Warm-up - Quickwrite Prompt - What was your reaction to Nickel and Dimed? Were your perceptions of working class and the working poor transformed or verified by reading this book? Explain. To what extent were your perceptions about the world of work changed or reinforced?
Classwork - Whole Class Discussion of Nickel and Dimed (see attached notes)
Homework - Define rhetoric
PD 2 Discussion
Did you think her experience was equal to conditions other working class people endure? What advantages did she have that they did not?
• Equal to an extent , some worse than her & vice versa. Had advantage of this not being her real life & she actually had own job
• Didn’t have the same experience as those who actually had to endure this in their real lives. No family,
• Could easily relocate and switch jobs if she had to, had savings money in comparison to people who did not have these savings and would have had to work harder
• Hard to not use previously attained knowledge when in work force. Subconsciously used knowledge. Ex- interviewed better
• Had a car & was paid off. Low wage workers most likely have taken out loans if they even had a car
• Had the option of healthcare & the money to take care of random sickness or condition. Ex- rash
• Entire experience inauthentic, “fake life”, no back up plan for regular low wage workers. Regular people had a multitude of problems that she would have never faced.
• Referred to it as an experiment and constantly repeated this instead of trying to fully immerse herself into the life of a low wage worker in those respective places
• Dramatized/ had to because she knew it was fake and emphasis was necessary to keep reader interested
• Cant “buy” struggle & cannot be put into situation legitimately
• Too many perks and lavish things to fully endure low wage life
• Exploiting experience of real low wage workers.
• Credit to Ehrenreich for actually trying and experiencing events detailed in novel
• Didn’t completely forget about those who she worked with & tried to help with minimum wage standards
Why do you think that poverty is cyclical?
• So many obstacles to endure, once past one obstacle another comes up
• Poor tend to not have education and cannot save up money due to lack of sufficient funds
• Always discouraged to attempt to better their situation due to regulations, don’t want the stress of being let down repeatedly
• Cannot afford to not have a job if they wished to search for a better & high paying job or opportunity to raise level of education.
• Tend to be unhealthier because healthier foods cost more & those living in motels & other living arrangements do not have the luxury of a kitchen that includes a stove.
Pd 3
Did you think her experience was equal to conditions other working class people endure? What advantages did she have that they did not?
• Experiences real, lifestyle was basically equal. Not totally authentic because it was not her regular lifestyle. Partial advantages.
• Disadvantages also, convenience of travel. Previous money saved before. Wasn’t accustomed to the lifestyle.
• Major advantage of car. Without mobility, tasks that Ehrenreich did would be not as easy
• Major advantage was the confidence and energy she had to approach the job
• Ehrenreich had no children to feed or other family members to support
• Extra leftover money from previous jobs was an advantage
Drug testing
• Drug testing is for good reason
• Drug free workers are more productive
• Background tests should also get attention along with drug tests
• Background tests done mostly
• Drug tests are often inaccurate and easy to get around
• Drug addicts could get around tests easily
• Random testing could be adequate alternative
• Weaknesses in targeting specific groups and possibility of missing drug users
• Drugs are not the only threat for employers
• Not announcing drug tests affects behavior profoundly
• *off topic sorta* airplane testing random people, often viewed by people as profiling
• Profiling is still prevalent issue
• Profiling is human nature
• If not human nature, it is instilled generally very early in life
What do you think that Ehrenreich should be given credit?
• Ehrenreich shouldn’t be given too much credit for actual experiment because many of the thoughts conveyed were not her own
• Ehrenreich good narrator overall, gets off topic often
• Ehrenreich may have come off as “rude” or “insensitive”
• Not credible source, had many advantages
• Had advantage of leaving jobs while her co-workers were stuck there
• Often very hypocritical? Conflicting thoughts by her
• Did try to understand and grasp certain challenges as best as she could
• Good choice by going to Maine and Minnesota because of the competition with other Caucasian workers
• Very weird when categorizing different feces (lol)
• Explicit details inserted in book to help convey the disgust felt by her
Why do you think that poverty is cyclical?
• People are born into poverty and its hard to break the cycle
• Once into poverty, it is hard to escape because the money that is made goes to essentials
• If one were to try to get a new job then they risk missing work at current job and losing money
• Education is key
• When born into poverty, mindset is very important
• Poverty is very communal, community can greatly influence individuals
• Motivation sometimes just isn’t enough when the funds aren’t there
• In certain areas, poverty weighs down on the one impoverished area, and life sometimes is expected
• A lot of times, poverty is adapted to and becomes instilled in their lives.
Should there be more or less regulations for business owners(such as health insurance)
• Health insurance should be made more affordable for small businesses and families
• Health problems are not by choice for the most part.
• Insurance companies can charge base premiums to their desire
• Consumers do not have the choice to receive the cheapest health coverage possible
• Companies would rather insure people with little health problems for most profit
• US should have health insurance
• Problem is that it conflicts with US constitution
• People are often prioritized in other countries government provided systems
Pd 4 Discussion
Do the advantages that Ehrenreich had invalidate her experiment or was she able to honestly experience the conditions of the working poor?
-stand up to bosses
-cars go further
-knew people to live with
-had something to back up on to
-no kids
-wasn’t starting from scratch
-had money for side problems (dermatologist)
-didn’t have fear of being homeless or starving
-wasn’t a real experience for her
-selfish and didn’t get the real idea
-doesn’t have the same mindset as those living in the low wage working class- transitioned from high to low
-journalistic and just her experiment to see if it was possible to survive off minimum wage.
-her experience was easier to relate to
How you think we should handle health insurance for the working poor?
-should be free for working poor
-they work the hardest
-can’t financially afford to pay for health insurance
-giving the working poor free insurance wouldn’t be financially possible for the government
-investigate on the people who receive free healthcare
-find out which people really need it
-some major employers should provide their employees with healthcare
-
No comments:
Post a Comment