To effectively get his point across, Eighner uses several different rhetorical strategies. He initially focuses on the meanings of different words in the dictionary pertaining to poverty. By using his real-life experiences as a counterpoint to the various definitions, Eighner reveals the “insignificance of these words.” Throughout the essay, he manipulates ethos and pathos. Having experienced Dumpster Diving, Eighner well explains the concept giving the readers a sense of trust in what he is stating. In order to trigger empathy, Eighner describes emotional subjects such as the “dead or dying animals in the Dumpsters.” Moreover, he speaks of inanimate objects such as the “abandoned teddy bears,” “shredded wedding books,” and “despaired-of sales kits” as if they had feelings. …show more content…
Though Eighner initially found dumpster diving as a “new scavenger” filled with “disgust and self-loathing”, he ultimately regarded it as a piece of “art.” Matter of fact, he viewed it as something that “not everyone was capable of doing”. While Dumpster Diving for years, Eighner realized how people, specifically the "can scroungers, did not respect the community by allowing others to use what they did not." Although ethics in a community that is on the verge of survival by mere trash seems unreal, they still exist. Eighner shows that although these people were stricken with hardships they are still humans and most retain common
Eighner writes, “Long before I began Dumpster diving I was impressed with Dumpsters, enough so that I wrote the Merriam research service to discover what I could about the world “Dumpster”. I learned from them that “Dumpster” is a proprietary word belonging to the Dempsey Dumpster company.” He was so fascinated with Dumpsters, that he learned the definition, which is a fact. A definition can be adjusted; however, it is not completely revised. Definitions are definite. Eighner states, “Eating from the Dumpsters involves three principles: using the senses and common sense to evaluate the condition of the found materials, knowing the Dumpsters of a given area and checking them regularly, and seeking always to answer the question, ‘Why was this discarded?’” He uses his senses to analyze the condition of the things he finds logically. Dumpster diving requires the ability to critically think about what can and can not be eaten. Eighner writes, “Although very rare with modern canning methods, botulism is a possibility. But botulism is almost certainly fatal and often the first symptom is death.” He uses knowledge to understand what the expectations of some foods, especially canned foods, should be. While Eighner uses all three persuasive appeals in his writing, ethos is the most
Lars Eighner's short essay, "Dumpster Diving," reveals the stereotypes about homelessness in America. In order to confirm these known stereotypes about American culture, Eighner includes autobiographical accounts of the economically inferior class, as well as revealing his elitist rules that governs the life of a homeless person. According to Eighner, homeless people fall into the following categories, 'can scroungers', 'Dumpster divers', and 'scavengers.' (Eighner, 1993). In addition, Eighner's blatant demonstration of his superiority to the people he scavenges from reveals his true character of snobbery.
According to Mayberry (2009) Lars Eighner, a graduate of the University of Texas, became homeless in 1988 and again in 1995 (p. 351). Some of the accounts from Travels with Lisbeth (1993), a book by Lars Eighner, depicted what he went through and what he found during his homeless state. A homeless person must eat and sleep but may not know where or when this might happen next. The human will to survive enabled Eighner to eat food from a dumpster, reach out to other for handouts, and sleep in places other than a bed with covers.
