In this photo essay “Geography of Poverty: A journey through forgotten America” by Trymaine lee, he uses Photos by matte black as well as other visuals such as maps to explain poverty in the United State. When viewing, and reading through this photo essay it is obvious that the essay is focused around the poverty in the United State. Lee explains how there is a population of poor Americans living in the United States who lack essential needs. He uses a lot of statistics to demonstrate the increasing poverty rate in certain parts of this country. But he makes sure that the statistics isn't what's creating the platform for this literature, more pathos rather than ethos to connect to audience. The argument in this essay is we are slowly forgetting …show more content…
Each photo drags the reader into reality. The visual elements not only help the reader continue to read the article but also provide a voice. By voice I mean each photo has a different story to it that is under the argument of rising poverty rates. Each photo was taken in black-and-white as if it was representing how the poor citizens of these communities were viewing the world they are in. The dark and gloomy photos was creating an exaggerated atmosphere that the reader was undergoing when reading the photo essay. Everything seemed to be moving in one direction, distress. As a reader, this photo essay appeals to me because I feel an emotional attachment to the photos while getting factual evidence to prove the thesis. When reading through the argument it was clear that the author was credited. Knowing that there was a photographer who took the trip around the United States to capture each moment of the lives of these poor citizens makes this photo essay reliable. From the way, the author was describing the communities to the black-and-white colors of the photos there was a realization that I made while reading the
Poverty is huge deal a huge topic in today’s society and not many people take consideration on this important topic. In the short essay by Diana George “Changing the Face of Poverty; Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation” she uses several key rhetorical methods to argue how poverty is being represented and how it limits on what poverty actually is. George begins building her point by using illustrations in the essay to explain how poverty is not being represented properly by nonprofit organizations. Then asks for other people’s opinions on this topic to help get her point through. She also uses the title of her essay to get her overall idea through. All of these points are very important and should be taken in consideration when talking about poverty.
David K. Shipler in his essay At the Edge of Poverty talks about the forgotten America. He tries to make the readers feel how hard is to live at the edge of poverty in America. Shipler states “Poverty, then, does not lend itself to easy definition” (252). He lays emphasis on the fact that there is no single universal definition of poverty. In fact poverty is a widespread concept with different dimensions; every person, country or culture has its own definition for poverty and its own definition of a comfortable life.
It’s his compassion for his subjects and his commitment to them that surpasses the act of making a pretty picture. Spending days with his subjects in the slums of Harlem or the hardly developed mountains of West Virginia, he immerses himself into the frequently bitter life of his next award-winning photo. Often including word for word text of testimonials recorded by junkies and destitute farmers, Richards is able to provide an unbiased portrayal. All he has done is to select and make us look at the faces of the ignored, opinions and reactions left to be made by the viewer. Have you ever been at the beach safely shielded by a dark pair of sunglasses and just watched?
I glance amusedly at the photo placed before me. The bright and smiling faces of my family stare back me, their expressions depicting complete happiness. My mind drifted back to the events of the day that the photo was taken. It was Memorial Day and so, in the spirit of tradition my large extended family had gathered at the grave of my great grandparents. The day was hot and I had begged my mother to let me join my friends at the pool. However, my mother had refused. Inconsolable, I spent most of the day moping about sulkily. The time came for a group picture and so my grandmother arranged us all just so and then turned to me saying, "You'd better smile Emma or you'll look back at this and never forgive yourself." Eager to please and knowing she would never let it go if I didn't, I plastered on a dazzling smile. One might say a picture is worth a thousand words. However, who is to say they are the accurate or right words? During the 1930s, photographers were hired by the FSA to photograph the events of the Great Depression. These photographers used their images, posed or accurate, to sway public opinion concerning the era. Their work displayed an attempt to fulfill the need to document what was taking place and the desire to influence what needed to be done.
middle of paper ... ... He attempts to convince the public that discrimination has gone on for far too long and it is time for a change. As for the photo, it mainly uses the appeal of Pathos, but it does not lack in power. The image is simple but communicates a powerful image revolving around discrimination.
Insular poverty, elucidated by Professor John Kenneth Galbraith in his 1969 essay, The Position of Poverty, refers to the collages of people who are poor because the designation of their lives trap them on ‘social islands’ where nearly everyone is living in these standards. (Galbraith 404) Poverty has flagrantly become a ‘back of the mind’ subject in America. The underlying question remains; is American society responsible for the uprise of insular poverty? Despite the "efforts" America puts off to relieve the world of insular poverty, American society is indefinitely responsible for its popularity due to the absence of will for the impoverished to climb out of the hole of poverty, the absence of opportunities given to poverty minority, the absence of compassion for the povertized.
