Moral and Ethical Dilemmas:
My Sister’s Keeper, The Awakening,
and Nickel and Dimed: On (Not)
Getting By in America
NADIYA ZAFAR
Jodi Picoult
 Author of My Sister’s Keeper
(2004), which was adapted
into a film in 2009
 Studied Creative Writing at
Princeton University
 Has eighteen bestseller
novels, including, The Pact
(1998), Second Glance
(2003), House Rules (2010)
and Lone Wolf (2012)
 Earned her masters in
education from Harvard
My Sister’s Keeper
 http://movies.yahoo.com
/movie/my-sisters-keeper2009/trailers/what-can-ido-27688012.html
My Sister’s Keeper
“Family Time”
-Artist Pino
My Sister’s Keeper
 Main Characters:
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Anna Fitzgerald
Kate Fitzgerald
Jesse Fitzgerald
Sara Fitzgerald
Brian Fitzgerald
Lawyer Campbell Alexander
Guardian Julia Romano
Judge DeSalvo
 Events:
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Medical Emancipation Trial
 Themes:
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Family Relationships
Genetic Engineering Ethics
Friendships of Women (Sisterhood)
Kate Chopin
 Author of The Awakening (1899),
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which was removed from
shelves at libraries
Regionalist: stories set mostly in
Southern Louisiana
Was banned from Literary Clubs,
after this publication
Also wrote At Fault (1890) and
about a hundred short stories
Died in 1904
By 1950, her stories began to be
viewed as insightful works.
The Awakening
 http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=i8tWT1ayVyQ
The Awakening
“Wheat Field with Crows”
-Artist Vincent Van Gogh
The Awakening
 Main Characters:
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Edna Pontellier
Léonce Pontellier
Robert Lebrun
Alcee Arobin
Mademoiselle Reisz
Madame Ratignolle
 Events:
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Search for freedom
Rejections
Alternatives
Death
 Themes:
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Submission of women
Unhappiness with what one has
Barbara Ehrenreich
 Author of Nickel and Dimed: On
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(Not) Getting By in America (2001)
Switched majors from chemistry to
physics to molecular biology to cell
biology
Earned a PhD in cell biology from
Rockefeller University
Taught at NYU
Became a full time writer and
journalist, after having her first child
Was inspired to begin her research
for Nickel and Dimed by her blue
collar working father, who worked
on railroads and her writing partner,
who made about $6 an hour
Nickel and Dimed
 http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=GIcE0sa2XmQ
Nickel and Dimed
“Poor Family at Home, Early 19th Century”
-Artist Prisma Archivo
Nickel and Dimed
 Main Characters:
 Barbara Ehrenreich
 Waiters at “Jerry’s”
 “The Maids”
 Wal-Mart Employees
 Events:
 Serving in Florida
 Scrubbing in Maine
 Selling in Minnesota
 Themes:
 Conditions of working poor
 Experimental Journalism
Moral and Ethical Dilemmas
 My Sister’s Keeper
Is genetically engineering a child to donate organic matter to
another child just?
 Does a minor have rights over her own body?
 Can someone refuse to donate a vital organ to an ill relative?
 Is refusal to donate homicide or assisted suicide like euthanasia?
 The Awakening
 Can a woman be free, while she is dependent on a male?
 Can a person have autonomy, which he is in a committed
relationship?
 Is suicide freedom?
 Is suicide ever the only available solution to a situation?
 Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
 Is it right for a journalist to pretend to be part of the working poor
so that she can gain experience to write about them?
 Can poverty ever be eliminated?
 Is the American Dream still viable (rags to riches stories)?
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Works Cited
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Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. New York: HarperCollins, 1972. Print.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. "About Barbara." Barbara Ehrenreich: Author of Nickel and Dimed. Barbara Ehrenreich, 2011.
Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.barbaraehrenreich.com/barbara_ehrenreich.htm>.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. New York:
Henry Holt and Company, 2001. Print.
Google Images.<https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi>. 8-16 May 2012. (Jodi
Picoult, My Sister’s Keeper book cover and movie cover and movie scene and characters’ pictures, Kate
Chopin, The Awakening book cover and movie cover and movie scene and characters’ pictures, Barbara
Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America book cover and working poor pictures)
"Kate Chopin Biography." KateChopin.org. The Kate Chopin International Society, 14 May 2012. Web. 14 May 2012.
<http://www.katechopin.org/biography>.
My Sister's Keeper (2009)- Trailers: What Can I Do. 2009. Video. Yahoo MoviesWeb. 14 May 2012.
<http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/my-sisters-keeper-2009/trailers/what-can-i-do-27688012.html>.
Picoult, Jodi. "About Jodi Picoult." Jodi Picoult. JodiPicoult, 2012. Web. 14 May 2012.
<http://www.jodipicoult.com/JodiPicoult.html>.
Picoult, Jodi. My Sister's Keeper. New York: Washington Square Press, 2004. Print.
Pino. Family Time. N.d. Painting. Key West Art Galleries. Web. 14 May 2012.
<http://www.keywestartgalleries.com/pino/index.php>.
POPSmaroon. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. N.d. Video.
YoutubeWeb. 14 May 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIcE0sa2XmQ>.
Archivo, Prisma. Poor Family at Home, Early 19th Century. N.d. Painting.
AllPosters.comWeb. 14 May 2012. <http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Poor-Family-at-Home-Early-19Th-CenturyPosters_i8720680_.htm>.
tonya5309. Grand Isle Movie 1991, based on Kate Chopin's "The Awakening". 2011.
Video. YoutubeWeb. 14 May 2012.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8tWT1ayVyQ>.
Vincent Van Gogh. Wheat field with Crows. 1890. Painting. VincentWeb. 14 May 2012.
<http://www.vggallery.com/painting/p_0779.htm>.