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
The author, Lars Eighner explains in his informative narrative, “On Dumpster Diving” the lifestyle of living out of a dumpster. Eighner describes the necessary steps to effectively scavenge through dumpsters based on his own anecdotes as he began dumpster diving a year before he became homeless. The lessons he learned from being a dumpster diver was in being complacent to only grab what he needs and not what he wants, because in the end all those things will go to waste. Eighner shares his ideas mainly towards two direct audiences. One of them is directed to people who are dumpster divers themselves, and the other, to individuals who are unaware of how much trash we throw away and waste. However, the author does more than direct how much trash
The idea of this essay is to explain how poverty is being represented the wrong way by nonprofit organizations here at home. The author uses the title to explain to the readers that poverty is not being represented the correct way. The way organizations represent poverty is by using images from a third world country instead of using pictures of people that live here at home that are living at poverty. The author explains how there are children here in America that need help just to get their basic needs, she explains “There are so many children like her – children that are deprived of their basic necessities right here in America” (George 668). The author is referring to “Mandy”. The picture of the girl on the Children Inc. flyer. She looks normal but she is need of help. The title gives an understanding to the reader about what is about to be
Mark Peterson’s 1994 photograph, Image of Homelessness, compares the everyday life of the working class to the forgotten life of the lowest class in society. In the image, the viewer can see a troubled homeless man wrapped in a cocoon of standard manipulated 12in by 12in cardboard boxes and yarn. The yarn is what is keeping the man and box tied to the red bench. This bench has chipped paint and is right in front of a black fence. Underneath the bench is dirt and debris from the dead fall leaves. The center focal point is the homeless man on the bench. He is the focal point because he is the greatest outsider known to man. Behind this man is vibrant life. There is pulsating people crossing the clean street, signs of life from all the advertising on store windows, families walking and blurred cars filled with
Statistically, over 670,000 Americans are homeless with a growing number. 48 million people go to bed hungry every night. Although we do provide shelters and opportunities in America, millions of people are homeless worldwide. Even on a more minor level there are still hundreds homeless within hometowns. Everyday we encounter the homeless whether by seeing them holding their personal signs at stoplights, confronts with beggars, or viewing them from afar under bridges. In her essay titled “On Compassion”, writer Barbara Ascher uses rhetorical techniques detailing some of her personal homeless experiences within the city life, Asher does effectively use logos, pathos,
...This is a very powerful article taking his readers into the world of being poor and homeless, and what people experience every day that could never be imagined. Eighner says in one of his last paragraphs that, “many times in our travels I have lost everything but the clothes I was wearing and Lizbeth” (Eighner 724). He also states that he and the wealthy have the same attitudes about knowing there is more where what they came from. Eighner is so powerful and doesn’t care what others think of him. He is just trying to survive like everyone else. To have such a carefree attitude is very moving.
Step 3: 1. Eighner introduces his arguments through the use of narrative stories and his own personal experiences. He uses this technique to let the reader see firsthand how some people are able to survive off what is carelessly thrown away by others who take what they own for granted. Eighner illustrates this point on page 1, “The necessities of daily life I began to extract from Dumpsters. Yes, we ate from Dumpsters. Except for jeans, all my clothes can from Dumpsters. Boom boxes, candles, bedding, toilet paper, medicine, books, a typewriter… I acquired many things from the Dumpsters.”
The article “Nuclear Waste” is an interesting perspective from Richard Muller. Muller is a very credited author and he speaks his mind about the situation where people are trying to figure out how to deal with nuclear waste around the U.S. There are many proposed ideas but Muller has a very simple and straight forward idea that he believes is the ideal decision. The essay he wrote can be interpreted in different ways but his motive for writing is very clear. Muller’s background is quite impressive because he is highly credited. When reading Muller’s essay, you notice points that supports his argument and truth about the situation around nuclear power. He brings his outlook on the situation to the audience and conveys that viewpoint convincingly.
Joyce Carol Oates has an incredible amount of skill when is comes to writing, and her short story Landfill encapsulates her knowledge of story-telling. The first sentences grabs the attention of the reader and id not set free until the end of the piece. The way in which Oates transports the reader through the events, going back and forth from making them seem like a current event or those of the past, is entertaining to read and masterfully executed in the writing. The inclusion of what feel like really testimonies of events and quotations of those grieving feel authentic. There is however, one problem; these portions of text feel authentic but distant. There is no sympathy or empathy from the writer for her own work. The characters and writing
Poverty and homelessness are often, intertwined with the idea of gross mentality. illness and innate evil. In urban areas all across the United States, just like that of Seattle. in Sherman Alexie’s New Yorker piece, What You Pawn I Will Redeem, the downtrodden. are stereotyped as vicious addicts who would rob a child of its last penny if it meant a bottle of whiskey.
Her use of connotative language creates many harsh images of her experiences in a life of poverty, a life of poverty. By using these images, Parker is capable of causing the damage. reader to feel many emotions and forces the reader to question his or her own stereotypes of the poor. With the use of connotative language and the ability to arouse emotion, Parker successfully compels the reader to examine his or her. thoughts and beliefs on who the poor are.
As portrayed above, poverty is the misery of life. “No gravestone, no name, no identifying mark of any kind. The burying-ground is merely a huge waste of hummocky earth, like a derelict building-lo...