These visual rhetorics include unity, the emotional, the political and the disconnected. While all of these visual rhetorics can be found in photographs separately, when they come together, specifically in child labor law photos, the photograph is able to have more impact for the viewer. Then this impact, due to all the combinations of rhetoric, allow for the photographs to be used ultimately for the benefit of the adult. Photographs are used to make the adults feel better about the horrible situations that were going around them, in this case the child labor. From the photos adults hopes that they can make some sort of change, even though they are mostly to blame, and hopefully that will hopefully trickle down to the adolescent
Several citizens in America may not empathize with many social conflicts which transpire in America. Unfortunately, when poverty is mentioned people of diverse gender, race/ethnic, and age can relate to poverty in America. Although several societies have not experienced the undesirable measures of relative or absolute poverty; several people know poverty exist through many channels, such as the media, social networking, history and charities.
The first reason, it is remaining me about a photograph Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother. They both have a mother sit with her three children and on their face are desperate and struggling to feed their children. The second reason, the artwork gave me a feeling that she is hopeless, depression in her face. She is an impoverished worker woman, exploited by others, and trying her best to support and sustain herself and her children. Section I Description
The image of poverty that Georges essay "changing the face of poverty" presents is one that leaves you thinking. It shows that poverty is being misrepresented by many ads intended to draw intention to the needs of the people. While these ads do show one face of poverty, many people don't feel as if they fall into these categories. Her use of supporting evidence, structure, and style support this idea using examples from commercials and media, testimonies from people, and a informative and somewhat confrontational tone. Her explicit thesis is that"...reliance on stereotypes of poverty can, in fact, work against the aims of the organization producing them."
Poverty can be defined as the state of being extremely poor. This means that a person has very little to no financial resources or provisions necessary for survival. It proves to be a serious issue that many families in the United States have to face on a daily basis. Poverty is a serious issue because it influences employment rates, which in turn hurts economic growth when the rate is low, and it also contributes to the number of Americans whom are actually homeless today. From a sociological point of view, poverty can be looked at using several perspectives such as the functional perspective, which shows how poverty exists to keep society up and running; the symbolic interactionism perspective, in which stereotypes come into play, showing
Sociological imagination is a concept by C. W Mills, who defines it as a situation where individuals become aware of their personal experiences, but choose to think away from their everyday life and routines to viewing their actions and situations from a 3rd party’s perspective. (Mills, 2000) This can also be described as the realization of how personal experiences relate to the wider society. Miller continues to say that men in this life are living, feeling like their everyday life is made up of traps which their daily worlds cannot help overcoming these troubles in the traps. This is the point where he brings the idea that human beings live in circles or private orbits where our
The documentary, Poor Us: An Animated History of Poverty, takes viewers through a detailed history of poverty on Earth. From hunter-gatherers to modern times, poverty in the world is demonstrated in the documentary. One can ask many questions while watching the documentary such as, “What is poverty?” and “Why does poverty exist today?” These questions are partially answered and speculated on in the documentary, although it may be hard to completely answer the questions as it can be argued that there is no one single answer. Poverty, according to the documentary, is the struggle to obtain resources in order to continue living. These resources are basic needs such as clean water, food, shelter and health care. The documentary, however, argues
Poverty, also known as the silent killer, exists in every corner of the world. In fact, almost half of the world’s population lives in poverty. According to the United States Census Bureau, there were 46.7 million people living in poverty the year of 2014 (1). Unfortunately, thousands of people die each year due to this world-wide problem. Some people view poverty as individuals or families not being able to afford an occupational meal or having to skip a meal to save money. However, this is not the true definition of poverty. According to the author of The Position of Poverty, John Kenneth Galbraith, “people are poverty-stricken when their income, even if adequate for survival, falls radically behind that of the community”, which means people
In their eyes, even though clearly victims, exist strengths and hopes for the future. The photos indicated that they could and did create their own culture, both in the past and present. From the same photos plus the texts, it could be gathered that they have done things to improve their lives, despite the many odds against them. The photographs showed their lives, their suffering, and their journey for better lives, their happy moments, and the places that were of importance to them. Despite the importance of the photographs, they were not as effective as the text in showing the African-American lives and how the things happening in them had affected them, more specifically their complex feelings.