Nickel and Dimed Book Review

Thomas Randall, Allison Young, Emily Coon, Reilly Johnson

10/27/11

            Barbara Ehrenreich, a journalist, undergoes a social and economic experiment to evaluate the conditions and life styles of low wage workers around various locations in the United States. She goes under-cover as a low wage worker herself in order to gain information and inform her audience about how employees survive on low wage salaries. By the end of the book, Ehrenreich’s purpose extends to increasing awareness on the low wage work force and the rights they deserve. This started off as an assignment for her job, but turned into a personal challenge to survive.

            Ehrenreich’s book is primarily directed toward middle or upper-class working adults who are unaware of the conditions of low wage workers. It is apparent that this is her intended audience because she uses common jargon and colloquial terms so the majority of her audience can understand it. This audience is appealed to by Ehrenreich’s conversational tone and her authentic portrayal of her thoughts.

            She does a good job giving information to the audience about the logistics of low wage workers. It is clear and easy to understand and she also provides a good balance of personal experience and general trends so that it isn’t solely an opinion piece. She includes qualitative and quantitative observations that provide more information and a clear image. The clarity aided her in revealing information which was her original goal; to express the conditions of low wage workers.

            Although informative and eye opening, Ehrenreich’s disrespectful attitude and stereotyping distracted from the overall issue of the low wage workers conditions. She provided a clear depiction of the lower-class lifestyle but included unnecessary and rude comments along the way. These comments make the reader less compelled to empathize with her.

            We would recommend this book to working adults over teenagers and low wage workers. It will be informative and eye opening to working adults who haven’t been exposed to this kind of lifestyle.

Hallowweeeeennnn!

It seems like everyone I talk to has these monumental memories of Halloweens of his or her childhood. Was I deprived a childhood? Is my view of fun distorted? You may ask why I am asking myself these questions and my answer would be this; I don't like Halloween. My memories purely consist of jealousy over other costumes and arguments over candy. I've never understood why people are so in love with a holiday that is simply about disguising yourself and running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Nothing about that is appealing to me. I used to LOVE Halloween. L.O.V.E. And it's not like there has been some scarring moment that I have witnessed or experienced. I just don't like it anymore. And plus. Lets be honest. We gain like 100,000 pounds a year. So, for my loving halloween memory, it's non-existent. Sorry to be a downer but... on the bright side... 55 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!!

things that push my buttons

1. unorganized dishes in the dishwasher. honest to god it's not that hard to put the plates in order by size. big plate big plate big plate big plate big plate and next row little plate little plate little plate little plate.
2. my sister stealing my underwear.
3. non-mechanical pencils
4. hair on someone's back
5. people saying "that awkward moment when..." if it's that awkward, you don't need to say that we'll figure it out on our own.
6. someone breathing on my neck. ew
7. when my bottom sheet doesn't match the first one
8. leggings with a shirt that doesn't cover your ass
9. people who think i'm weird because i don't like fruit flavored things (juice, fruit snacks, fruit roll ups, popsicles, jolly ranchers, pie... etc.)
10. ugly hand writing. if it's ugly, never ask to trade papers
11. people who try to change the radio station in my car. MY CAR
12. my brother because all my friends think he's sooooo dreammyyyy
13. the marker holding ledge on white boards
14. lipstick. no one can rock it
15. heels at school unless you're a teacher you just look like a prostitute

American Reputations

No, I didn't get a chance to watch all of 2 Million Minutes, and I didn't read "For Once, Blame It On The Students." No, I'm not a telepathic genius which, therefor, means I don't know what is expected from me in this post. No, I'm not trying to be quiet while my brother, Max, is sleeping on the other end of the couch. Yes, I do need to be right back because I'm going to grab some food. NUM NUM. And yes, I do think America needs to understand its reputation. Allow me to explain. In 2 Million Minutes (I watched it last year in World History) Americans are compared to students in India and China. I feel that the video is a stab at American culture. Maybe in China and India, being extremely smart is the norm and having school dominate social life is expected but, America is different. The colleges that students are dying to get in to are the colleges that not only require borderline perfect grades but also a flawless community service record and abundant extracurriculars. How are we supposed to study and do homework as much as the other countries do when our requirements aren't purely school inclusive? I don't think that we, the citizens of the U.S.A, see ourselves as slacking or lazy but, I don't doubt that that is how we are perceived by those in other countries such as China or India. We don't recognized the difference because that is all we've ever known. In "I Just Wanna Be Average," there are more examples of how America has accepted and conformed to being mediocre. No one should want to be average; one should have enough confidence to believe that he/she can be better than average. At the school Mike Rose attends, he is placed in the lower of two curriculums. The fact that there even are two curriculums shows that America has lowered its standards. We are saying "it's ok to not try hard, we've got an app for that." By no means is this saying that I'm ashamed of America. Not at all. I just feel that we don't understand how we are perceived by others.

