Dumpster Diving Rhetorical Analysis

Activity theory, as interpreted by Ph.D. candidates, Wardle and Kain, is a process that attempts to see all aspects of activity such as social interactions and use of writing and language to achieve goals. This theory is award winning. Activity theory states that for a system to be effective, the rules, community, subject, division of labor, and motives must be reasonable. These components are shown through the chosen tool of communication most often. When one area of the system is corrupted, the tool will no longer function correctly in order to communicate or achieve its goals.

Kathryn Stockett, the author of The Help uses imagery to help the reader better comprehend the meaning of the passage. As the reader reads along in the passage reading about little Miss Skeeter, “Munching on peanuts, sorting through the pieces spread out on the table, a storm [raging] outside (Stockett 77). Through this imagery that the author provides the reader is instantly transformed into the world of little Miss Skeeter as she is sitting down by Constantine on a dark stormy night doing a puzzle. The reader can hear the crunch of the peanuts and smell the rain coming from outside as they read the passage. Stockett also uses diction to contribute to the imagery of the passage.

He utilizes short sentences to illuminate his contemplations regarding a matter. For instance: "The land is presently secured with urban areas" (p.118). "I am a scrounger" (p.108). The creator, in select passages, progresses an instructive tone by organizing sentences to be more logical and an illustration can be found in section 30 on page 111. Eighner utilizes combined sentences to propel his tone and to give accentuation.

In the passage from “Bag Ban Bad for Freedom and Environment”, the author, Adam B. Summers, makes an interesting case on why plastic bags should not be banned. Throughout the passage, Summers uses many examples and comparisons to describe how our world is not necessarily being harmed from plastic bags and that there are other uses for paper bags that would not be fulfilled if the bags were to be banned. He uses evidence, reasoning, and persuasive language and word choice to build his argument and persuade his audience that plastic bags should not be banned. In order to make his argument valid, Summers uses evidence and comparisons to support his claims.

In Wendell Berry’s “Waste” the author argues that the centralization of industries is the reason for the wastefulness of the people in the US. Since these industries are centralized we are forced to buy food from places filled with plastics and mass produced foods. In the essay Wendell Berry uses logos in order to convey the message that both corporations and people in the US play an equal role in the creation of waste. In the essay,Berry is able to use clear reasoning in able to develop the cause and effect relationship found in this article.

1. Eighner’s attention to language in the first five paragraphs causes the reader to view dumpster diving differently than they normally would. By providing the reader with his own personal views of how he sees a dumpster diver, and the terms he prefers to use when referring to them, Eighner inserts a more positive perspective over dumpster diving. For example, Eighner “I live from the refuse of others, I am a scavenger” (Eighner 108). Eighner indirectly dismisses the typical negative ideas about dumpster diving and instead puts it in a more positive light.

Irony is the most powerful literary device used in the short story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. First, a good example of irony in the story is “They were burdened with sashweights sand bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in.” (P,2 Line, 11-13) This quote is Ironic as it tells how this system was designed to hide beauty, yet beauty was still shown by the amount of restraints on the person. Second, another good example of irony is, “The spectacles were intended to make him not only half-blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.

Moreover, the example above also contributes to Eighner’s description of diving and scavenging ethics by showing the reader that some people, particularly, college students, are wasteful and that Eighner is simply making use of what they are throwing out. Eighner is, “[taking] what [he] can use and [letting] the rest go by. . . .

No Nickels or Dimes To Spare In the book, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich writes the story, “Serving in Florida.” She describes her experience living as an undercover waitress when in reality she’s a journalist for culture and politics with a doctorate in biology. Ehrenreich experiences trying to survive on multiple low income jobs to understand what it is like to be in their shoes instead of being apart of the higher middle class.

Past leaders such as Andrew Jackson, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Marc Antony are evidence that society does not reward morality and good character in leadership. Society is drawn to leaders that have good rhetoric, propaganda, and charismatic personalities, and society supports them despite their immorality. Society is concerned about stability more than the morality of their leaders and will support immoral leaders in times of crisis to provide stability. In history there have been multiple leaders that have used rhetoric, propaganda and charismatic personalities to gain power, despite their morals.

Eighner also implements the use of irony to reflect his attitude towards wastefulness. Dumpsters are originally designed for the discard of the worthless. Contrasting, the dumpsters Eighner’s referring to are “very rich” and full of good items like food and journals. Eighner’s use of irony notes how society today is careless of what they throw out. The consumers can make something worthless, priceless.

Eighner’s rhetorical direction that he plans to follow throughout his essay is to inform the readers about dumpster diving practices and his abstract thought on the subject that he has gotten through experience. The rhetorical direction Eighner plans to take sets as he begins to explain how to evaluate if something is good to eat or not. Sine Eighner starts informing the reader on the basic practices of scavenging that has become a form of art to him, the reader can follow as a type of instructional guideline, “using the senses and common sense to evaluate the condition of the found materials” (Eighner 108). This takes Eighner’s unpleasant exposure to scavenging in a different more constructive and informational direction. After Eighner explains

I feel that the author’s purpose was transmitted successfully through his essay, despite how distracting the organization of the text was. The author focused on employing the use of rhetorical techniques such as defining, describing, explaining a process, and narrating. In paragraphs three and four, Eighner takes the time to give the reader his ideas about words he feels represent his hobby the best. Choosing words like scavenging and scrounging as opposed to diving is how he defines what he does to gain necessary resources. In other words, he is defining his idea of the term dumpster diving for the audience.

Eighner’s Dumpster diving is all about scavenging, trashes that seems to be more valuable that it seems. The author appeals to ethos, logos, pathos throughout the essay. Eighner had enough experience as a dumpster that he knew what was valuable and what wasn’t, so he would just take what has value and would leave the things that he thought was unnecessary, so he appeals to ethos in this. Now, talking about logos, eighner also uses this technique because in the essay he says that he can learn a lot about the person based on their trash, he could find bills, contraceptive, etc on dumps.

As Nelson Mandela once said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Donovan Livingston, a graduate at Harvard Graduate School of Education, has similar views on education. His passionate and inspiring speech called “Lift Off” was given at HGSE’s Commencement Ceremony on May 25, 2016. The speech discusses the importance of education as well as the obstacles and injustices students, especially those of color, have experienced throughout history in getting an education. Livingston’s graduating classmates who are becoming teachers, as well as teachers and educators in general, are the audience of his speech.