Consider the reading for 12/3:
Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting
By in America, Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Company, New York,
2001.
Pick ONE of the following questions to answer:
Introduction: Getting Ready (1-10)
1. What is the undertaking that Barbara Ehrenreich describes in her
book. Why did she decide to do this?
2. Barbara establishes a set of rules and limits for participating
in this experiment? What are those rules and limits? Would
you have added any other rules and if so - what would they be?
3. Would you be willing to engage in such an experiment? Is your
age a factor in how successful you would be in this type of experiment?
Explain. Does being male or female make a difference and if so, in
what ways?
Pick TWO of the following questions to anwer:
Serving in Florida (11-50)
1. Describe Barbara's employment experience in Florida? Jobs?
Wages? Etc.
2. What are the obstacles to "making ends meet" that Barbara faces
in Key West? When considering these obstacles, how might Key West
compare to Oswego, NY?
3. What does Barbara mean when she says there are no secret "economies"
that nourish the poor? What are the "special costs" that poor workers
must face? (pages 27-28)
4. Why does Barbara feel that she has failed in this first phase of
her experiment? Do you think she has failed? Explain.