Summary Of 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,

Lars Eighner represents the thousands of homeless people that have simply fallen victim of financial struggles, holding strongly onto his respect for others, his community, and himself, despite the difficulties he faces. According to Eighner’s website, he spent time at the University of Austin, Texas studying creative writing, which is clear through his writing techniques and narrative style. However after falling on hard times, Eighner ended up homeless. While homeless in the late 80’s Eighner composed the essay “On Dumpster Diving.” It need not take long for one to find his purpose in writing the essay. Dumpster diving and homelessness are deeply connected to a notion of poor life choices, mental illness, and substance abuse. And while Eighner doesn’t deny that many people he encounters are “winos,” Eighner’s purpose is to represent dumpster diving, in sense, as an art; reclaiming homelessness as “a modern form of self reliance.”

Lars Eighner wrote the passage, Dumpster Diving. The essay describes his life as a dumpster diver. Eighner used rhetorical strategies to introduce his subject and description of these examples will be stated below. Throughout the essay he uses various rhetorical strategies to convey his subject, such as ethos, pathos, and logos.

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.

In Lars Eighner’s short essay “On Dumpster Diving”, he describes his experience of being homeless and the art of dumpster driving. Eighner prefers being referred to as a scavenger rather than a dumpster driver. Eighner stated “I like the frankness of the word scavenging. I live from refuse of others. I am a scavenger.” (383) He describes scavenging as a full time job, that requires a lot of effort. He believes that if one follows certain guidelines and rules, with doing so this could possibly help one to become efficient. One rule is knowing good place and time to look for food and other items, that could be useful. Another rule is knowing how to eat safely from a dumpster . Eighner said

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.

“I like the frankness of the word scavenging, which I can hardly think of without picturing a big black snail on an aquarium wall” (Eighner 712). Eighner uses this quote to create a sense of imagery for his audience by comparing himself to a big black snail scavenging for food as dumpster divers do. As a matter of fact, Eighner commented that he liked the frankness of the word “scavenging”, showing that he prefers a more specific term rather than the clichéd term of “dumpster diving”. Eighner continues to imply that society takes valuable items for granted by relating himself to his audience. “Once I was the sort of person who invests objects with sentimental value.

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

“No matter how careful I am I still get dydsentery at least once a month, often in warmer weather… Dumpster diving has serious drawbacks as a way of life.” He explains how to safely do it, but wishes it upon no one. His intelligence seems to rival those who have had great education, as he must problem solve and evaluate his chances at a “good haul.” He focuses on educating people on how to safely scavenge when absolutely

Other purposes that Eighner may have written this essay include: a how-to guide on Dumpster diving, a memoir of his experiences, and a look on how people’s wastefulness support the homeless.

Eighner states, “I have learned much as a scavenger... beginning with the practical art of Dumpster diving and proceeding to the abstract.” He begins here as introduction to his text, just before he states that it's, “an urban art.” Showing his views about the activity more as a craft than something gross. Later on, Eighner proceeds to say, “But in the case of discards from student apartments, the answer may be that the item was discarded through carelessness, ignorance, or wastefulness.” Eighner explains that dumpster diving isn’t all bad because there can be use of someone else's trash. As the old saying goes, “One's man's trash can be another man's treasure.” Eighner’s purpose of this text is point out that even though dumpster diving may sound gross there is a plus side to it.

Lars Eighner was an average successful man in the 1960s until one day, his life took a turn for the worst. Eighner became homeless after losing his job and he stayed homeless for the next three years of his life. On Dumpster Diving is his account of being homeless and how in order to survive, he had to partake in dumpster diving. When hearing the word, dumpster, any person's first thought is most likely to be of the pungent smell and revolting things that may be lurking inside the big metal beast. Eighner uses many different rhetorical strategies when introducing his viewpoint, on dumpsters, to the audience. He gives us the insider’s view in the life of a homeless, dumpster diver, through his own experience. The life of a scavenger and their ability to survive, along with the wasted resources in American economies, are the main subjects within this piece. Eighner uses ethos, logos, and pathos to introduce this to the audience.

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.

“It’s not what you own its what people think you own” (Ewen 183). Consumerism is fueling today’s “middle class”. Stewart Ewen’s “Chosen People” goes into detail about the rise of the materialistic middle class.

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.