifestyle for themselves on just six to seven dollars an hour? In Nickel and Dimed Barbara Ehrenreich goes undercover to find out if it is indeed possible. Giving herself only $1,000 she leaves the lifestyle that she has come accustomed too and goes to join all the people living the low class way of life. Before setting out, she gave herself a list of rules she had to follow so that her experience would be as real as it could be. Her first rule was when looking for a job she couldn't mention the skills she had learned from her education. Second, she had to take the highest paying job that was being offered to her. Third, she had to live in the cheapest accommodation that she could, providing that it was a safe environment. Going hungry and being homeless weren't ever able to be options. She knows she will never truly experience poverty because this is nothing more than a project but she leaves behind her old life and becomes known as a divorced homemaker reentering the workforce after many years. Her main goal is to get enough income to be able to pay for all her expenses and have enough money to pay next months rent. In Chapter One she makes a start in Key West. In this chapter she learns a lot about low-wage-job applications. Each application she fills out has many multi choice questions and later on a urine test. She ends up waiting many days hearing nothing back and then applying for a job waitressing. She's hired and is paid $2.43 and hour plus tips. As days go by she finds herself growing to dislike management noting how she is constantly up and about while those that supervise sit all day. She has to constantly be... ... middle of paper ... ...les she had set for herself but she feels that she did a good job at her project. She was alarmed by the way that some of her co-workers lived and felt that she learned a lot from her experiences. I really enjoyed reading this book. It truly gives you a lot to think about. I'm only in high school which doesn't give me much opportunity right now of getting a good job, even though I'm going to be in need of one since I'm having a baby. This book made me see that I better have a good education to get a good job or I'm not going to be able to take care of myself and a baby. Things have gotten a lot better for people in the work place since this book was written but I know that people are still facing the same problems that she had. In my mind I think having a job is better that not having a job. I'd rather get paid $6 an hour then not have any source of income at all.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how barbara ehrenreich, in nickel and dimed, goes undercover to find out if it is indeed possible.
- Narrates how a young woman gave herself rules to follow to make her experience real. she had to take the highest paying job, live in the cheapest accommodation, and go hungry and be homeless.
- Describes how the divorced homemaker's main goal is to get enough income to be able to pay for all her expenses and have enough money for next months rent.
- Narrates how in chapter one, she learns about low-wage-job applications. she applies for a job waitressing and is paid $2.43 and hour plus tips
- Analyzes how the employee dislikes management because she is constantly up and about while those that supervise sit all day. she must keep herself occupied without outdoing her co-workers.
- Narrates how in the beginning of the chapter, she had found an apartment that she thought she could afford, but she finds out that if someone can't afford a deposit, they'll find themselves in hotels.
- Narrates how barbara gets another waitressing job which turns out a lot worse than her other one. soon she quits her first job because she is unable to work at both places.
- Narrates how after almost a month, the housekeeper in key west gets another job which only lasts for one day. later that day, she walks out after her manager yells at her.
- Narrates how in chapter two, she moves on to maine due to its "whiteness". she finds housing that's a lot cheaper than the almost $60-a-night hotel room.
- Narrates how ehrenreich builds up a pile of applications so that after someone quits they can easily be replaced. when one of her co-workers hurt herself on the job, she sees that people can't afford or are too afraid to take time off.
- Describes how the woman gets a part-time nursing home job for $7 an hour. she doesn't have to bring lunch to this job because she gets to eat after the residents at the home.
- Narrates how the woman struggles to find assistance to help her with food. she learns that there isn't a lot of help in maine, and everyone she talks to does little.
- Narrates how in chapter 3, she starts over again in minnesota and finds herself lucky because she gets to stay at a friends while there out of town, saving her the trouble of finding housing right away.
- Narrates how ehrenreich chooses between wal-mart and menards and ends up working in the women's department organizing and hanging up clothes.
- Analyzes how barbara ended up breaking all of the rules she had set for herself but felt that she did a good job at her project. she was alarmed by the way that some of her co-workers lived.
- Opines that they enjoyed reading this book since they're only in high school, which doesn't give them much opportunity to get a good job.
- Opines that having a job is better than not having one. they'd rather get paid $6 an hour than have no source of income.
