For Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickel and Dimed to be effective, she has to utilize imagery, an extremely effective method of description. By her very detailed descriptions, Ehrenreich is able to "paint a picture" of what it was like for her to go through her yearlong adventure. She incorporates imagery often, making the reader feel like they are actually in the story, feeling what she felt, seeing what she saw, and going through what she went through. For example when Ehrenreich describes her room at the Clearview Inn, " Room 133 contains a bed, a chair, a chest of drawers, and a TV fastened to the wall. I plead for and get a lamp to complement the single overhead bulb. Instead of the mold smell, I now breathe a mixture of fresh paint and what I eventually identify as mouse droppings." (151). She could just of easily have said that the hotel was dirty with a bad smell, however she incorporates imagery by giving a precise depiction to give the reader a better understanding of how rancid the conditions were, almost making the reader smell what she smelled. When Ehrenreich describes her first lodging as "a cabin, more or less, set in the swampy backyard of the converted mobile home where my landlord, an affable TV repairman, lives with his bartender girlfriend"(12). Here, she uses imagery by getting the reader to envision the murky area and imagine what it would be like.
Another major method used by Ehrenreich to help the reader better understand and relate is realism. In the book, Ehrenreich gives the reader a notice that she gives some false information throughout her novel, only changing a few names for confidentiality reasons. " I should mention here that names and identifying details have been altered to preserve the privac...
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... These people do not want to know what they do not have to. For someone to tell him or her not to do something, that is good enough for them. These people are the ones that miss out on a lot, never really getting the whole picture of life. The second group of people is the risk takers. This group tests their boundaries. They want to know what the world is like on the other side. They are not afraid to take a chance and maybe screw up sometime, because that is how they learn. This is what I got out of Ehrenreich's book. So in order for a reader to learn something from a book, they have to be a risk taker, they have to be open minded and willing to compromise themselves for sake of the book, By compromise I mean trade places and put yourself in someone else's shoes.
Works Cited
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC 2001.
Sensory Imagery: make the reader envision objects and settings in the book with greater detail.
There are several inconsistencies about the situations that Ehrenreich placed herself in and the real li...
Through this, the reader understands that the author has an advanced amount of knowledge on the subject she will be covering throughout the novel. Feeling as if there will be no need to question her findings or conclusions (due to her vast educational background and the research she put in), the audience is much more susceptible and therefore predisposed to Ehrenreich’s arguments, making it easier for her to make her case.
Throughout her essay, Beard uses imagery almost every single sentence. She describes her work place, her daily life, her colleagues.... clearly so that her readers can picture what she is talking about. There are also hidden context under her description as
The American Dream is attainable by each and every one of us. The American Dream is the idea that everyone should have an equal opportunity to achieve success through hard work and determination. Every successful person living today had to work hard for their position. They climb the ranks until they got to where they stand today. Everyone could become successful and live the American dream as long as they work very hard starting at a young age into adulthood and study and perform well in school. They must study for school and get a good education. In the book “Nickel and Dimed”, Barbara is struggling to get along because she is surviving off jobs that require little to no education and experience.
In scene 1, the author uses imagery to convey a mood that is not important to the story. On page 14 is said, “Jonas and Fiona ride their bikes down a perfectly manicured pathway.” This proves that the mood is not important because the mood of perfection does not contribute to the plot or story. Compared to scene 12, where the imagery created a mood that is important to the plot and story. On page 17 it says, “Jonas speeds toward the wall of Mist and punches through it, disappearing from sight.” This proves that imagery creates a mood that is important to the plot and story. The mood is exited, and it is important to building up the rising action to the climax in the
The biggest appeal that Ehrenreich makes is after she ends up walking out of the housekeeping job/waitress job because she cannot handle it anymore." I have failed I don't cry, but I am in a position to realize, for the first time in many years, that the tear ducts are still there and still capable of doing their job." (Ehrenreich, 48) This is the biggest appeal because Ehrenreich is quitting on the whole project. She is basically telling the readers that it is impossible for her, a "well-off", woman to live the life of a low wage worker.
Imagery is when the author presents a mental image through descriptive words. One prime example of imagery that the author uses is in paragraph 3; where she tells of a moment between a man and a woman. In this narration she states the time, year, outfit of each character described, and what the female character was doing. These details might come across as irrelevant, or unnecessary, but this is Didions way of showing what the blueprint of notebook it. Using imagery reinforces the foundation of the essay, and what the essay’s mission was.
Imagery is a way to describe objects, scenarios, scenes, etc. by using language that would appeal to physical senses such as; smell, sight, touch, taste, and sound. For example, “Then the darkening firs And the sudden whirring of water of the knifed down a fern-hidden Cliff and splashed unseen into mist in the shadows.” (II. 5. 3-4) This quote is explaining how the day is turning into night, the trees are darkening, the water is swaying with the wind, and the trees vanishing behind the thick fog. “we slogged Through the
The short story, “The Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge”, by Ambrose Bierce and the film version ,”The Owl River”, by Robert Enrico have extraordinary amounts of imagery. Ambrose Bierce revealed imagery through his words, while Robert Enrico demonstrated imagery through a camera. Although they both explored imagery some of their examples of imagery are divergent, while others are indistinguishable.
The writer uses imagery, because he wants to let the readers into his mind. By describing the scene for the readers, makes the readers fell like they were there. Therefore, it gives us a better ability to emphasize with him.
Like most people whom conduct experiments, Ehrenreich must first establish credibility of her knowledge of this subject. She does this in her introduction in numerous ways. Ehrenreich comes out saying that she has a Ph.D in biology but has a fancy for writing. She starts off with her exposure to low wage paying jobs by using her sister and her husband a companion for over a decade. Her sister, who use to work for the phone company as a sales representative, a factory work and receptionist who described it her experiences as “the hopelessness of being a wage slave”. Her husband use to work for $4.50 an hour in a warehouse before he was fortunate enough to land a good paying job with the union workers the Teamsters.
Imagery is a key part of any poem or literary piece and creates an illustration in the mind of the reader by using descriptive and vivid language. Olds creates a vibrant mental picture of the couple’s surroundings, “the red tiles glinting like bent plates of blood/ the
Her attention to the most miniscule detail and her grand explanations of spaces impacts her writing style and her reader’s reactions. This particularity is seen in this example: “I woke to a room of sunshine. A wispy-thin curtain veiled a multi paned sliding door of glass...The windows needed washing but slid easily apart and I stepped out onto a tilted balcony, a string mop on a hook to the left of me, and a half-missing board where I had planned to put my right foot. The breath went out of me...About 200 feet below was the sea… (151).” The authors account of this event could have been dull and simple as “There was a hole in the floor of the balcony”, but instead she chose to use detail and descriptors to engage the reader to imagine seeing the strange hotel room that almost turned her relaxing morning into a 200 foot
The imagery is meant to bring the reader with the main character, make them feel as though they are experiencing his struggles. Jack London did just so when describing his characters strug...