facebook>homework

Homework is the closest thing to impossible that I have ever attempted. Even without distractions it takes months and months. And for our generation, facebook is the definition of distraction. The sad thing is that I still wonder why my grades are faltering even though I have no doubt that Facebook is the cause. Who am I kidding? It's my addiction to Facebook that's the cause. I'd be embarrassed except I know that the vast majority of people my age are going through the exact same dilemma. At any given time in the night when I log on, there are 89+ "friends" on setting their statuses, picture stalking the prettiest girls in the grade, or trying to decide whether or not to poke their crush.

I go through hour after hour clicking through pictures and my newsfeed almost every night no matter school night or weekend night. I find myself, mid homework, logging on to my 5th grade AIM email facebook account to make sure no one is having more fun than I am. Andddd not only do I look at every single status while trying to figure out one to write for myself that will get the maximum "likes" and comments. Social image in this day and age is much more important than how well we do on homework.

President Obama's Back to School Speech Analysis

• Started with a class of 2012 student as the one to introduce him. Immediately this makes the audience comfortable because, since the speech was directed at students, we could relate to her.
• She spoke of "painful dilemmas," "minorities," "self-determination," and "it's up to me" which showed that it's possible to make it through the troubles to become successful.
• When Obama walks in, he is dressed formally but his walk is casual and calm. He even hops up a step a little bit, waves, hugs the student, and says "Hey" as the first word of his speech.
• Credits the principle, the mayor of D.C, Arnie Duncan (Sec. of Edu.) and their school which makes him seem modest because he's a bigger deal than any of them. The thought is nice though.
• Welcomed "ALL" students; not just the ones who are there but, students all around the world so that we know that he is addressing us all.
• Says that he understands the strain of sports, band, church, extracurriculars, facebook/twitter, jobs and the economy which develops trust between the students and him since we know that he has a sense of what we're going through.
• "You're this country's future; you are young leaders." and the nation will depend on us. That also makes us more likely to take action because he is putting a responsibility on our shoulders and he trusts us to uphold it.
• Repeats "you have to..." multiple times for emphasis
• Pauses after most sentences throughout the entire speech to let the audience chew on what he said and to understand it.
• He let's us in on a "secret" that he wasn't the best student. Lets the listeners relate to him but, almost undermines him because he is admitting that he hasn't always been as smart or as put together as he is now.
• Doesn't change his hand gestures much except to point to the audience when addressing them directly.
• "Diverse nation" was smart to include because the students in the school he was speaking at were of all ethnicities so, they didn't feel discluded
• +60% of jobs in the next decade will require more than a high school diploma (logos)
• We were 1st in the world with the highest portion of students graduation high school and now we rank 16th.
• leaves time for the reaction: audience member whistles
• Again gives us the responsibliity or upholding our nations future
• Continuing education will lead to "better jobs, more fufilling lives, and greater opportunities for our children" is a good motivator for us because that is what we all want in the future.
• "RIGHT NOW" calling us to action
• He speaks of the parents who love us to death which creates pathos and ethos because he is speaking from experience.
• Tells us that all levels of government are working very hard to give us the best possible education which is pathos because it's almost a guilt trip by saying that these people are working their hardest to ensure you a good life and you can't just throw it all away.
• Seems to know ALOT about teachers and their feelings toward students which I found to be very clever because he includes them also since they are working very hard and long hours to provide for us.
• Doesn't look down at paper at all when speaking of the amazing students who have done a lot of work so we know he is being genuine.
• Pauses in clever places; for laughs, impact... ect
• "Your country is depending on you" (responsiblility again)
• Ends by saying "Lets get to work" so it lets us know that it will be a group effort to do well all around the nation in education.
• "Thank you, God bless you, God bless America." I was surprised when he said God bless because I feel that will all the diversity, that could be taken in a wrong way but, he still got a standing ovation to which he waved and smiled.
• Throughout the entire speech, he seemed calm and cool and collected and that put the audience at ease also.