Summaries and Responses PDF

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Summary and response of five essays in the book...

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Running head: Summaries and Responses #1

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Summaries and Responses #1

In “On dumpster diving” Lars Eighner (1993) shares his experiences of being homeless and scavenging through dumpsters to find food in a very vivid descriptive manner. He portrays the art of

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dumpster diving with three principles of eating safely from the dumpsters. He describes various ways of classifying good and rotten foods by using senses and common sense. He gives an example by saying “canned goods are among the safest of foods” and also cautions that they are not “utterly foolproof” (p. 14). Another principle he talks about is to know the locations of the dumpsters and checking them regularly to have a higher benefit. He remembers how he started scavenging for pizzas out of dumpsters behind a pizza delivery shop which he visited regularly. In the third principle he says about seeking answer to the question, “why was this discarded?” He provides the case of students throwing out foods at the end of a semester or before and after breaks and gives a reason that students throw them out through “carelessness, ignorance or wastefulness” (p. 16). Eighner also talks about different mental stages and the learning processes of dumpster diving. Even though people may find the scavenger ethics to be funny; he avoids judging people based on what they dump whether it’s important documents, pills or other personal items. The whole experience of scavenging makes him sad and makes him think about how much people take for granted and throw away. In the end, he feels sorry for people who cannot afford to do that. Word count: 256 1. Lars Eighner organizes his essay in a chronological order and starts the essay by saying how he started dumpster diving about a year before he became homeless. In the beginning of the essay, he defines dumpster diving as “scavenging.’ He states that scavenging is not foraging and that he liked the frankness of the word. He also compares his life as a scavenger to the life of consumer. It gives a head start to the essay and guides the readers through the rest of the essay. Eighner uses numerous examples of food items that he finds in the dumpsters to expand on his definition of scavenging which gives a very clear idea on how a person can survive just by dumpster diving. He also uses analytical aspect to answer what is safe to eat, for which he talks about three principles of eating safely. He also analyses various stages of dumpster diving. He classifies the type of food he finds in the dumpsters and gives

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examples too. He explains how someone learns to dive in general and then how to dive for food in particular. Towards the end of the essay he uses cause and effect to explain how the experience of scavenging has taught him two deep lessons; take the items that are useful and that material objects don’t last. Eighner’s use of vivid descriptions, narrative analysis and organization of the essay makes it come alive and easier to follow. Word count: 242 “Working at Wendy’s” written by Joey Franklin (2006) primarily focuses on his life and working experience at Wendy’s with a short narration on his co-workers. In the essay, Franklin puts his pride aside and works at Wendy’s to provide for his family. Initially he feels that working at Wendy’s would be embarrassing. While waiting for the manager at Wendy’s, he says, “part of me wants to turn around and leave before the manager comes out” and that the “urge to leave increases” (p. 29). he makes his point by recalling numerous experiences of his friends and family members who have gone through the same situations like him. He gives example of his brother, Josh, who’s first job was at McDonalds and his father as well who had a job of delivering pizza. He compares himself to other teenagers like Oren to make a point that he is not working at Wendy’s just for the sake of doing it. He describes himself, “…I’m in the top 5 percent of students at my college…I’m on my way to grad school to get a PhD in English literature” (p. 31). He starts working night shifts to take care of his son during the day while his wife is gone to school. Although it’s not a prestigious job, he does not seem to complain much about his work. He is happy to find food in the fridge, a job that pays him an honest wage and to take a walk with his son in the park. Word count: 252 1. Joey Franklin’s initial attitude towards working at Wendy’s is somewhat kind of embarrassment for him. While waiting for the manager, he steps away of from the counter and pretends to read the menu trying to hide his face when he sees a couple walk into the restaurant. Despite being in the top 5 percent of students at his college and two semesters away from graduating, he realizes that it

