On Dumpster Diving Blog

Joseph Cooper
Mrs. Parkinson
English IIIB
13 April 2016

Pathos of Dumpster Diving

     The poor: a group commonly painted as disorganized slobs by the popular media. But are they really all that different from you and me? As discussed by Lars Eighner, there is satisfaction, but also sorrow. What is considered useless to one man, is priceless to another.

     The things found in dumpsters may not always carry value. Some things, according to Eighner, are harmful to people like him. He explains, "I have heard of people maliciously contaminating discarded food." Imagine that half of your food supply was contaminated. How would you feel? This is the hardship that people such as Eighner have to endure every day. Would you want that for yourself? What about your family?

     Everyone is human, regardless of income. If we don't learn to respect each other, it only tears us apart. Examples such as these evoke the strongest emotion. We've all encountered someone who has tried to make our lives worse. Maybe it's a student. Maybe it's a coworker. Maybe it's your own family. Our country needs not more enemies, but more friends.

Chapters 2, 3, 4 Inquiry Activity

Joseph Cooper

Mrs. Parkinson

English IIIB

15 March 2016

The Effects of Dreaming on Survival

            What defines survival? Is it simply the ability to exist? Is it the ability to experience a satisfying, fulfilling existence?

In George and Lennie’s case during Of Mice and Men, it is. They aspire to escape a brutal life of continuous moving and searching. It’s because of this that they’ve advanced this far. Such dreams comfort Lennie when George tells him about how “We’d jus’ live there. We’d belong there. There wouldn’t be no more runnin’.” Without dreams such as these, there’s no reason to persist, or even to live.

It was 8^th grade—the first time that I watched the Mason High School Wind Symphony—that inspired me to persist. When I first saw them perform, I knew that I wanted to play in that band. After grueling hours of practice, and one classmate calling me crazy, such a dream became a reality. This has truly defined my survival.

Long Live the Renaissance

Over 200 years, America has lived. 200 years, and not everybody has learned how to overcome prejudice and hatred. Like the years preceding, the 20’s supported these practices. Many encouraged racism. Cullen contested the idea. The voice of his poetry transcends the plague of racism. It’s a plague that manifests itself even in our country today.

When someone mentions the terms, Ferguson and Baltimore, does that sound familiar? It should. Both cities were the settings of riots resulting from someone’s death. Some blamed the police. Some blamed the criminals. Whatever the opinion, it’s impossible to deny the existence of racism.

When we listen to Cullen’s Tableau, we can learn from “the black boy and the white” who are “locked arm in arm”. They prove that racism is learned, not innate. Race only becomes an issue if we make it that way. The most important issue is, “How can we improve?”