Analysis Of Poverty Is Literally Making People Sick Because They Can T Afford Food

Former senior associate editor of The Atlantic, Matthew O’Brien, in his article, Poverty is Literally Making People Sick Because They Can’t Afford Food, claims that people of low income are more likely to become hospitalized for hypoglycemia at the end of the month. O’Brien’s purpose is to convey the idea that people of the lower class are struggling to pay for their own food at the end of the month and that could lead to severe health issues. He employs techniques within his article such as having a stern tone, using passionate word choice, and a concrete research study in order to evoke emotions of sorrow from his general audience especially those in the upper and middle class.
O’Brien uses a stern tone to acknowledging that income inequality

He mainly utilizes these techniques in order to emphasize on his call to action in his article. For example, when he is trying to make a point he often ends his sentences with a smart remark such as, “But not for anybody else” and also states, “if tight budgets are the problem” (O’Brien). O’Brien later moves on to talk about his call of action and uses repetition to his advantage when he says, “ We can do better. We could start by paying out welfare, food stamps, and Social Security twice a month, instead of just at the beginning. We could even pay out food stamps as cash”(O’Brien). As you can see he begins each sentence with the word “We” which really has an implanting effect on the reader. He then talks about the possible solutions to the issue as well as why people are continuing to get stuck in this never-ending cycle. To further highlight this he says phrases that have a similar sound to them such as, “Cold, hard cash” and “Bad jobs, bad health, and broken homes” (O’ Brien). As you can see all these examples of using passionate word choice come together and serve as one purpose for O’Brien. The idea of repetition as well as ending sentences with a quirky remark are used by him in order to be able to stress on points that he wants to. By allowing himself to do that it has a taxing effect on the reader making it easier for them to understand his message but also makes the connection between the author and audience even stronger. Because of this the reader has greater emotions towards what O’Brien is saying making them have more feelings of