Great job so far, folks!

Great job so far, folks!  Keep on reading, thinking, and posting your ideas.  Remember to respond to these books with your ideas and analysis of what the author's intent was.  Thanks for sharing so far!   -Mrs. Koch

All Quiet On The Western Front

In the novel, All Quiet On the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque jumps from one idea to another in order to more fully enhance the telling of the story. In this way, he can not only tell of fighting in the front line, but also how Paul Baumer got along with his companions, what lead him to enlist, not to mention how people treated him while on leave. It was interesting to note that often Paul Baumer reflected on the idea of not reflecting at all. According to him, what saved a man’s life was not thinking about what was happening, but merely acting on instinct. Therefore, it makes sense that Remarque uses this technique because it helps the reader attempt to picture what the soldiers were feeling. At times jumping from one numbing emotion to another. Like Detering in chapter 11; one day he saw a cherry tree and lost it for a bit because it reminded him of home. Remarque also uses a lot of imagery to describe nature in order to add to the story. For example, in chapter 4 pg 55 second paragraph, you can see how much emphasis is put on the idea of a “mother nature.” Finally, it was interesting that the soldiers discussed how the decision of a few people could lead such a number of the population to war.

Nickel and Dimed

In Nickel and Dimed, written by Barbara Ehrenreich, Ehrenreich is thrown into the world of minimum wage working. Going in as in undercover journalist, Ehrenreich sets out to discover if the welfare reform is successful or if it leaves people stuck in poverty. In each of the three places Ehrenreich visits, she runs into many of the same problems. One of the main problems for her is housing. She discovers that much of the low income housing is actually out of reach for minimum wage workers. To find the most affordable housing Ehrenreich must sacrifice comfort and general cleanliness. But even just finding housing can prove to be a problem. Ehrenreich must spend the first few days or even weeks in a hotel, which can lead to being extremely costly. While Ehrenreich searches for a place to live, she also applies to as many minimum wage jobs as possible. This, too, proves to be a problem, as some employers say they are hiring even if they aren’t because many people quit and leave without notice. Once she settles with a job, it surprises her how difficult the jobs can actually be. Each job requires it’s own special skill set, and can be extremely hard if you do not have those skills. Most of the jobs Ehrenreich acquires also put her in physical pain, but they don’t offer any sort of health benefits, or even enough money to buy her own pain medication. While working at these jobs, Ehrenreich is made to feel inferior to the bosses, and can’t stand up for herself for fear of losing the job. If she loses her job, she can’t afford rent and is forced to live in her car. Many of her fellow employees lived with family of friends so that the cost of rent could be lowered. Ehrenreich finds that to actually live with a house and food, you must have two jobs. She also finds that working two jobs is nearly impossible, especially for people who are older or have any medical conditions. All of Ehrenreich’s experiences have opened her eyes to the world of poverty. She has seen that poverty is not a result of laziness or a person being bad; it is a result of hardworking people not being paid enough to support themselves, much less their families. In the “Evaluation” chapter, Ehrenreich argues that the welfare reform does not work, and until employers raise their employee’s pay and landlord’s lower the cost of housing, the people stuck in poverty will never get out.

Question #17: I do think that having any job is better then no job at all, just as having any sort of income is better then none. This book made me a little more understanding, but I feel that Ehrenreich failed to touch on one huge point. None of the people she worked with were educated beyond college. I understand that money and time are needed for college, but it seems that no effort was made to find a better job. They worked the jobs they were qualified for. Ehrenreich went to college and was qualified for a higher paying job.

Nickel and Dimed

In the book Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich is faced with many struggles as she lives a life of poverty. In all three of her scenarios she is faced with like struggles. Three of her main struggles are surviving on a low income job, working with unfair management, and living and working in harsh conditions. After spending the time in these jobs and scenarios, she has become more informed and understanding of living a life of poverty because she was forced to live it. She noticed that people living with an inadequate wage have a hard time finding work and a secure and clean place to live. They also struggle with the mental and physical challenges that come with each job. Many minimum wage workers have long hours and the stress of figuring out how to get by.

Questions for Discussion #16:
Yes I believe that Barbara's experience would be different in today's economy, but it would still be as difficult if not more difficult to find a job because of the 2008 economic downfall. There are little to no job opportunities out there, but upon finding a job it would be more likely to have better working conditions and pay because of workers standing up for their rights and new laws being put in place.

Nickel and Dimed

In her book, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich is faced with many struggles as she lives a minimum-wage life. Ehrenreich experiences the same struggles in all three of her locations. She is forced to work under harsh management, to work and live in bad environments, and trying to survive on a low-wage budget. Her time spent in these situations opened her eyes to the world of poverty because she was living in it. She knew what it was like to try to survive off of low-wage incomes, how hard it was to find jobs and housing, and just how difficult it is to get by.
Questions for Discussion: number 9- I think low wage workers are reluctant to form labor organizations due to fear of the possibility of losing their job. With little or no job opportunities these people are forced to stay with their job. Rather then protest or strike, I think employees should work together to try to improve their work conditions, try to talk to their bosses or management and see what they have to say about it, and if they don't do anything about it, protesting or going on strike is always an option. As long as a large group of employees band together to try to get something changed, management may be more reluctant to firing people and may try to make some changes.

The Martian Chronicles

The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury easily resembles the Europeans colonization of the Americas. A prime example is the people of Earth overcoming the Martian planet within only years of their arrival, and when Europeans came to the Americas they were also seen colonizing and taking over the landscape within decades. Freedom was also another noticeable part of colonization many people going to mars were in search of something away from war and all the pressures of Earth/United States government,and within years the government followed and began turning Mars into another Earth. As noticed with the Europeans invasion of the Americas the same occured with people coming for religious freedom, a new chance to live, but Everyone came to follow and turned the Americas into another Europe. The exploration of Mars can easily be shown in comparison to the colinization of the Americas, it started with Christopher Columbus and Nathaniel York, after exploration news was brought forth and the people in search of freedoms would come to escape. Following them would be higher people (wealthy/government) to break down the landscape and reform it to fit the needs of their Nation. Within exploration came calamity and endangerment to the indigenous people, literally pushing the Martians of Mars, or Native Americans away from their homeland with no respect of them. The Martian Chronicles is the perfect example of human exspansion, and the effects we have upon foreign lands.

The Martian Chronicles

In the novel, The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury the outlay of the story very much closely resembles the colonization of the Americas. For example, both “stories” begin with civilizations who are simply trying to carry out their own existence. As new intruders enter both societies, both the Martians and the Native Americans react in varying ways. Sometimes simply not believing, other times hiding. As colonization takes place in the novel, you see people change Mars to more closely resemble Earth. For example, adding trees and giving familiar names to the landscape. Much like the Europeans when they reached the Americas. for example, when the Europeans arrived, they found a world with an entirely different climate than their own. Soon they were building homes the way they had in Europe and running their towns in much the same way that they knew how. Sometimes they left the Martians original architecture with respect, other times defiling it. Bradbury even goes far enough to show the types of people that arrived on Mars. He shows that the first were explorers, much like Christopher Columbus, followed by the “loners” or those who were to try to break the land. The last of course being the refined and wealthy.