Lars Eighner's Essay 'On Dumpster Diving'

In the esteemed collection 50 Essays, the editors recognize Lars Eighner’s On Dumpster Diving through his capability of heightening the degree and compelling concept of dumpster diving etiquette. Eighner redefines words such as “Dumpster,” by making it its own proper noun, which brings a sense of formality. He cajoles the reader’s perspective towards Dumpster diving in a positive outlook by referring it as an art and that it’s not anomalous for “respectable employed people...find something tempting sticking out of a dumpster” and “brag that they found this or that piece of trash” (108). Eighner exposes the audience the truth behind homelessness; however he also depicts that not all homeless people are winos causing trouble in the neighborhood,

Eighner as a homeless person uncovers his working within tradition of an archeologist. Similar to the archeologist, Eighner dubiously obtains information about those he scavenges from. Eighner feels that the refuge of the common consumer is more valuable then what people originally think. Eighner fervently states, "I avoid trying to draw conclusions about the people who dump in the Dumpsters I frequent," when in fact he constantly juxtaposes his position to the affluent people. For instance, Eigher frequents affluent college dorms because of the extreme wastefulness the college student's exhibit. He further passes judgment begrudgingly stating, "..it's Daddy's money."(Eighner, 1993) Moreover, it is the use of these rhetorical strategies that the author implements to deliberately expose his superiority over college students because of his swiftness in retrieving private information. Eighner's pretension even expands into academia where he finds; "college students often discard their papers. I am horrified

A quote often used is, "One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.” This describes Eighner’s feelings perfectly. At one point he stated, "People throw away perfectly good stuff, a lot of perfectly good stuff."(384) This proves the point that once someone throws something away, it doesn't mean it is trash, just ready for a change of ownership. Eighner few dumpster diving as an art because of all the cool stuff he finds on a regular. Things such as: clothes, type writer, love letters, ragdolls et cetera. He mentioned that he hardly ever pick up things without envisioning the

In today’s society, there is an abundance of waste. This is clear in observing how people live, we often throw out items because we want something better. Lars Eighner, author of "On Dumpster Diving," writes about his experiences being homeless and how he survived on the waste of others. This provides insight on how the phrase "one man's trash is another man's treasure," is true. Jeremy Seifert, who directed the documentary Dive!, also talks about how he survives off of other people's waste, but this was a decision he made. As they tell of their experiences, Seifert and Eighner both come to the conclusion that society is wasteful. While both individuals provided good information, I believe Seifert presented the better argument. Both of

Eighner himself has lived on the streets as a homeless man. He allows the reader to join him in his own personal life stories in order to show the severity of his past situation. Eighner tells of the embarrassment and shame that comes from scavenging through trash to stay alive. He writes of the woeful feelings that a homeless person possesses in their time of wander. “He can wipe the egg yolk off the found can, but he cannot erase the stigma of eating garbage out of his mind” (Eighner 144). With much passion, he speaks of the homeless as victims of a undeserved life. However, according to Linderman, the life of a dumpster diver can be quite satisfying.

In the essay “On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner, Eighner talks about materialism and wealth. He explains his process of dumpster diving and the best places to go to dumpster dive. Eighner incorporates tone, detail, irony, observation, and ethos throughout his essay.

“On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner is a collective work on the issue of Dumpster Diving, in which Eighner depicts his own adventures as a “Diver.” His development of the central contention, this “way of life” is not as it is portrayed or stigmatized, is progressed through Eighner’s inclusion of the three persuasive appeals: pathos, logos, and ethos. These three devices coupled with other rhetorical devices provide an alluring argument, in which the reader sees the other side through a new lens, and their opinions on this issue is vastly differed, upon completion of the reading.