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- Persuasive Essay On Nickel And Dimedanalytical essayMillions of Americans work full-time, day in and day out, making near and sometimes just minimum wage. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them in part by the welfare claim, which promises that any job equals a better life. Barbara wondered how anyone can survive, let alone prosper, on $6-$7 an hour. Barbara moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, working in the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson. She soon realizes that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts and in most cases more than one job was needed to make ends meet. Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all of its glory, consisting of
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how barbara ehrenreich decided to join them in part by the welfare claim, which promises that any job equals a better life.
- Describes how barbara began her journey of living in poverty in key west, fl with a car and enough money to provide housing.
- Narrates how barbara infiltrated the minimum wage earners in maine, where even the maids are predominantly white, and how she secured employment and lodging in minnesota.
- Analyzes how barbara, an educated white woman, was able to seek better benefits than other people living in poverty. she had a car, used the internet to find local jobs, and afforded prescription drugs.
- Recommends barbara's book for anyone interested in the problem of poverty in america. if her experience left her feeling short of nickels and dimes, how might the lower end of the ladder feel?
1019 wordsRead More - In her book, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America (2001), Barbara Ehrenreich performs a social experiment in which she transplants herself from her comfortable middle-class life and immersing herself in the plight of the “millions of American’s (who) work full-time, year-round, for poverty-level wages” (Ehrenreich, 2001). Her goal was to explore the consequences of the welfare reform on the approximately four million women who would be subsequently forced into the labor market, expecting to make only $6 to $7 an hour. (2001 p.1) Her experiment eviscerated the idea that the American underclass was lazy, and the lie that American’s could live healthy, productive lives on minimum wage. On the contrary, she proved underclass Americans to be among the hardest working of the classes, and effectively illustrated the nigh impossibility of these people to break free of the cycle of poverty and find a way to improve their situation.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how barbara ehrenreich's book, nickel and dimed: on (not) getting by in america, explores the consequences of the welfare reform on the approximately four million women who would be forced into the labor market expecting to make only $6 to $7 an hour.
- Analyzes how ehrenreich draws upon marx when formulating the rules for her experiment, and her only reference to revolution is the 1989 "velvet revolution by frank zappa."
- Illustrates the marxist concept that exploitation of workers arises because capitalists own the means of production and treat labor as if it were just another inanimate factor.
- Analyzes ehrenreich's observations with academic precision, interspersed with firm middle-class values, but these judgments were not made from an ivory tower, coldly calculated and formed with the disinterested tone of the scientist.
- Analyzes how ehrenreich's research is revolutionary, but she was limited in some ways from becoming fully immersed and thus, performing a perfect experiment.
652 wordsRead More - Poor People And Economic Injustice By Barbara Ehrenreichanalytical essayShe sets out to explore the world that welfare mothers are entered. The point was not so much to become poor as to get a sense of the spectrum of low-wage work that existed-from waitressing to housekeeping. She felt mistreated when it was announced that there has been a report on “drug activity”, as a result, the new employees will be required to be tested, as will the current employees on a random basis. She explained feeling mistreated, “I haven 't been treated this way-lined up in the corridor, threatened with locker searches, peppered with carelessly aimed accusations-since junior high school” (Ehrenreich,286). The other problem is that this job shows no sign of being financially viable. Ehrenreich states that there is no secret economies that nourish the poor, “If you can 't put up the two months’ rent you need to secure an apartment, you end up paying through the nose for a room by the week” (286). On the first day of housekeeping, she is yelled and given nineteen rooms to clean. For four hours without a break she striped and remake the beds. At the end of the experience she explained that she couldn 't hold two jobs and couldn 't make enough money to live on with one as where single mothers with children. She has clarified that she has advantages compare to the long-term
In this essay, the author
- Explains that economic inequality and injustice come in the same hand. the negative assumptions of poor people are created by media and politicians. promoting economic justice by offering people living in poverty some form of social support.
- Explains that people living in poverty choose to stay, which is a popular assumption of poor people. poor people have multiple children and continue to have more, so they can stay on welfare.
- Analyzes how barbara ehrenreich left everything behind for a plunge into the low-wage workforce to explore the world that welfare mothers are entered.
- Explains that conley uses the term stratification to describe "structured social inequality or, more specifically, systematic inequalities among groups of people that arise as intended or unintended consequences of social processes and relationships."
- Explains that poverty is an important issue that the united states has to fix. people in poverty are more likely to be mistreated and underpaid by their performance in the workforce.
