Serving In Florida Rhetorical Analysis

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Work. How many different ways can there be to write about work? Well, the author of "Serving in Florida", Barbara Ehrenreich, lives a privileged lifestyle which gives her the option to leave her low income job allowing her to be more critical and judgmental of low income jobs in comparison to Lars Eighner, the author of "On Dumpster Diving", who is trapped, being homeless, so he is more accepting of people who have low income jobs, or no jobs at all. Although, there are many similarities between these two pieces, the author's background plays a large role in their writing style and opinions of similar topics.
Throughout her chapter, Ehrenreich maintains a degrading tone on low income workers. She explains how "Work is what you do for others." …show more content…

For instance, Ehrenreich's indirect audience is the higher class of people, and Eighner's audience is the people who look down on dumpster divers, which is more than likely to be the higher class people who Ehrenreich addresses in her essay. However, although Ehrenreich and Eighner both have the same audience, Ehrenreich is more judgmental of her subject, people who work low income jobs, than Eighner is. Ehrenreich states, "He accepts my resignation with a shrug..." She states this when she is reflecting on the moment that she resigned from the diner where she was working. In this particular passage, she seems very judgmental of the boss of the diner where she worked, almost as if suggesting that people quit constantly. Therefore, in one way or another, saying that low income workers can't commit. In comparison to Ehrenreich, Eighner is more informing of his audience when it comes to people who don't necessarily make enough to live off of. In one paragraph, he states, "After all, the finding of objects is becoming something of an urban art." Because Eighner has experienced the lifestyle of low income workers, he is more appreciative of the skills they have, leading him to be more accepting of their lifestyle. Eighner uses this passage to inform his audience of the skills that 'dumpster divers' have. The way that both writers address their …show more content…

Ehrenreich is a privileged author, who didn't need to work a low-income job to live. Therefore, she uses very advanced and distinguished language when explaining her ideas, advanced and distinguished language that is critical and condescending. "The regulation poster in the single unisex rest room admonishes us to wash our hands thoroughly, and even offers instructions for doing so, but there is always some vital substance missing..." The manner that Ehrenreich uses "admonishes" in this sentence is very condescending. However, it seems condescending to her because she grew up with money and now leads a privileged lifestyle. Eighner is more accepting of people because he had to live the lifestyle that Ehrenreich was just experimenting with. Eighner was forced to live the impoverished lifestyle, he was homeless. Therefore, Eighner uses more accepting and optimistic language compared to Ehrenreich. "I live from the refuse of others. I am a scavenger. I think it a sound and honorable niche..." The manner that Eighner uses in saying, "a sound and honorable niche" he is very accepting of the people who scavenge, like he does himself. He is more accepting in this manner because he was homeless for three years. The different languages that they use is their appeal to logos and the reason they use those languages is the appeal to ethos. The languages that the

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