Many people think that dumpster diving is a survival to search and find something in a dumpster that they needed some discarded food/drink in order to survive if they are homeless and are really hungry/thirsty. The purpose of Lars Eighner’s memoir, “On Dumpster Diving”, is to understand the style of his writing of why capitalizes the letter D in “Dumpster”. The importance of this memoir is symbolized to define his survival needs including his dog, Lizbeth which is both his living and eating at a dumpster. There are many reasons why I chose Lars Eighner’s essay, “On Dumpster Diving”. I believe the style of Lars’s memoir was effective because Lars was impressed living in dumpsters, Lars was searching and scavenging for food in a dumpster and

In “ On Dumpster Diving” Lars Eighner he tries to convey a message when he tells us a story about this person and how he became homeless . The context in which he writes is that he writes in a dark place where there hardly seem to be any hope and that was the tone for their entire story. But he tries to leave clues in the story to see if you pick up on and foreshadow something big about life in general. Eighner is writing from a place where everyone can feel empathy for his character and form a special bond. In today's world there are a lot of people that goes through this problem which really appeals to the reader and they can understand the situation fully and make a connection with the text. I think the audience is people that are going through a tough time it could be that they are losing their

There are many people who choose to live their life based on what they find in dumpsters. You can spot them almost anywhere because there is a great population of them. Many people that see one of these ‘dumpster divers’ view them as disgusting or inappropriate to society. People are quick to judge others when they do not relate to how they live their life. ¨On Dumpster Diving¨ by Lars Eighner is a short excerpt from his memoir “Travels with Lizbeth”, he begins to explain that dumpster diving is not a bad activity as most view it as. He talks from a dumpster diver’s perspective, and tries to prove that dumpster diving is resourceful. Eighner applies the three rhetorical appeals to establish his argument that dumpster diving is an ¨honorable niche¨, although he uses ethos the most to support his position.

Homelessness is increasing every year and effecting Americans of different age, ethnicity and religion. In Lars Eighner “On Dumpster Diving” he explains what he went through while being homeless. He describes how and what foods someone should be looking for and to always be conscious of what one is eating because there is always a reason why something has been thrown out. He continues to go into detail about other items that can be found in the dumpster like sheets to sleep on and pieces of paper to write on. Things that can keep him busy through the day. Eighner carefully explains to his readers how being a dumpster diver has become a life style for the homeless and this is how they survive. It’s a way of living and they are comfortable

Dumpster Diving is an essay written by Lars Eighner. The Texan and former homeless man who roamed the streets searching for food from unpleasant sites in order to help him survive the harsh times. His loss of income made him to get food from garbage sites, which he refers to as ‘Dumpster’ He wrote this essay to express his experience as a homeless and destitute person. The essay gives a detailed explanation of how people like him struggle to get food from dump sites and the dangers they face. Eighner used basic English to describe the process of scavenging and its consequences in the essay.

A) A contemporary problem raised in “On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner Is the amount of wealth spent by consumers, and the effect of that. Consumers spend too much money and waste even more when they throw food and clothing away. In the essay he explains the way of life as an scavenger and how to demonstrate how people are able to live by the minimal resources although most consumers continue to buy things they do not need and continue to waste resources that may be valuable to others. Aside from food, he additionally describes the emotional impact that living out of a dumpster can have on a person. He describes finding sad things such as "abandoned teddy bears, shredded wedding books, and pets lying in state." Seeing the pets makes him think about his dog Lizbeth and how she is likely to end up with a dumpster as her final resting place, as Eighner does not see himself having a place for her before she passes on. Rummaging causes Eighner to consider how much individuals underestimate, including the way that they can purchase something new to replace something old that they have discarded. He feels frustrated because of the individuals who don 't have that extravagance.

On the other hand, it can be observed that “rich” people are often presumed to be greedy, rude, and perhaps, bombastic. This does not serve to show how ownership of tangible objects contributes to moral character; it shows how it can instead mar the character. However, once again, one must realize the commensalistic relationship between the tangible and intangible. We always acquire intangible from tangible, the converse is not always true. Evaluating the amount of satisfaction, sanguinity, and self assurance is up to the owner. Based on his past experiences, it is only he who can decide what he wants to

There are many popular sites in the world that can be well known for various reasons. One of those popular sites is located somewhere in an alley of downtown Denver. There, it is famously known for it’s known damaged valuables and trash. With that being said, and somehow by chance, these three young teens had gone to that alley looking for something the other had in their possession, and all it took was getting to know each other in order to receive what they wanted.