732 wordsRead More - Low-Wage Life In Nickel And Dimed By Barbara Ehrenreichanalytical essayThere are frequent footnotes in the novel, many of them containing statistics about low-wage lifestyles. One claims that “In 1997, a living wage for a single parent supporting a single child in the Twin Cities metro area was $11.77 an hour” (Ehrenreich 127). Throughout the novel, Ehrenreich never gets paid this much in any of her jobs. In fact, she is amazed when a potential wage for a job is “not $8.50 but an incredible $10 an hour” (Ehrenreich 142). Even living on her own Ehrenreich could hardly pay for the basic necessities to live, it would have been impossible to do so with a child to care for as well. Another statistic stats that “Nearly one-fifth of all homeless people (in twenty-nine cities across the nation) are employed in full- or part- time jobs” (Ehrenreich 26). This fact shows the flaws in the low-wage workforce. After all, minimum wage is meant to be designed to be able to support people with necessities such as shelter and food, yet 20% of those without homes cannot afford shelter with these wages. Through these statistic, ehrenreich is able to establish that it is nearly impossible to live a decent lifestyle with just low-wage job
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how barbara ehrenreich uses vivid imagery and data to persuade the audience that the low-wage lifestyle is truly un-livable.
- Analyzes barbara ehrenreich's use of vivid imagery to illustrate the difficulty of a low-wage life.
- Analyzes how ehrenreich uses data and statistics to convince the audience that it is inconvenient and nearly impossible to live a decent life with just low-wage job wages.
- Analyzes how nickel and dimed illustrates ehrenreich's struggles to maintain a livable lifestyle with just low-wage job wages.
778 wordsRead More - After reading this novel, I agree with her argument. Barbara tried to stick as close to the real life scenario as possible, but periodically she would fall back into her safety net; the women into whose shoes she pretends to step cannot. This goes to show that even when she “cheated” every once in a while – laptop still in tow, a bank account at her disposal in times of emergency, the tendency to switch cities once one becomes too much to handle– she had a difficult time managing to survive based on her wages alone, and so it must be that much harder for the people who do not have a fall-back plan. We all tend to blame the unemployment rate for poverty, and politicians are always trying to assuage the public by thinking of new proposals to reduce it, but the real culprit seems to be wages.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how barbara's first waitressing job at heathman’s exposed her to the hardships that restaurant workers face when it comes to housing. she gave herself a cushiony $1,300 for start-up costs.
- Agrees with ehrenreich about how difficult it must be for people to survive on a waitress' salary, but she provided enough evidence of all that they have to worry about.
- Analyzes how ehrenreich utilizes procatalepsis when she discusses her relationship with pete, one of the cooks she meets at the nursing home where she works as a dietary aide.
- Analyzes how a heavy amount of metaphors were used in this section, as she described her experiences with the residents at the nursing home.
- Opines that barbara oversimplifies the work she does at wal-mart, making it out to be easy. she might have overanalyzed the actions of those specific women at the store.
- Analyzes ehrenreich's argument that fiscal prosperity makes it harder for the poor to find affordable housing. barbara believes the two can no longer coexist.
- Analyzes barbara ehrenreich's use of logos in order to gain the reader’s support and approval was prevalent throughout this section.
- Analyzes how ehrenreich realizes a hard truth about the societal depiction of maids.
- Analyzes how ehrenreich appeals to the audience's logos throughout the section. she uses facts to convince the reader of her proficiency.
- Analyzes how barbara utilizes hypophora in this section, when she questions, "how did i do as a low-wage worker?" barbara uses an analogy to put the "labor shortage" situation into perspective, making it easier for the reader to interpret.
- Analyzes how barbara's argument in nickel and dimed is that the problem is not unemployment, but the fact that full employment alone cannot keep a person from poverty.