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would be a mistake to work at Wendy’s. The internal conflict between how people will react to his working at Wendy’s and doing what is necessary to provide for his family is quite evident at the beginning of the essay. After working for couple of weeks, he meets a well-groomed twenty something man in the bathroom. The man asks him if he likes working the night shifts and if he ever considered college. He answers him casually that the work is not bad and explains that the job is temporary. He does not seem to be ashamed of working there anymore and does not feel the necessity of explaining his situation to other people. He is not bothered about what people think about him as well. By the end of the essay, he realizes that it’s not the job that defines him. There is a hint of self-satisfaction when he comes back home; his wife loves him, the house is warm, food is in the fridge and a job that pays him an honest wage. Word count: 245 In “The story of bottled water: a footnoted and annotated script” Annie Leonard (2010) argues that the bottled water industry created manufactured demand through ad campaigns scaring people about tap water, seducing consumers with pictures of pristine nature and then misleading us to think that tap water is dirty and bottled water is the best alternative. Her main focus in the essay is to inform people that the companies are giving false reasons to create artificial demand to sell their products. She shows her concern towards people who are buying water in a bottle when you can get it free in the kitchen. She reveals, “Pepsi’s Aquafina and Coke’s Dasani are really filtered tap water” (p. 97) and bottled water may be even worse than filtered and regulated tap water. She also emphasizes that producing and selling bottled water is indeed harmful to the environment. She sarcastically says, “it’d be more accurate to show one of those mountains of plastic waste” (p. 98) instead of using beautiful mountains on the labels of bottled water. Towards the end she compares carrying bottled water with smoking while pregnant; both being cool but consumers now know what is good for them. She ends the

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essay on a positive note that people are becoming aware and vigilant and the demand of clean safe water is for all the people. Word count: 224 2. In “The story of bottled water” Annie Leonard is trying to persuade the audience in thinking about the fake manufactured demand that the companies have created to make money by selling the consumers the same tap water that flow in the kitchen. While trying to present her argument, she uses footnotes that are indeed much longer so as to make the audience feel that all the points she is making in the essay is very much credible and true. She has used references from reliable sources as well and thrown in plenty of statistics to make her argument more believable. She definitely does not want to sound dumb with this essay like the Ad campaign done by the Fiji brand water. That’s why the footnotes are written in a formal language. She is in fact very much concerned about the environmental issues produced by the bottled water industry. This is where she uses sarcasm to a good effect when she says, “It’d be more accurate to show one of those mountains of plastic waste” (p. 98) instead of using beautiful mountains on the labels of bottled water. Most of the things are written in an informal style in the main text where she is trying to be funny and sarcastic. She asks many questions in the essay to make it more interactive and to draw attention of the audience towards the issue. She asks, “what happens to all these bottles when we’re done?” (p. 97). I like her style in the main text because she presents her points with humor and wit backing up with the footnotes. Word count: 268 In “College is a waste of time and money” Caroline Bird (1975) argues that college is not worth since it is expensive, takes considerable amount of time and effort relative to the outcome it brings. She discusses how most of the students are unsatisfied with attending college. She also states that many college students are in college not “because they want to be or they want to learn” (p. 247) but because of getting pressure from their parents or societies. She uses financial columnist Sylvia Porter’s assumption and says “…but the truth is not quite so rosy” (p. 251) to make her argument more

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believable. She also explains how society forces college on youth and how colleges have become money making industry rather than fulfilling the academic needs of the students. She also argues that getting a college degree does not guarantee jobs and college graduates rarely get to utilize what they learned in college in the real job. She conveys the feelings of depression and confusion among the college graduates. She defends her argument by giving an example of a student who believes even though he’ll have a diploma, he can honestly say “it was a waste of my father’s bread” (p. 250). She also utilizes statistics about the cost of college and its graduates and portrays the low reward scenario that exists. Bird concludes that college is not for everyone, people should give a second thought before deciding to go to college and find alternative way to be better prepared for the real world. Word count: 256 1. Although Caroline Bird published the article “College is a waste of time and money” four decades ago, there are notable similarities and differences between today’s college students and the ones Bird writes about. The notion still prevail that most of the college students are in school not because they want to be but because it has become thing to do and because of the family pressure. I feel that today’s college students are under tremendous pressure unlike the ones Bird writes about because of the growing competitiveness in the labor market. If the students don’t have degrees under their name, it’s quite certain that they end up with a job that barely satisfies their needs. The attitude of college students have changed in recent times as well. Students are becoming smarter in choosing the courses that returns the investment in education quickly. Furthermore students do not themselves in a single field of studies; one might have a degree in business as well as a degree in health science, so as to increase the chances of being employed and earning from both ends. Students, these days, have a wider range of courses to choose from as well. Technological advancement has made it easier for students to gain extra knowledge from various sources available in the internet. The only similarity I

