Student Insider's Guide

• Teaching suggestions
• Formal Writing Assignments
• Informal Writing Assignments

• Film and video clips
• Out of class experiences
• Other reports

Resources developed by Professor Rita Kranidis, Coordinator of the Writing in the Disciplines Program, and Professor Gregory Wahl, of the English Department. 
 

Teaching Suggestions:

Nickel and Dimed is an excellent tool for teaching across the disciplines and a variety of course objectives.  It provides opportunities for learning and talking about issues such as standard of living, socioeconomic class, health care, homelessness, labor, wages, among others.  All of these topics can be approached from a strictly disciplinary perspective (math, sociology, nursing, economics, etc) or from a cross-disciplinary angle that allows different disciplines to be utilized together toward a greater understanding of the issue.

Writing is an essential skill.  Our students need it for success in education, professional pursuits, and in their personal lives. In fact, we know that without strong writing and communication skills, they are likely to not succeed.

Whatever your academic area or course and however you choose to teach this book, adding writing is sure to enhance your students’ learning experience.  You have many options in terms of what kinds of writing you will require and to what purpose.  You also have many options for how the writing will be used, how much it will count, and how you will respond to it.  Writing assignments give students an opportunity to engage the book and its issues in depth and to think about its meanings; it can also encourage them to make connections between what is presented in the book and the world as they know it.  Invariably, writing that asks students to think more deeply (and to then share those thoughts with others in the class) makes them better critical thinkers and good communicators.

Formal writing generally demonstrates what students have learned.  It counts for a good portion of the course grade and is usually turned in after it has been revised and carefully edited.  It is likely to be an essay, report, or other document that follows an accepted format for the discipline. Sometimes, formal writing entails research. Formal writing is generally very focused on audience (who will read the document?) and is evaluated based on specific criteria that match the learning objectives for the course.

Some examples of formal writing assignments:

Research paper (or report) that provides additional information on topic

• Proposal

• Argument

• Persuasive Essay

• Extended definition of a key term (homelessness, poverty, etc)

• Analysis of an article

• PowerPoint Presentation

• Well-supported letter to a political official

• Publication outlining/illustrating key features of issue in an informative manner

Some suggestions from other colleges, for formal writing on Nickel and Dimed:

1.  UC-Irvine Learning Center: http://www.larc.uci.edu/lewc/39C-3.html

Introduction to Paper #3
Your objective in this assignment is to identify and endorse what you claim to be the best plan under consideration today by demonstrating that this plan is necessary and superior to any alternatives.  In the first part of the assignment, you will write a brief e-mail to your instructor that proposes the topic of your Advocacy Essay.  Parts of your e-mail proposal may be revised later and included in your Advocacy Essay.  Your primary purpose in this part of the assignment is to introduce a policy plan that merits further consideration.  You are proposing a research and writing agenda for your final essay.  The grade for this e-mail assignment will be determined by how clearly and convincingly you make a case for proceeding to the Advocacy Essay, that is, persuading your instructor that your project is workable.

For the Advocacy Essay, you will write a well-researched, coherent, and balanced essay that analyzes and advocates a pending policy initiative designed to address one of the problems described in Nickel and Dimed.  This paper is the culmination of the course and will demonstrate what you have learned about argument and research.  Strong essays will identify an appropriate, current public policy initiative, explain its strengths, and acknowledge any opposition.

Assignment # 3:  Advocacy Essay

Identify the Problem and Your Position
For this assignment you must identify a problem addressed in Nickel and Dimed that your initiative will address.  Briefly introduce your subject by recounting how Ehrenreich describes the problem.  You are not required to adopt or refute any position she takes on public policy.  Whether you agree with her or not, you need to demonstrate that you recognize how she understands the social problem that motivates your proposal.  You must then communicate your position on the issue as to why you think action is necessary.  Relate your concerns to those of your audience.  For many papers, depending upon the topic, some account of the history and CAUSE of the problem will be necessary for the explanation of why and how the public polity must be changed.