2325 wordsRead More - How Barbara Ehrenreich Makes Ends Meetanalytical essayIn her inspiring nonfiction novel, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich captivates readers as she researches whether or not if single parents, who depend exclusively on what they can make at minimum-wage income, can endure financially in the United States. She chooses to go as an “undercover” journalist to discover, first-hand, if one can survive in some of the most prominent, urban areas in America. In the first city, Key West, Ehrenreich works at two separate restaurants and as a house manager in a lodge. She soon finds that being a waitress is a tedious job, filled with aching pains and low amounts of sleep. Next, Ehrenreich moves to Maine, the state of the practically all-white low-wage workforce. Ehrenreich discovers that, even though Maine has more jobs available, the wages paid are similar to those of Key West. The last place Ehrenreich stays is Minnesota, where she finds the most trouble finding housing accommodations. In Minnesota, Ehrenreich uncovers the toiling process of job application that she had not taken into consideration. Lastly, Ehrenreich evaluates her overall experience among the minimum-wage worker’s class. She concludes that the minimum-wage lifestyle is unfair and difficult to deal with. Ehrenreich notes that the government is also a factor to be considered when it comes to low-income workers, being that the government decides the minimum wage. She also indicates that the markets are getting increasingly expensive, being that low-income housing and jobs are continually disappearing.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how barbara ehrenreich captivates readers as she researches whether single parents, who depend exclusively on minimum-wage income, can endure financially in the us.
- Analyzes how nickel and dimed provides a first-hand perspective on the experiences of low-wage workers. ehrenreich's coworkers often find themselves scrabbling to save money.
- Analyzes how barbara ehrenreich enriches nickel and dimed by writing in an informal manner and in first-person point-of-view, raising the book to a more personal level.
- Analyzes how ehrenreich portrays everything as reality, which helps readers recognize that it is a cruel world in the realm of low-wage working.
- Argues that ehrenreich's deductions are inaccurate due to the short time period that she performed the experiment on.
- Concludes that nickel and dimed is a fascinating novel, enchanting readers with the telling of ehrenreich’s experiences and the portrayal of casual prose.
854 wordsRead More - Analysis Of Barbara Ehrenreich´s Nickel And Dimedanalytical essayThe book ‘Nickel and Dimed’ follows the author Barbra Ehrenreich on her on a journalism experiment to see how someone could get by on the minimum wage of $6 or $7. While Barbra is familiar with the poverty issue in American she herself with a Ph.D. and comfortable life was not familiar with feeling the effects of poverty. Before the experiment started Barbra set down some ground rules, first being, she could not search for jobs that require skills from her higher education (Ehrenreich, 2011, p. 4). All the jobs she applied for had to be starting level jobs that someone coming out of high school could obtain. Second rule, she had to take the job offering the highest wage, and do her best to hold the position (Ehrenreich, 2011, p. 4). She was to try her hardest at all the jobs and not slack off reading or try to speak out against management
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how barbra ehrenreich's book 'nickel and dimed' follows her on a journalism experiment to see how someone could get by on the minimum wage of $6 or $7.
- Analyzes how barbra broke the first, second, and third rules of the experiment. she walked out during her waitressing shift at jerry's, yelled at her boss and tried to get her fellow co-workers to stop working.
- Explains barbra's struggle to find affordable housing in key west, portland, and minneapolis. she was able to move to a tiny trailer closer to town by taking the deposit from the cabin, the $400 she saved from working and her $200 in case of emergency.
- Describes how barbra left key west with $1,000 left over and headed to portland, maine. she stayed at motel 6, which had questionable hygiene.
- Narrates how barbra struggled to find a safe and affordable place to live in minneapolis. most of the places were either too expensive or missing things like kitchen or just not safe.
- Explains ehrenreich's advantages of being white and a native english speaker. barbra was interviewed for the store winn-dixie and was directed to waitressing.
- Explains barbra ehrenreich's concerns about the way the poverty level is calculated.
- Describes barbra ehrenreich's struggles in finding a job and finding affordable housing.
2099 wordsRead More - The Cause And Effect Of Nickel And Dimed By Barbara Ehrenreichanalytical essayShe decides if she could earn $7 an hour, then she could afford $500 rent. She found a place to rent 45 minutes away from work. In order to deal with the financial responsibilities, Ehrenreich took to the streets in search for another unskilled job since she did not want to use her car as a place of residence. She continues her experiment in a new environment which took her to Maine since the area is mostly a Caucasian community. When she realized that Portland was just another $6-$7 an hour town, she picked up two jobs to be practical. She began her quest for lodging at Motel 6. After several disappointments searching for a place to lie; she found a cottage for $120 a week and determined to poor cannot compete with the rich in the housing market. Ehrenreich moved to Minnesota to finish her experiment, where she hoped there would be a satisfying harmony between rent and wages. She locates an apartment from a friend lasting a short period until she finds a place to stay on her own. She found housing to be a struggle as there seems to be a shortage of houses; as a result she transitioned herself into a hotel. Her stay at the hotel proved to surpass her estimated expenses despite the fact this was her only safe
In this essay, the author
- Explains that barbara ehrenreich, of nickel and dimed, began her experiment in key west, portland, me, and minnesota, where she thought there would be a pleasant stability between rent and wages.
