Comparison and Contrast Essay Model
Note: The essay would be much stronger with extended references to the
texts in each of the paragraphs.
"One man's trash is another man's treasure". In Lars Eighner's essay
Dumpster Diving, and Wallace Stegner's The Town Dump, the refuse pile represents
a way to bring discards back to life rather than dispose of them. Each author
has different incentives to scavenge the dumps, but both find ways to value
what has been rejected.
Dumpsters fascinated Lars Eighner even before he began scavenging through
them. First, he started by choice, but soon found himself forced to when he
became homeless. Wallace Stegner simply saw excitement in the world of the
dump. He had a roof to live under and food on the table, yet he found himself
constantly drawn to the collection of discarded artifacts.
Eighner refers to the process of selection as "something of an urban
art". He carefully describes his system of testing and judgement to determine
what is safe eating and worth keeping. As a homeless person constantly on
the go, he cannot afford to accumulate excess baggage. Stegner, meanwhile,
loves to hoard whatever strikes his fancy. He habitually brought home his
findings "by the wagonload". Somehow, he always managed to make
use of everything in one way or another.
Dumpster Diving expanded beyond one source. Eighner traveled from dumpster
to dumpster, always open to the "goods" each had to offer. Certain
places, such as restaurant dumpsters, he returned to routinely after discovering
consistency in perfectly good throw-outs. Stegner only dug through the waste
in his town's dump. He relied on it to satisfy and content him whenever he
visited. That one place had as much impact on his life as the hundreds of
dumpsters had on Eighner's.
Certainly, every refuse pile contains significant, if not precious, memories.
Eighner created stories in his mind of where some of his findings originated
from and how the numorous possibilities of how they affected a person's life.
When this occurred, he often felt sadness but always gained some amusement.
The Town Dump stood more as a collection of pieces of the town's history.
To Stegner, the dump symbolized something he contributed to.
Most often, discarding something is looked upon as an end to it. Little thought
lies in where it ends up or who might find it and think it's valuable. Two
of many people who appreciate once-rejected discards told their story and
explained their perceptions. Lars Eighner and Wallace Stegner set good examples
that potentially influence others to appreciate the more discreet aspects
of life.
CJ 11-12-01
