Analysis Of Lars Eighner's 'Dumpster Diving'

careless. In a way, Eigher’s statement about college students is fair. Even though students are a

I very much agree that a book should never be judged by its cover. But like all things, the way you present yourself to other people does matter, just like first impressions. It’s the act of letting it be all that matters that is a predicament. And there’s always more to someone than meets the eye. For example, judging by my grades, some people naturally assume that grades are all that matter to me. Failing to notice that I love to play and watch sports and be involved in other activities. While at the same time, not knowing how much I love volunteering or helping other people. I wouldn’t exactly say it’s the most surprising thing about me, but it is something that lots of people don’t know. Just like how they also don’t know how much I love

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 Amy Tan article “Mother tongue”, Amy Tan was talking about her love and fascination of language in daily life. Amy Tan explores the various forms of English that people from around the world use as they immigrate to the U.S. and how they are classified by the way they speak. Her mother plays a big role in telling of how her perspective on language has been changed. The author’s analyze the purpose and evaluate the effectiveness in her writing using persuasive devices to influence her audience. Through the article Amy use the various different rhetorical strategies such as the pathos and logos.

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.

Our appearance is usually all that it takes for people to have a clear assumption of us all assuming that we speak the same language but when one opens their speak are perception of them changes automatically if they do not speak just like us whether it be good or bad. In “Mother Tongue”, Amy Tan viewing were affected by her mother’s english, Tan realizes the she has forgotten the true purpose of English - to understands one true personality. Tan confess how “[She] was ashamed of her mother’s english” (9). Like everyone else, Tan finds herself belittle her mother thoughts just because she simply cannot express a perfect sentence in english. However, She comes to realizes that the quality of our expression shares nothing with the quality of our thoughts. Tan affirms this by her mother's tongue “ was the language that helped shape the way [she] saw things, expressed things, made sense of things of the world” (7), which helps with the powers of language. We become accustomed to the language we hear everyday that it affects our thoughts and beliefs, which in end up affecting the

In 1993, Lars Eighner, a homeless college dropout, published his memoir titled Travels with Lizbeth. Within, an essay titled “On Dumpster Diving” shares his experiences and how they define his identity. Eighner views identity not solely on his status of a scavenger, but rather on how his experiences shape his identity and how he acts despite his circumstances. Similarly, as a student, my own identity is not based on my status, but rather on how my behavior is shaped in my situations. The identities of individuals are defined by how they live, how they react, and how they behave in all circumstances, not on their status or profession.

We all have been young, with our parents telling us not to judge a book by its cover. However, we still do. Stereotyping has started to become a huge problem, not just in my hometown but all across the nation. This is happening every day, from someone’s personality to a person’s skin color. Society has put people in groups, and associating certain things, with each type of person. In the story “Brownies,” by, ZZ Packer they judge Troop 909 once they got off the bus off of looks, without thinking about personalities or issues that they might have which brought out the theme of not judging a book by its cover.

“On Dumpster Diving” is a short story based on the life of a homeless man as he explains the art of dumpster diving. The story is preceded by background information about Lars Eighner and facts about the situations of homelessness in the U.S. The story then goes on into a narrative written by Lars Eighner when he was still homeless. Lars Eighner begins his narrative by giving background information on the word “dumpster.” He then goes on to explain the meaning of the word dumpster, followed by a definition on the word scavenger and why he prefers to be called a scavenger. He then begins explaining how he began dumpster diving and the situation that caused him to begin. Then he begins to explain all that he learned from becoming a scavenger.

People always say don’t judge a book by its cover, yet constantly, we all do it. We pick up a book and immediately, by instinct, we judge it by what we see. It is the same for all things in life. It is only human nature to judge things based on appearance. We look at how someone or something appears, and without even trying, we make assumptions or judge that thing, person, or situation. Throughout my semester in English 10A, I have come across many situations in which appearance affects the thoughts or lives of characters in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time-Indian, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Merchant of Venice, and our Holocaust Unit.

INTRO: The phrase “do not judge a book by its cover” is a widely recognized idea the majority of people keep in their peripheral mind when introduced with a new idea. The initial perceptions we make solely on someone’s outward appearances are out of our control, as it is a natural connection our brain makes between presentation and character. Though we cannot control what we instinctually comprehend, keeping an open mind is important, especially when meeting someone new.

People judge one another by their physical attributes rather than the character of their personality. We build judgements and assumptions of people just by the way they look. That's just the sad reality of the world we live in. I have chosen to explore the theme “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, and this theme can be seen in the novels The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten, Are You Seeing Me? By Darren Groth, Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang and Wonder by R.j Palacio.

"Appearances can be deceiving”, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” and “Life is not what it seems” are three phrases heard often. One does not often think about how those phrases are played out in one’s own life on a daily basis. Typically, one thinks one’s own behavior and heritage are amiable and good. Few people ever study their own behavior as they do others; however, Brenna Yovanoff does just that.

Imagine living on the street. Wow that would be pretty hard and not very pleasant either. Many people won’t even know what to do. Most of them will be depressed and will give up on life. Lars Eighner who lived on the streets is totally different from other people who live on the street. Many of those people are dumb, strange, and always yell at other for no reasons. Society looks at these kids of people and think that they are not going to make it anywhere in life. Well appearance can be deceiving. Lars Eighner survived living on the streets because his characteristic was different from others. He was smart, moral, and a proud person who made his way through tough times.

One time that I have judged a book by its cover or judged a person by the way they look is once in elementary school.There was a girl in a wheelchair I didn’t know her she wasn’t in my class and I thought that she would be (don’t mean to be mean) stupid. But then one day I saw her sitting alone with her adult helper and I thought I’d be nice and sit with her. And she wasn’t stupid at all she was really smart and nice so I started hanging out with her and even had a few of my friends became her friends to.The main idea of this essay is to not judge a book by its cover just like max didn’t judge freak by his appearance in “freak the mighty” by Rodman Philbrick