- Narrates how ehrenreich decided to pursue her life as a low-wage worker in key west, where she could afford $500 rent.
- Explains that a low-wage job is the minimum wage for unskilled workers without skill sets, knowledge, and understanding.
- Analyzes ehrenreich's investigation on how to survive a lower-wage pay. she concluded that if she could maintain her two-job regimen, and had no sudden illnesses, she would have just gotten by.
784 wordsRead More - Nickel and Dimed On (not) Getting By in America by Ehrenreichanalytical essayReading Nickel and Dimed, enlightened me to see how some people have to live. The idea behind writing the book provided an interesting look into poverty, however, Ehrenreich did not offer any real solution to the problem at hand. Ehrenreich made the assumption that all persons working these low paying positions are uneducated, unskilled, and just off of welfare. Which this is not entirely true a lot of these courageous people have some education if not college degrees. In the book I believe some people are richer in their families with love and respect that the highest paying careers could not satisfy. Material items are not as important to a great deal of the population. As long as their loved ones have a roof over their head, food on the table and clothes to wear the rest is just icing. I know people who have fortune in their bank accounts and they are some of the poorest individuals you could ever meet.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how ehrenreich's motives gave her the tools to experience poverty from a statistical standpoint, but kept her from experiencing the harsh reality in the ultra-competitive job environment.
- Explains that ehrenreich discussed unionizing with her co-workers while working for wal-mart. her downfall in minneapolis is when she can't find affordable lodging.
- Analyzes how ehrenreich never offered to help any of the women she worked with in any way.
- Describes ehrenreich's experiment where she relocated to a city, found low-wage job and cheap housing, while attempting to match income to expenses for one month.
- Analyzes how ehrenreich reminds readers that she cannot fully experience the world of the low-wage worker because she possesses such securities as a house, bank account, medical insurance, and good-health.
- Explains that ehrenreich did not match income to expenses in any city, although she came close in portland. she credits this only to the fact that she worked two jobs seven days a week and received free meals on the weekends.
- Analyzes how ehrenreich's straightforward style of writing is an easy read. her witty and clever writing style tweaked my interest in the plight
- Analyzes how ehrenreich provides readers with an accurate image of america's working poor, but one visible weakness that frequently appears throughout the book is the reminder she can escape these hardships.
- Opines that ehrenreich's claim that the people who work these jobs cannot survive is difficult to accept, for millions of americans do survive.
- Analyzes how reading nickel and dimed enlightened them to see how some people have to live. ehrenreich did not offer any real solution to the problem at hand.
1365 wordsRead More - Social Experiment In Nickel And Dimedanalytical essayNickel and Dimed is a book about the author’s trip into the working poor world. Her profession was as a professor in biology. She noticed similar traits of her studies throughout the years, their struggle with being working poor. This struggled she saw preempted her to create a social experiment that is about how to live as a unskilled, working poor person in America. Instead of experimenting on others she took upon herself to be the one who drives into this unknown world to her. This assignment she given herself wasn’t an easy task and Ehrenreich experiences many conflicting emotions about what she will take on. Before she drives into her social experiment, she create some basic rules she must live by: She has to take the highest pay job offered and do her best to keep it, no relaying on past skills, she has to find the most affordable living conditions in the area she was in. These rules were not easily kept during the experiment and eventual she broke them all at one point or another. She also set some reasonable limits that protect her from going hungry or homeless. There was a couple times throughout the experiment that she broke her
In this essay, the author
- Describes ehrenreich's journey into the working poor world as a professor in biology. she created basic rules to live by and set reasonable limits to protect her from going hungry or homeless.
- Narrates how key west, florida, was her first location for the experiment, and how she learned the low-wage job application involved a drug test and multiple-choice question test for an interview.
- Narrates how their first home in maine was at a motel 6, which became her base to find jobs. she found her nursing home duties were well entwined with her past at jerry's.
- Describes ehrenreich's experience working for wal-mart in minnesota, where she noticed a noticeable change in her personality.
- Analyzes how the low-working-wage woman experienced housing crisis, unethical bosses, job processing and hunt, brutal cost on the body, and personality changes.
776 wordsRead More