All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front, a story of Paul Baumer's experiences at war, is a very scattered story that leaves the reader wanting more. The author records the many aspects involved in the war including life out on the front line, or back at base just hanging with the guys. He also shares of what its like to go on leave and what it was like to be in the hospital, recovery areas after an injury. Baumer also goes into immense detail in some cases of war and makes it very easy for the reader to picture how horrible the senario was. You can also easily tell that the guys together at the war base really became like family and war becamse pretty much their whole lives. By switching from one aspect of war to another it makes the story exciting and a little more real, because in war you never know what to expect to come next.

The Martian Chronicles

In Ray Bradbury's book, The Martian Chronicles, many people from Earth went to the planet of Mars to explore the new possibilities. This is similer to the explorers who found America and started colonizing. In both cases, the explorers were just looking for something new and exciting and once they found there areas, they realized there were already people living there. The colonizers of America found the native Indians, and the explorers of Mars found the martians. Neither the native Indians or the Martians were cooperative with the new arrivals. They both put up fights but werent very successful because of the devastating disease brought over by the new explorers. In the end, America was a successful colonized area where as Mars was unsuccessful and very poorly populated.

Nickel and Dimed

In Nickel and Dimed, some of the struggles that Barbara faces are finding suitable housing, affording food daily, extra health expenses in Maine, and having respectable clothing. Most low-wage workers often have to think of these things daily. Ehrenreich's argument in the Evaluation chapter is that poverty is a "state of emergency." By this she is saying that people see poverty as an ongoing situation, something that "will always be there." Instead we should see each situation caused by poverty as an emergence situation. She also points out how easy it can be to forget the struggles of poverty once she returns to her upper-middle class lifestyle. When you are not in a place where poverty effects you it is easy to overlook or not "see" the poor. Ehrenreich states that most Americans believe "people who work full time should be able to earn enough to keep their families out of poverty." This supports the idea that if you work hard you should succeed. This author has found that even when you work hard you can still find yourself in poverty. The professional middle class tend to think that unemployment results in poverty; therefore we blame it on the economy. In reality, even in full employment the problem goes deeper.

#2. My perception of the blue-collar workers was reinforced after reading Nickel and Dimed. In coming from a middle class household I have seen my family strive to "make ends meet." This has only made me want to work harder and get a higher education. My thoughts of poverty vs. prosperity have not changed since reading this book. Growing up in a catholic school, I have had the opportunity to participate in many service projects. During the service projects I have helped a lot of unfortunate people and each experience has taught me something important. I know that i want to strive to do well for myself and be able to help others in need. When I am at restaurants or shopping I realize how hard people work to serve others and try to make there job as easy as possible.

The Martian Chronicles

In The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury, the colonization that occurs on Mars is similar to the colonization of America. In both cases, there were expeditions created to explore the new land. They needed to see if these new lands were capable of supporting life. Once that was finished the expeditions continued and people began creating their new lives. In the colonization of Mars and of America the natives proved to be an obstacle. They didn't want these new people taking over their home land. Disease proved to be a factor in how well the colonization occurred. It caused the death of many of the natives. In both events, people had their own reasons for moving to new land, and both experienced leaving some family and friends behind.

The Martian Chronicals

In the book, The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury, the colonization of Mars seems very similar to the colonization of America. On both Mars and in America, the new land had to be looked over and made sure it was capable of supporting life. Once colonized, both Mars and America took some getting used to. It took people time to understand their surroundings and how to survive off them. Also, in both colonizations, the colonizers had to deal with the natives who were sometimes not receptive to their efforts to colonize the land. The people colonizing America were trying to get a new start and leave their old lives behind, as well as the people colonizing Mars, who were trying to get a fresh start. In both of these situations, the colonization and the lives of the people were similar because they both had to learn how to adapt to their new surroundings and prosper there.

All Quiet on The Western Front

All Quiet on The Western Front, by Erich Remarque changes from scene to scene explaining how war isn't steady but an ever changing experience. At one point there may be a calm chatter amongst the men and at another time they are in the front lines watching their brothers die. Paul Baumer gets to experience many things during the war. Bloodshed, hunger, disease, and the toll that war takes on a human being. But also shares company with his fellow friends whether it be playing cards, talking, or acquiring sustenance. Within the chapters it jumps from calm to hectic and uncertain fighting. The jumping of scenes doesn't detract from the story but makes you wonder and want to continue reading. During a few chapters the scenery is described in fine detail. As Paul returns home he explains his home and during his time in the front he explains the destroyed area around him. An interesting note is that through out the book you find that the second company becomes more and more emotionally deadened. At one time they explained why the have naked men were hanging in the trees and had thought nothing much of it.

Nickel and Dimed

In the novel Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich faces many struggles as a low-wage worker. The two struggles she faced most was finding a job to support her new lifestyle and also finding a place to live that she could afford. While living in Minneapolis, she had a very hard time finding a place to live. Most of the places were $200 to $300 a week, something she couldnt afford on her $7 an hour wage at Wal-Mart. Finding a job also proved to be difficult especially when she had to consider how far away it was from her current home, how much it paid, and even if she could handle the work environment. For example, while in Maine Ehrenreich got a job at a maid's service but found it very difficult to work while ignoring the fargile state of her workers; many never had money to eat lunch and worked through health conditions because they couldn't afford to miss one day of work. Working in three different cities Ehrenreich realized that the workers at these low-wage jobs are being paid way less than they deserve for the work they do. She feels that workers should come together to get better wages or threaten to find better paying jobs, but realizes that it is very hard for a person living on a low income to just leave a job and start fresh with a new one as there are many factors to take into consideration; transportation, the hours, learning something new all over again, and having to wait for that first paycheck that might be with held from you anyways.

Question #9: Why do you think low-wage workers are reluctant to form labor organizations as Ehrenreich discovered at Wal-Mart? How do you think employees should lobby to improve working conditions. I think that people would be afraid to form labor organizations because they think that it might not work and then they could be fired and without a job, which they desperately need to live. I think that if workers want to lobby to improve working conditions than they should make sure that they all ban together and not back down until they get what they want; if they all stick together than it would work bettter than if all the employees weren't for the same cause.