Trash Andy Mulligan Analysis

Waste land is a very powerful documentary, where Vik Muniz takes us to a different world, but during the time he’s presenting this place one can relate with the humans living there. They live from others trash, some are ashamed of what they do, others are proud of what they do, but most of them if not all believe that is a dignifying job, their way of leaving.

Both of these texts provide stellar examples of how the media misportrays homelessness and poverty. In the first text, Changing the Face of Poverty, George includes a visual ad from Children's Incorporated that shows a little girl who looks deprived of the basic needs. Childrens Inc used this picture to get the point across that poverty exists even though you may not see it in your day to day lives, however, poverty does not always look like this. By using stereotypical pictures like this, it is making people feel like this is the only way that poverty exists. In reality, poverty exists in many forms and sometimes cannot be seen. This shows that poverty needs to be paid more attention to so we are not only helping children who fit the stereotypical image provided by Children's Inc. George also talks about the publicity videos put out by Habitat for Humanity. Like the picture ad from Childrens Inc, these publicity videos display the cliche version of poverty in America. George states, “The real trouble with Habitat’s representation, then, is twofold: it tells us that the signs of poverty are visible and easily recognized.” Since poverty, is only recognized in certain ways, only a handful of people in need are receiving help. In the second text, Homeless on Campus, Bader tells the stories of a few college students who struggle to attend school while looking for a warm place to sleep that night. Unlike in the previous text, instead of the inaccurate representation of

As a main point of her argument, she argues that poverty is generally stereotyped into the poverty that would only be seen in Africa, or another third world country. To support this, she establishes a sense of ethos for her readers by citing other individuals that have also noticed the poverty representation gap. Seeing that poverty is a complex issue to begin with, George addresses this complexity by simply suggesting that it should be represented as such in the media. Nonprofit charities may now have to reconsider their

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.

‘...now we are in a place more beautiful than creation.’ (p.202) At the end of ‘Trash’, Raphael, Gardo and Rat begin a new life. Describe the qualities of each character and how their friendship helped them overcome their hardships.

In the world today, people are only showing one side of the issue which may be less severe. After being exposed to all of these similar, devastating pictures of children with dirty clothes and faces of severe sadness, this causes society to only understand a limited perspective on poverty. For example, the ad in the text for a organization called Children, Inc., displays a little girl who looks very depressed and sad (677).

Andy Mulligan’s “Trash” deals with challenging issues, including poverty and children living in third world countries. He uses setting descriptions and rich characters in this book to help the reader to understand poverty and third world countries as it helps the reader to understand the themes in the book. Poverty and third world countries are also presented to the reader as Mulligan uses different language techniques throughout the book like the description of the dumpsite. Sensory language and imagery are the techniques that Mulligan uses to cause the reader to almost physically feel some or all the five senses that Mulligan intends to share with his audience.

In ‘Seeing and Making Culture: Representing the Poor’ by Bell Hooks, issues involving the poor and the rich in the society are brought to light. Hooks addresses issues such as how the poor are viewed in the community, common assumptions about the poor, and how the poor are represented in the media. In her analysis, it is evident that those living in poverty are grossly misrepresented. This misrepresentation affects these people’s daily lives.

Ethos, pathos, and logos are all devices that Barbara Ehrenreich effectively uses throughout her novel Nickel and Dimed to prove that America needs to address the commonly overlooked issue of poverty within every community. It is important that she uses all three devices because they help support her argument by increasing her credibility, connecting to the readers’ emotions, and appealing to their sense of logic. The combination of these devices puts a sense of urgency on the problem Ehrenreich is addressing and therefore creates an effective argument.

Through the peculiarities of characterisation and the distinctively visual we experience the impact of place on people. Distinctively visual language shows the similarities and differences between characters and environment with the use of vivid imagery. The distinctively visual is able to create detailed setting, characters and place. Through the distinctively visual Henry Lawson and Tim Burton convey interesting views on environment and human interactions, and their affect on people and society in Lawsons “The Loaded Dog” and “The Drovers Wife” and Burtons “Alice in Wonderland. Good morning markers and peers.

In the third paragraph of his argument he used figurative language to really describe the horrible conditions these families in Phnom Penh lived in. Kristof used both metaphors and alliteration to really give the audience clear visuals of the garbage dump. One of the metaphors is, “It’s a mountain of festering refuse”, which translates to piles of rotting wastes. By writing metaphorically it creates a much more vivid and exaggerated image in our mind. Another metaphor he used was, “The miasma of toxic stink…” (Paragraph 3, pg. 109) which vividly describes the harmful vapors from the decomposing garbage. Continuing that last sentence “… toxic stink leaves you gasping, breezes batter you with filth, and even the rats look forlorn” (paragraph 3, pg. 109 in), is an example of alliteration. These visual statements (metaphors and alliteration) help Kristof convince his audience that sweatshops are a better option, a way out of poverty.

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.

Words provoke preconceived ideas and images in the mind, when it comes to a situation like poverty these preconceived notions can have undesirable and unintended consequences. Diana George examines the semantics and the imagery of the word poverty in her article titled “Changing the Face of Poverty; Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation. While also addressing the issue of the perception poverty and what someone in poverty truly looks like (676). Prof. George is arguing that organizations like Habitat for Humanity, which are created to help people in poverty actually perpetuate the wrong image of what someone in poverty looks like (678). Most organizations created to help those in need, especially those in the US tend to portray poverty as what is seen and thought of as living conditions in Third World countries (683). In reality, poverty is all around each and every one of us in this country on a daily basis, and people might not always recognize it for what it is (681,682). Furthermore, the majority of people living in poverty in the United States do not live like or look like someone living in a Third World country. But in reality they are still living in poverty nonetheless (682,683). Organizations that portray people living in poverty here in the US as totally devastated and completely impoverished are doing a disservice to the people they are attempting to help. Consequently, by doing this they are giving a limiting idea of what someone living in poverty

A driving force and reoccurring symbol and element in Nicolas Dickner's novel Nikolski is garbage; representing connected yet distinct meanings for each of the three main characters. For the unnamed narrator it represents putting old memories to rest and starting on his own path. To Joyce trash also catalyses a new beginning, however this is caused by the reinvention of things discarded much in the same way as she ways. Noah as well finds his identity buried beneath layers of waste, but he also finds stability and the concept of things permanent and complete, trash being a place of dissimilitude, functioning as a field of study and wonder. The element of garbage not only propels the plot forward, but ties the characters together in a tight

In “Invisible Child,” a New York Times article written by Andrea Elliot, we follow a day in the life of a young African American girl, Dasani, growing up in New York City. However, instead of living in an “Empire State of Mind,” Dasani lives in the slums, growing up homeless with her two drug addicted parents and seven siblings. Dasani often finds herself taking care of her siblings, making sure they have enough to eat, tying shoelaces, changing diapers, getting them to the bus stop in time, and the list goes on. An 11 year old girl, essentially taking care of a whole family, as well as taking care of herself by going to school, receiving an education, and partaking in extra-curricular activities. Elliot captures the life and struggles of a family well under the poverty line, giving us an unprecedented look into what Dasani must do each day not just to grow up in New York City, but to survive.