Analysis Of Dumpster Diving By Lars Eighner

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'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

In his article, “On Dumpster Diving,” Lars Eighner, writes a how-to guide on dumpster diving by relaying what he observes, learns, and practices while homeless. In addition, he suggests there is a relationship between things and happiness when he describes the items he finds in dumpsters. In “The High Price of Materialism,” Tim Kasser’s scientific studies suggest that people cannot ignore the fact that material possessions do not create a lasting happiness or well-being. In fact, just the opposite, it seems to suggest a strong relationship to low self-esteem, depression, and unhappiness. These two articles are interconnected by people who can never have enough material things and the waste they unknowingly create that gradually filters down to benefit the homeless.

Lars Eighners essay “On Dumpster Diving” describes the lifestyle of living out of a dumpster. Lars demonstrates that anyone can achieve a fulfilling life without the constraints of society and material wealth. He finds nearly everything he needs and sometimes more just from the refuse of others. Firstly, what is dumpster diving? Dumpster diving is the practice of sifting through commercial or residential waste in order to obtain items one might find useful that have been discarded by their owners. Dumpster diving is largely associated with the homeless or people with little or no source of income. In January 2013, 610,042

“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.

Each Author is unique they write about many different pieces, but they all have this set of principles they go by. Every author thinks about these four main concepts when they write and they are audience, genre, context, purpose. They first think about who will want to read their work so try to establish an audience. The Author next has to determine what their writing will be. They have to decide whether it's science fiction or any other, but they understand it important tell the genre of the work. Authors cannot be all over the place they are focused on one specific tone. Next authors contemplate why to write at all there must be a reason that is true, they all written for a purpose each author has one. Authors often write in troubling times for them like

Homelessness has been an increasingly difficult problem to solve within America. Though it affects many, nearly one-fourth of homeless people are veterans, most of which have served in Vietnam or have had an honorable discharge. “Dumpster Diving,” by Lars Eichner is a nonfiction short story about how society is quick to judge people based on their possessions. Eichner narrates this short story as a homeless man forced to survive by living off of the discarded materials of the people whom are more privileged than him. His tone throughout the story is sarcastic and condescending toward the educated audience he is projecting to, often lying and making fun of them. Eichner urges the audience to gain more respect for

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

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.

On a daily basis we walk past several dumpsters – even though we may not see them. In the cities (mostly big and populated states) like the following: Los Angles, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, and New York City, there are over thousands of dumpsters in the alley-ways. As humans we walk by smelling the odor coming from the trash, and continue walking. In Lars Eighner’s “On Dumpster Diving” he will inform us about what he thinks and believes on the subject of dumpster diving.

Because of people’s wasteful habits, a wide variety of items end up in the dumpsters; some are incredibly useful and even in good condition. In his article, “On Dumpster Diving,” formerly homeless author Lars Eighner describes how he became dependent on dumpster diving for survival. Eighner includes a definition of “dumpster diving,” utilizes irony, and makes a comparison between dumpster divers and can scroungers to show that even though dumpster diving is beneficial to a homeless man like himself, society needs to be aware of their wasteful habits. At the beginning of his article, Eighner redefines “dumpster diving” to change people’s negative views on the term.

In “On Dumpster Diving.” by Lars Eighner, he talks about how to safely dumpster dive when he brings up about how college students will throw out anything even if they’re not sure if it’s still good or not since it was bought with their parents money, before he states, “But in the case of discards from student apartments, the answer may be that the item was discarded through carelessness, ignorance, or wastefulness” (Eighner 150). Students don’t exactly always know when things are good or bad, when they see the expiration date has passed, they would rather be safe than to be sorry. At first, when it’s revealed by Eighner later in “On Dumpster Diving.” with how much is being wasted by college students or of a household, it is put into a better perspective when you look at the USDA results.

Informal collectors refer to individuals that fall on the poverty-line, who travel long distances to collect and sort waste, in open landfills in order to find materials or products that are going to be sold at recycling plants, in exchange for money. Informal collectors help municipalities save substantial amounts of money due to their methods of waste collection, as they work day and night to search for recyclables which are then diverted to recycling plants, instead of landfills. However, informal waste collectors face numerous challenges, regarding health and transportation of waste. With regards to health, they work in open landfills with no protective clothing or equipment, placing them in danger of contracting serious health implications