Analyze the Plan that You Advocate
You must establish your position as to what the appropriate solution to the problem should be and advocate a policy proposal you believe to be the best response to your problem, providing good reasons for your endorsement.  In this section you must provide the name of a policy initiative that is currently under SERIOUS consideration; identify the sponsor of this proposal and their interests or affiliations; provide an overview of the plan, its scope and objectives; demonstrate that the plan is feasible. Included in this task is showing that the plan is timely and reasonable.

Analyze the Alternatives and Argue Your Endorsement
In this section you must consider alternative proposals and arguments that counter your own.  Be certain to use these counter-arguments to strengthen your own case by responding to them with rebuttal arguments.  You will be required to provide the name of at least one alternate policy initiave being considered; discuss the background of the sponsor of this  initiative; provide an overview of the plan's objective; analyze the crucial differences between plans; argue key reasons why your plan is superior; concede at least one limitation or drawback to your own plan; reaffirm why your plan is still the best initiative to support; and finally, endorse this plan as the best proposal under consideration today.  You might want to conclude your essay with an extended advocacy statement on behalf of the pending public policy initiative.  What can your audience do to support it?  What are the chances of its success?  What needs to happen to ensure its success? 

Cite Ethos with Your Sources
You should cite at least one piece of first-hand evidence; cite at least one graphic element that conveys appropriate evidence, and as always, cite a variety of sources.  Be sure that your sources are primary, written by experts in the field.  Be sure that the majority of sources were published within the last 12 months.  Be sure to have a properly formatted Works Cited page immediately following the essay.

2.  Belmont Abbey College (NC): http://www.belmontabbeycollege.edu/academics/firstYearProgram/first-year-summer-assign.aspx

Part I. Please answer the following question as completely as possible.

Ehrenreich experienced remarkable goodwill, generosity, and solidarity among her colleagues in the jobs she has taken. Does this surprise you? Why? And, can this be understood as hospitality? Why or why not?

Part II. Please answer two (2) of the following questions as completely as possible.

Have your notions of poverty and prosperity changed since reading Nickel and Dimed? How have they changed? Have you ever been in a service industry, and was your experience similar to Ehrenreich’s? Please explain. If you have not worked in a service industry, how do you treat waiters, maids, and salespeople?

• After reading Nickel and Dimed, and from your own experience and those whom you know, do you believe that those living in the United States today have equal opportunity to live a dignified life? Please explain your position thoroughly.

• What surprised you and disturbed you about Ehrenreich’s experiences in Nickel and Dimed? Please explain.

Informal writing meets a very different purpose than formal writing.  Here, students are writing to forge a bond with writing, to master the course content, and to develop writing and learning skills rather than to demonstrate what they already know.  Generally, informal writing is not polished; the focus is on what is being communicated/discovered  and not on how it is written.  It is generally a good idea to assign much informal writing during the course of the semester.

 Some types of informal writing are:

• Free-writing to discover own ideas

• Brainstorming, listing

• Letter to a friend, family member, peer

• Reaction to

• Script of a conversation or argument on an issue

• Reflection, journal entry

• Outlining

• Quick response to a question, prompt

• Reflections on how my thinking has changed

• Thoughts on my writing so far

• Private writing on the topic, that no one sees

Sometimes informal writing is assigned as a timed, in-class activity that is used for discussion.  At other times, it is assigned as a step in work toward a longer and possibly formal writing assignment or presentation.

Some suggestions from other colleges, for informal writing tasks on Nickel and Dimed:

1.  Regis University (CO): http://academic.regis.edu/mdaly/nickel and dimed.htm

Objective

The objective of this exercise is to become familiar with the trials and troubles of the working class poor.  We lead privileged lives – many of us never having to face the difficulties of surviving on poverty-level wages.  As you prepare to enter the workforce, a basic understanding of these inequities is the first step in acting upon them.  In addition, you may find that some of the issues faced by the author parallel those you face in your internship.

Required Writing

• Based on your experience, knowledge, insight, and intuition, your assignment is to write a reflective paper in response to the book.  Though I want you to use your imagination, ideas that you may want to explore include:
• Do you suspect that anyone at your current place of employment (internship) holds a job similar to those you read about?  How do you feel about it?  Have you had an opportunity to discuss their situations with them?  What did you learn?
• Have you ever held a job that is similar to those held by the author?  Explain these experiences.  Were you providing your own support at the time?  If not, how would your experience have differed?  How would it have differed if you were also supporting a family?  Have you had bad experiences with supervisors or unreasonable hours?
• What is your perception of the stories explored in the book?  Should something be done about it or is that “just the way it is?”  Is there anything that you, individually, can do about it now?  Later?

