Reader Response 1

The author talks about the homeless community. The homeless are forced to find alternate ways of finding food and income. This makes anything that has any amount of worth valued in the homeless community. Any edible food is essential to living. Also any items that can be fixed or are in good condition can be sold. For some cans are a main source of income. The author is his own source on the subject because he was once a homeless person. He uses his own experiences as examples for his work. This makes the author an insider because he was a part of the community. He has more experience on the subject then that of someone just studying the homeless. The author is quite neutral when talking about the homeless but tends to to be biased on some issues. This is a result of the authors past experiences as a homeless.
The author presents the homeless as not a lesser group, but a group that does what it needs to survive. Dumpster diving is some what of an art that a person gets better at with experience. The writing was informal because there were no interviews or formal ideas in the writing. All the experiences of the story were pulled from past memories and experiences. The writing did not have a typically researched topic. The topic of homeless people and garbage diving is not one usually found in an academic setting. The author presents the topic in a mild manner. It was more of an informative essay than a opinionated essay. This is better for the readers because it gives an overview rather then trying to persuade the reader that the dumpster diving is good or acceptable. I found it informative and it gave me a view of what homeless must do to survive without a home.