Writing Project 5--Who are the Working Poor?

In this writing project, the final of our Writing Projects, we will attempt to answer the question, “Who are the working poor?”


In endeavoring to answer this question, draw upon 1) the text, The Working Poor: Invisible in America by David K. Shipler; 2) our discussions of various ideas of class that have been discussed and introduced in the course; 3) one media reference from class of your choice (i.e. the Wal-Mart documentary, the doc Class Dismissed, Utah Phillips YouTube videos, a working class music video, etc); and 4) at least one outside source obtained from an on-line journal accessible from Tech’s Library database. A link to that follows: http://www.lib.mtu.edu/eresources/eressearch/eressearch.aspx, just scroll down and look for the database quick links. Hint: JStor is likely to have a number of good articles for such a writing project dealing with issues of cultural, economic, political and/or social class.


This is one of those writing projects that will require an ability to think critically and as such, of course, there are no absolutely correct answers. Rather, there will be many shades of grey in your analysis of “blue collar” Americans. While this may drive you batty, especially at the end of the semester, it is a chance to be creative in thinking about how to organize and structure the paper, as well as in providing an answer to this very difficult question.


Standard fare for the writing project is in play. Have a works cited page, 12 pt Times New Roman font, double-spaced, 1” standard margins, and the like. Best of luck with this final writing project.