 2.  University of North Carolina Summer Reading Program: http://www.unc.edu/srp/srp2003/

Have you or others you know worked in the service industries described in Nickel and Dimed? How do the stories you know or have heard compare to Ehrenreich's accounts?

• Nickel and Dimed introduces concerns about health care, affordable housing, childcare, education, public transportation, and community support for low-wage workers. Who should take the lead in solving the problems of low-wage work in America? Low-wage workers?  Business owners? Service Industry leaders? Politicians? Faith communities? Voters? Educators?

• What do you think of Ehrenreich's representation of the businesses in which she participates? Are her reports fair? Accurate? Biased? What makes her account credible or questionable in your view? What are the limits of her research or what information did you feel was missing in her account? What ethical obligations must a researcher weigh in reporting about the experiences of others?

• Ehrenreich took a personal and sociological approach to investigating low-wage work in America. How might you investigate the topic? Through history? Law? Health? Education? Political Science? Psychology? Geography? Anthropology? Literature? Business? Where might you look next to gain another perspective on this topic? What questions seem most important to you to answer?

• Ehrenreich's account is a reflection of her own experience. How might her experience have been different if she were male? If she were a person of color? If she had little education? How do issues of race, class, or gender connect with low-wage work?

• What does it mean to be an ethical employee or an ethical employer?

Choose among the following films: Roger and Me, by Roger Moore; Norma Rae, with Sally Field; Bread and Roses; Matewan.

After viewing the film, do some free writing* for a full 15 minutes or more.  Note your reactions to these films; you will probably address questions such as:

• What made an impression or stood out for you? 
• What kinds of themes does the film focus on?
• What did you learn from watching this film?
• How does it change or add to your thinking about its topic? 

Take a moment to consider any questions that come up for you after watching this film. What more would you like to learn about this topic? What kinds of research might you do to help you address those questions? 

Save this piece of writing. You may be asked to share some of it in class or to develop it and use it as a seed for a longer essay or paper for the course.

* Free writing:  Writing nonstop, without pausing to correct or edit. A way of getting your thoughts down on paper as quickly and as directly as possible.  A good tool for discovering what you think/believe, searching your mind.
 

What kinds of parallels can be drawn between some of the problems covered in the book and our own immediate surroundings?

Visit a site in your community that is also addressed in Nickel and Dimed, such as Walmart, the local small restaurant or coffee shop, or other community location and pan to spend at least 15 minutes.  Jot down your observations at this location: What kind of work happens here? Who is working? What are some of the activities that you see the workers engaging in?  What observations can you make about the customers and their activity in this place?

• Talk with a friend, relative or immediate family member about their work experiences and their thoughts on the status of poorer, working-class people in this country.  Perhaps they can share insights on experiences of these issues in other countries and cultures.  Jot down key sentences, images, words, ideas that strike you as unique or important.  What stories do these people tell about work and survival? How does their experience add to your thinking about these issues.
• Visit a local homeless shelter to help out and to learn more about its clients’ stories.  What kinds of intervention might have prevented their homelessness?
• Notice, over the next few days, how homelessness and poverty are talked about.  You may initiate some discussions, but be careful not to prejudice opinions with your tone.  How do people seem to view the homeless?  What kinds of assumptions are made about people who struggle financially?  What kinds of attitudes prevail?  --Once you have made a summary of your findings, take some time to reflect on them.  What are some of the perceptions and attitudes based on? Are they fair or unfair? Are they harmful, and how so? How might they be corrected?  What kinds of information might nudge people from their assumptions and stereotypes?
• Do a brief interview with someone who can add first-hand knowledge on poverty, unemployment, the health care crisis, homelessness, and such issues.  This person may work in any of these fields or be an expert in some other way. Jot down key sentences, images, words, ideas that strike you as unique or important.  How does the information you gain here add to your thinking about these issues?