Summary Of Unemployed And Working Hard By Simon Wykoff

Unemployed and Working Hard, written by Simon Wykoff, describes the life of a homeless man. However, this essay seems to be very personal to Wykoff, for the homeless man was her father, and even her. Throughout her essay, Wykoff describes the life her father lived. She talks about the everyday struggles he had that most people take for granted. Her essay implies something else. By just reading the title, readers are able to think differently. Then while reading her essay, readers are able to see why she tilted it that, and can begin to see the subject in a whole new perspective. When one hears that a person is homeless, they may think it is that persons fault. Many people feel that people are homeless because they are alcoholics, druggies,

For instance, the readers know that they are not homeless because her father does not want to work, because just by reading what he’s doing every day, the reader can get a sense of his work ethic. In addition, the readers are able to figure out that he does not waste his money on drugs, alcohol, or luxury items, because she tells the readers about his spending. Wykooff makes use of “conventional thinking” (Mauk and Metz 437). She makes readers see homeless people in a new perspective. Simply by the title of her essay, and the everyday life she depicts of her dad, readers are able to sense the life they lived. This can cause readers to see homeless people as actual working people, and not like a “lazy bum” like most people would think. (Wykoff

Her thesis statement stated “This is absolutely true, and I think you’ll find that homeless people are incredibly busy doing the most important job to all of us: surviving” (Wykoff 434). This statement makes readers stop and think. Most people don’t really consider that a job. People take that for granted, because they never really had to try and survive. Yet, homeless people like Wykoff and her dad, considered this a primary job. It sets up the rest of her essay based on surviving, and how they survived. Paragraph five on page 436 helps “readers reimagine the homeless” (Mauk and Metz 437). In this paragraph, Wykoff discusses how her dad would apply for jobs. Most people would never think of a homeless person to apply for a job. People would think of them as just being lazy and wanting handouts. However, readers are able to see that Wykoff’s dad is different. It helps readers see the homeless in a new way. It sparks hope in the readers that there are more homeless out there doing the same thing. Even though he never gets the jobs, it helps the readers have a different perspective on the