Textual Analysis Of Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel And Dimed

This textual analysis will define the first-person testimonial ethos of the working classes through the experimental experiences of Barbara Ehrenreich’s in Nickel and Dimed. Ehrenreich provides a ethos-based theoretical evaluation of the working classes through by pretending to be a member of the working class, and also by providing a testimony of her experiences in this working environment. This testimonial defines the historical perspective of Ehrenreich’s own economic awareness of poverty, yet also within the social and class-based lessons that she learns about the working poor from direct experience. Ehrenreich learns gratitude and compassion for the working poor, which also exposes the unethical and immoral aspects of capitalism in the …show more content…
In this text, Ehrenreich is describing the details of her own confusion and lack of experience as a waitress, but the manager disregards this fact as part of the jaded and callous behavior of the restaurant culture. In this way, Ehrenreich is actually becoming a member of the working poor as part of her experiment with the daily struggles of these people. This defines the ‘ethos” of Ehrenreich’s rhetorical argument, since she is maintaining the validity of her argument as a witness to the testimonials of life as a …show more content…
Ehrenreich defines the testimonial ethos by advocating the validity of her data by being a first-hand witness to the struggles of the working poor in the United States. These testimonies define Ehrenreich’s attempt to inform the reader that low-income workers have to deal with highly repetitious roles at work, the threat of injury, and the despair of low-income wages that make it nearly impossible to maintain a standard of living. Ehrenreich invokes statistical data and historical awareness of economic theory, which also adds a bit of logos to the logic of her argument, which is also reinforced by her won personal and social revelations about emotional suffering and class divisions in these working environments. These aspects of first-person testimonial imply an successful experiment in Ehrenreich’s ability to transform herself into a member of the working poor. Certainly, a textual analysis of Ehrenreich’s testimonial ethos defines the differing aspects of social, historical, and personal feelings that attempt to inform the reader of the grim realities of daily life in this type of labor