The article “On Dumpster Diving” describes people eating behaviors and how they waste food unknowingly. The paper describes how consumers waste a lot of food and if they are aware of their wasteful lifestyle. In addition, it questions if those with wasteful behaviors are knowledgeable or care about their habit. These articles give a theoretical criticism of consumer wastefulness using exposition and description.
Eighner uses exposition as a literary device to convey the story throughout the text and explain specific things rather than giving an account of his experiences (Dubisar and Hunt). Similarly, Eighner uses the description as a literary device to describe the topic of discussion in detail to guide the reader to create a visual image of the stories. In addition, the author uses narration to tell the stories and how everything occurred. The primary rhetoric mode in the article is a narration that is seen throughout the stories and experiences. Eighner used literary devices to pass a message to the readers through the narration of the experience at the dumpster and create a picture of how waste food can be helpful to another person.
Eighner uses disposition to avoid a word-to-word explanation of what happened in his life, making the article more presentable and non-redundant. Eighner wrote, that “I have heard people, evidently meaning to be polite, use the word foraging, but I prefer to use that word for gathering nuts and berries, which I also do according to season and the opportunity” (118). In the statement, Eighner does not discourage the use of the term “foraging” rudely, but, the text gives the reasons for disapproval (Dubisar and Hunt). Similarly, a more significant number of articles use this technique in cases where most of the article is a personal experience.
The use of short sentences throughout the report helps to clarify the author’s thoughts on the subject of wastefulness. For example, Eighner wrote, “the land is now covered with cities” (118). In paragraph 30 of page 11, Eighner advances an informative tone with a scientific to introduce the cumulative sentences and emphasize the style.
The description is a literary device where the author describes the occurrences with explicit visual content that creates images in the readers’ minds. In Eighner’s articles, there is scarce use of description, but it serves its purpose of helping the reader to get visual imaginations about the story narrated in the report (Eighner). Eighner wrote, “Some students, and others, approach defrosting a freezer by chucking out the whole lot.
The mass of frozen goods stays for a long time and items may be found still frozen or freshly thawed” (109). By describing the freeze and thaw process, Eighner explains how the consumer wastes food because they are ignorant and lack the proper method or poor preparation, which leads to more wastefulness (Benko). In addition, on pages 109 and 103, Eighner describes the bulging, rusty, dented cans at the dumpster that spew when punctured as a sign of expired cans that the street people avoid. The author takes the role of a narrator and first-person perspective, which helps explain the intellectual discoveries and gives a detailed account of the activities at the dumpster.
The narration gives a detailed account of the occurrence of activities and how they happened, including their timelines. There is no manipulation, changing, or stopping to explain or describe the activities in narration because it can skew the story to suit the narrator’s perspective (Eighner). For instance, Eighner used the narration device when he said, “I began scavenging by pulling pizzas out of the dumpsters behind the pizza delivery shop. While it lasted, I had a steady supply, of fresh, sometimes warm pizza” (110). Eighner describes how pizza shops waste food by throwing them away instead of donating it to the needy people in the streets (Dubisar and Hunt). Eighner narrates and creates a visual of how everything grains or rice looks like maggots.
Through narration devices, Eighner manages to highlight the increasing burden of homelessness among Americans regardless of age, sex, and region. In the article, the author narrates how he went through hardship while scavenging for food. The story challenges people to be conscious about what they eat and what they throw away to trash (Eighner). Similarly, the author incorporates the use of narration to describe what is available and the situation at the dumpsters, which is like a piece of sheets with several layers with different food available. Eighner narrates the experience of being a dumpster diver, a lifestyle, and a way of survival for the street people.
Furthermore, Eighner focused on defining the terms associated with poverty as a technique to convey the idea and assume the role of a narrator. In the fourth paragraph, the author takes a personal approach to enrich the informative tone and describes the philosophical ideas in the stories. The article helps the reader to understand words such as dumpster, scavenging, and foraging, which are the daily terms in the streets (Dubisar and Hunt).
However, Eighner emphasizes the shallowness of the terms, which meant a lot in his life. The fifth paragraph gives an analogy to present scavenging life, which is a niche for the homeless. On the contrary, the author used contradiction which casts doubts and leaves the readers with questions (Benko). The paradox of creating questions in the reader’s mind helps the readers scrutinize the book and get the answers. Therefore, the definition of terms and the use of contradiction helps the readers to understand the issues affecting the homeless where they do not have any savings and feed on garbage.
The purpose of the article “On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner is to criticize the consumers’ wasteful behavior and give proof of the daily consumer wasteful habit. Similarly, the article acts as an eye-opener to encourage readers to become mindful and care more about what they dispose of and focus on saving resources and enhancing a friendly environment. The article’s tone is formal to let the consumers understand that because they are homeless, it does not mean that they are illiterate.
As a result, Eighner succeeded in giving more information about the subject from different perspectives. The formal tone elevates the mood of average consumers as opposed to informal writing, which seems meant for low-class and unknowledgeable people. The style that entails the first person narrative appeals to the readers because it gives a first-hand description of items in the dumpster, which relates to the passion of the homeless people. Therefore, it is always rational to think about the implications of throwing away food because it may help needy people in the society, unless if they are expired or poisonous food.
Works Cited
Benko, Susanna L. “Policy into Practice: Understanding State Writing Resources.” Journal of Literacy Research, vol. 52, no. 2, 2020, pp. 136-157. SAGE Publications. Web.
Dubisar, Abby M., and Kathleen P. Hunt. “Teaching Ethos from The Dumpster Dive and Food Waste Rhetoric.” Communication Teacher, vol. 32, no. 2, 2017, pp. 76-81. Informal UK Limited. Web.
Eighner, Lars. “On Dumpster Diving.” New England Journal of Public Policy, vol. 8, no. 1, 1992. UMMS Boston library. Web.