The essay is organized chronologically to help the reader understand the art and the abstract themes held therein. He first explains the origin of the word “Dumpster” and its meaning and then proceeds to explain what is safe to eat in the dumpster ad what is not. Then he explains the next big step which is means in which to look for one’s own food in the dumpster. Then he finally explains the bigger picture of the dumpster which is a place where people of all ages can relate and get along easily. This organization alliterates to a deeper meaning which is explained in the final paragraphs of the story where human vanity is explained in the love for superficial and temporary things.
Question 2: Eighner’s simple understated tone suggests that anyone can adapt to dumpster diving with a little prac
tice. Why do you think he uses such a tone?
Eighner uses a tone in his write that normalizes life in the dumpster and even to some extent makes it attractive. He approaches the subject and explains as it is, without an attempt to force the ideology on the reader, which makes it much more relatable. He tries to make the reader understand the people in the dumpster and deter them from viewing them as just homeless destitute people, but rather see them as whole human beings with all the qualities of other people in society.
Question 3: Write about someone who does what Eighner criticizes in his closing paragraphs, “invests objects with sentimental value (paragraph 65). Let your description reveal whether or not you agree with Eighner.
Many people go through life by the principles Eighner describes toward
the end of the story, refusing to attach meaning to the material things that they collect in their life. Mostly, it is because of fear of getting hurt once they lose them eventually, as often happens. The contentment that comes with believing that one will gain the things that they have as there is more where what they have come from is fulfilling. It saves one from the desire to stress themselves working too hard to earn more than they need.
“Beauty: When the other Dancer is the Self” Alice Walker
Question 1: From paragraph 12 onwards, Alice Walker refers to the “accident”. Why dos she out the word in quotation marks? To what events has Walker made peace with the accident and its consequences?
Alice walker, in the essay Beauty: When the other Dancer is the Self she refers back to the accident and puts it in quotation marks because it was not really an accident. One of her brothers shot her in the eye with a toy gun. They forced her to say that it was an accident, to escape the punishment that they were sure to receive from their parents should the truth be discovered. Since then it is referred to as an accident. She puts the word in question marks because she knows that it was not really an accident.
Question 2: Walker writes her essay by selecting particular moments in her life. What are these moments and what do they tell us about Walker’s theme?
Ms. Walker selects specific moments in her life and had meaning to her and bearing to the course which it took. She refers to the moment when her father took
her upcountry, the moment when she made a presentation in church, the moment when the “accident” happened and other such moments that shape her life and bear great meaning to her. Some of these moments seem like random events, which will most likely be forgotten by her siblings and those around her, including her parents, yet to her they bear great meaning and remain engraved in her memory.
Question 3: What is the effect of ending the essay with recounting a dream? How does the dream relate to the essay title?
The dream that she recounts is the essence of the story, the meaning of the title. She dances to a song she really loves and mesmerizes at the fact that she turned out okay. She is joined by another dancer, a girl who is herself. It is a testimony of the joy that she feels at having survived a difficult childhood, a testimony to her strong will and ability to cope with hard situations.
- Age Of Enlightenment essays
- Ethos essays
- Time essays
- Acceptance essays
- Meaning Of Life essays
- Reality essays
- Natural Law essays
- Political Philosophy essays
- Utilitarianism essays
- Existence essays
- Free Will essays
- Good And Evil essays
- Confucianism essays
- Relativism essays
- Conscience essays
- Environmentalism essays
- Empiricism essays
- Epistemology essays
- Ethics essays
- Existentialism essays
- Human Nature essays
- Individualism essays
- Metaphysics essays
- Philosophy Of Life essays
- Transcendentalism essays
- Truth essays
- Destiny essays
- Determinism essays
- Fate essays
- Functionalism essays
- Philosophers essays
- Pragmatism essays
- Future essays
- Child Observation essays
- Critical Reflection essays
- Teaching Philosophy essays
- Personal Philosophy essays
- Action Speak Louder Than Words essays
- Can Money Buy Happiness essays
- Values of Life essays
- Ethical dilemma essays
- Normative Ethics essays
- Virtue Ethics essays
- Belief essays
- Deontology essays
- Moral essays
- Virtue essays
- Work Ethic essays
- Henry David Thoreau essays
- Carl Jung essays
