Rhetorical Strategies |
||
Appeals
Ethos Barbara Ehrenreich builds her credibility throughout the book as she continuously mentions her Ph.D and the fact that she is, as she originally assumed but later changed her mind, "too educated" and"overqualified" for living as a low wage worker. Also, after spending months working alongside low wage workers, Ehrenreich is able to more easily identify and empathize with their toils and suffering. This allows her to build credibility with low wahe workers who see that she understands their pain. Pathos
Ehrenreich describes in detail the hard work and suffering that poverty-stricken Americans have to go through everyday. She explains how workers of unappealing jobs, including "janitors, cleaning ladies, ditchdiggers, changers of adult diapers," suffer from "chronic deprivation" of any form of thanks or gratitude, making them very needy when it comes to the approval of their employers and managers. She also mentions how low wage workers find it difficult to afford even the most run-down apartments and motels with their insignificant pay. Even a motel with "no microwave, no fridge, hardly any space not occupied by the bed" can be difficult to stay in for long when these workers exhaust themselves for little money, many times even having to work longer, unpaid hours for fear of punishment.
Logos
Ehrenreich makes use of many footnotes to give statistical facts that act as evidence to support what information or arguement she states at the time. For instance, she mentions how "in 1991 there were forty-seven affordable rental units available to every one hundred low-income families, while by 1997 there were only thirty-six such units for every one hundred families." This fact, which Ehrenreich sites, helps her build her argument about the difficulties that low-income families have when searching for an affordable dwelling. Another example is Ehrenreich's mentioning that in 1998, according to the Bureauof Labor Statistics, "private household workers and servants " were earning a median weekly income that was "$23 a week below the povertylevel for a family of three."These statistics, along with several others, bring an impressive amount of support to Ehrenreich's overall claims thoughout Nickel and Dimed.
|
 Humor This is one of Ehrenreich's most frequently used rhetorical devices. It shows that, even as she was toiling hard each day trying to mimic the lifestyle of the poor, she was still able to poke fun at her own situation. It also creates an interesting wqay for the reader to understand the trials of the poor. For example, Ehrenreich explains how one impatient black couple that was waiting for her to get around to taking their order looked "ready to summon the NAACP." Later in her experiment, Ehrenreich talks about how an available room at one of her possible motel choices is on the ground floor of a "well-traveledcommercial street, meaning you have a choice between privacy and light." Her colorful humor brings a needed light to the otherwise gloomy plight of the desperate masses living in poverty in the US.
Metaphor Ehrenreich makes good use of the metaphor as a tool for creatively coonveying the situation of the working poor. For instance, while she is working for the Maids' and is sent to clean a wealthy woman's home, she thinks to herself how the "bleeding" marble that the woman is complaining about is actually the bleeding of "the worldwide working class" that broke its back to create her extravagant home. These selfless, back-breaking sacrifices of the poor for the benefit of the affluent are also made apparent by Ehrenreich's metaphorical claim that the working poor are "the major philanthropists of our society." She uses the metaphors in Nickel and Dimed to help paint a vivid picture of the daily lives of the poor for her audience.
Irony Irony is embedded in several places within Ehrenreich's book. There is a great example of situational irony at the beginning of the book as Ehrenreich realizes that, even though she beleived she was "too educated" and "overqualified" to be a low wage worker, it is very difficult for her to find a job, or even get the opportunity to impress possible employers during an interview. Her Ph.D no longer seems to be of any use to her. More situational irony can be found in the third chapter of the book. In this chapter, Ehrenreich decides to go to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she expects to have "a few mild adventures" and "a soft landing." However, Minneapolis is the only stop during Ehrenreich's experiment where she is unable to last even a month living as a poor laborer. The irony of Nickel and Dimed creates a humbled image of the author, showing that she is very aware of the plight of the poor and is able to understand them and their situation without undermining them.
|
|
