Research Question

How does not having a lot of money or limited opportunities affect a high school student's education?

On Dumpster Diving

1.

Scrounging: To obtain (something) by begging or borrowing with no intention of reparation

Dumpster Diving: looking in trash for food that you can still eat

Foraging:  The act of looking or searching for food or provisions. 

Bohemian: Person who can to whatever he/she wants, living free with no rules

Scavenging: To collect (salvageable material) by searching.

4.

Reading Eighner changes your feelings about your own material values. You learn that it is not always easy to have a good life as we do. Even having food is hard for him and we just expect that we are always going to have food and nothing is ever going to change that. We care about a lot of material that we do not even need. We buy things that are really unnecessary and this article makes you think about what you really need. I think we should all think about what we would do if we would be homeless and would not have any money and what would be important to us then.

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3.

Ehrenreichs and Eighners Stories are both about people that have problems in their life and do not have a lot of money. They are trying to find ways to survive or to get food; working for a low-paid job or trying to find food in dumpsters. But they are on a different level. Ehrenreich at least has a job but the other guy has even problems to find food. And Ehreinreich only worked as a waitress because she wanted to make the experience and not because she really had to and I think that makes a big difference. Eighner’s life is much harder and much more complicated.

4.

Eighner: I think that it is very brave and good that you tried to see how a life without a lot of money is and that you were really trying to understand it. Many rich people say that they do understand it but you never understand until you lived a life like that.

Ehrenreich: Yes, I really wanted to experience it and not just write facts about it. I wanted people to listen to me and they are just interested in stories and not facts.

Eighner: Yes, I agree that people should recognize people with a low social status more because it seems like they do not care at all, or maybe they just don’t know.

Ehrenreich: I think there are both, people that don’t care and people that just don’t know. I hope that those people that don’t know are going to read my book. And I want to hear more about your story because maybe I can write about that next time.

Eighner: I hope they will. Of course, anytime.

Happy

Biff

Third Socratic Seminar

1. Do you think that his sons influence Willy a lot?

2. What puzzles me is that the stockings are mentioned very often in this play and I was wondering what they stand for.

   3.  Who is Howard Wagner?

4. Do you think that Dave Singleman is the reason why Willy wanted to become a salesman or is there a different reason?

5. I have questions about why Willy mainly hallucinates about Ben.

Second Socratic Seminar

1. What puzzles me is why did Charley remind Willy of his brother Ben?

2. I’d like to talk with people about the relationship of Willy and his brother and the rest of his family.

3.  I’m confused about what really happened and what Willy just hallucinates.

4.  I have questions about what happened to Willy’s mother.

5.  Do you think that Linda is naïve?

Barbara Ehrenreich - Serving in Florida

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1.      Why is Ehrenreich working as a waitress?

Ehrenreich is an author that has written extensively on social class, work gender, and politics in columns and in books. For this book Ehrenreich tries to live on the income earned working a number of low-paying jobs. So she is working as a waitress because she wants to know what it is like to have a low-paying job and not just write about it.

2.      Ehrenreich’s ways to embed her examples:

Ehrenreich has a special way to embed her example. She makes them part of the story and gives a lot of details which makes the read understand it better and he or she feels like he/she is part of the story. She tells about her experiences and the fact that she really experienced them and is able to give a lot of details makes the story more real. It is also more interesting to read about her experiences than just reading about some facts and numbers; the reader pays more attention and I think that was one of Ehrenreich’s goals. She talks about different interesting people that she met and tells us about their life and their living circumstances too. She also explains how working a low-paying job changes your view: especially of the people of higher classes. She tells the reader how she and other people that she met suffer and that makes the reader think about it even more.

First Socratic Seminar

1. What puzzles me is that Biff still lives at home and does not want to get a real job.

Biff still lives at home because he probably does not have enough money to move out and he does not want to get a different job because he likes his job.

2. Do you agree that the problems of a person with a low social status are as important as the problems of a person with a high social status?

I do agree that the problems are equally important because the social status does not influence that.

3. I'd like to talk with people about why the author chose a salesman as his protagonist.

The author chose a salesman as a protagonist because he represents a normal American person from the middle class.

4. Don't you think that his dream is similar to the American Dream?

Yes I do think that because his dream is to have more success at his job to get more money and to have good relationships to his family members.

5. Do you think that Willy Loman represents a person with a low social status?

No because Willy Loman is not a person with a low social status because he is from the middle class.

Reflective Paragraph

1. It is better to live a poor life but live your dreams.

I agree with this statement because I think that being happy is more important than having money. Living your dreams is what makes you happy and money would make life easier but money does not make you happy. Having a dream and a goal is what makes you want to live and work for a better life. A rich person might not even have any dreams because he or she already has everything he or she wanted.

2. Lying is ok when trying to keep a good reputation.

I partly disagree with that statement. Usually it is not okay to lie but there are some little lies that do not hurt anybody and protect you. But people who want to have a good reputation should try to behave like that and not do things that are going to lead to a bad reputation and then lie about it. And if the truth comes out their reputation is even worse.

3. Disillusionment can lead to distrust.
I agree with this statement, because disillusionment often leads to distrust. For example if someone did something wrong and is disappointed from that distrust is the reason why disillusionment even happens.

4. Flashbacks are a way to relive the past.

I agree with this statement because Flashbacks are a way to relive the past. But Flashback are not the most common way to relive the past; memories and just thinking about the past are more common. You can also write a diary so you can memorize what happened in the past and relive it.

5. Forgiveness leads to peacefulness.

I partly agree with this statement because forgiveness can lead to peacefulness but it does not have to. Forgiving in a fight for example does lead to peacefulness because forgiving is really important to get over the fight and start new. Forgiveness shows that you can forget about what happened and re-build what was there before to create peace in the relationship between two or more people.

6. It is better to ignore something unpleasant than to face reality.

I absolutly disagree with this statement because facing the reality is the only way to accept something unpleasant so you can go on with your life and not think about what happened anymore. Ignoring it does not help and you cannot change what happened and you won’t forget about it until you faced and accepted it.

7. Happiness consists of having financial stability.

I disagree with this statement because I do not think that you need money to be happy. Your family and your friends are what makes you happy and as I said before having a dream and living it. You can be rich and unhappy because maybe your life is not like you wanted it to be even though you have a lot of money. I think that money makes your life easier sometimes but happiness does not only depend on your financial stability.

8. The life of a salesman leads one to be financially stable

I disagree with this statement because only a few salesmen are successful and are financially stable. Many salesmen barely have enough money to live and to take care of their family. It all depends on if you have a lot of luck and how many fishes you catch and sell. Manye salesmen work really hard but do not catch enough fish and do not sell enough and because of that they are not financially stable.

9. Determination always leads an individual to live his dreams.

I disagree with this statement because I do not think that determination always leads and individual to live his dreams but it influences it a lot, because determination influences your actions and how your behave and that reflects on your futur; if you are going to be able to live your dream or not. But sometimes even determination cannot change anything about your situation.