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can think of is the feeling of frustration and depression among the college students about the uncertainty of getting employed because college education even today does not guarantee jobs to its students. Word count: 252 In “Blue collar brilliance” Mark Rose (2009) argues that intelligence cannot be merely measured by the education received in school but should take into account how we learn things in our everyday lives. He talks about how he grew up watching his mother waitressing at a restaurant. He pursues the audience to think that people who are in blue-collar jobs can be intelligent and deserve the same kind of respect that is given to white-collar job holders. He explains about how much bluecollar jobs demand of body and brain by giving the examples of his mother and his uncle. He talks about how his mother felt proud of her work and telling him that “there isn’t a day that goes by in the restaurant that you don’t learn something” (p. 263). He also talks about the amount of intelligence his uncle showed while working at General Motors factory. Rose explains that blue collar jobs are physically challenging and requires significant amount of thinking and intelligence to overcome various problems associated with the job. He disagrees on the social biases and believes that blue collar jobs should not be judged by conventional measures of intelligence. He says, “more reading occurs in the blue-collar workplace than is generally thought” (p. 268). In the end he says, people need “to acknowledge broader range of intellectual capacity” (p. 269) and appreciate the accomplishments of blue-collar workers like Rosies and Joes. Word count: 236 2. The “Blue collar brilliance” essay is all about debunking the myths that are associated with intelligence, work and social class of the blue-collar workers. Rose states, “generalizations about intelligence, work and social class deeply affect our assumptions about ourselves and each other guiding the ways we use our minds to learn, build knowledge, solve problems and make our way through the world” (p. 264-265). He questions several assumptions in this essay directly or indirectly

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and tries to answer them by giving the examples of his mother and uncle who are blue-collar workers. The first assumption he makes is “lingo conferred authority and signaled know-how” (p. 262). He then asks how much the blue-collar work demands of both body and brain referring to the intelligence and physical strength required at the work. He gives an example of handling the customers who enter the restaurant with all sorts of needs, not just the hunger. He also questions on the assumption that intelligence is closely associated with formal education and the belief that work requiring less schooling requires less intelligence. He gives example of mechanics being assumed as illiterate and managers labeling workers as “a bunch of dummies” (p. 264). He talks about how we define intelligence solely based on the grades in school and numbers on IQ tests and disagrees on the social biases pertaining to a person’s place on the occupational ladder. He also talks about how to work is to solve problems and much of the physical work is social and interactive. Towards the end of the essay he says, “esoteric symbols-visual jargon” (p. 268). Word count: 266

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References

Bird, C. (1975). College is a waste of time and money. In M. A. Goldthwaite, J. Bizup, J. Brereton, A. Fernald, & L. Peterson (Eds.), The Norton reader: Shorter fourteenth edition (pp. 247-255). New York, NY: W. W. Norton. Eighner, L. (1993). On dumpster diving. In M. A. Goldthwaite, J. Bizup, J. Brereton, A. Fernald, & L. Peterson (Eds.), The Norton reader: Shorter fourteenth edition (pp. 13-22). New York, NY: W. W. Norton. Franklin, J. (2006). Working at Wendy’s. In M. A. Goldthwaite, J. Bizup, J. Brereton, A. Fernald, & L. Peterson (Eds.), The Norton reader: Shorter fourteenth edition (pp. 29-35). New York, NY: W. W. Norton. Leonard, A. (2010). The story of bottled water: A footnoted and annotated script. In M. A. Goldthwaite, J. Bizup, J. Brereton, A. Fernald, & L. Peterson (Eds.), The Norton reader: Shorter fourteenth edition (pp. 96-109). New York, NY: W. W. Norton. Rose, M. (2009). Blue-collar brilliance. In M. A. Goldthwaite, J. Bizup, J. Brereton, A. Fernald, & L. Peterson (Eds.), The Norton reader: Shorter fourteenth edition (pp. 262-269). New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

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