Paul Wellstone states “More than 35 million Americans – one out of every seven of our fellow citizens – are officially poor. And the poor are getting poorer. How do we identify those ‘deserving’ our help?” (Wellstone) How are the poor portrayed? How do we know who is poor anymore? As I go through my day to day life it is hard to acknowledge who is struggling and who isn’t. When I think of the poor I often think of the homeless. The commercials on TV that show children starving with no food and no place to live; these are the things I think of when I think of poor. Diana George shows how Habitat for Humanity along with some other organizations shows how poverty is depicted.
Diana George is an English professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. George is writer, coauthor, and editor. In the opening of the article, George makes a connection with the audience by providing an anecdote about the numerous ads for non-profit organizations asking for donations around the holiday season. This story easily relates to everyone who has a mailbox in America and is a good way to connect instantly with the reader. As someone who donates to charities, George understands the importance of helping others. In getting various items in the mail from different charities such as Salvation Army, Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter Home for Abused Women, and Habitat for Humanity, George questions “How can ads in the mail and publicity videos help the charities instead of hindering them?” One in particular that stands out is Habitat for Humanity.
George looks into the ads that Habitat uses to get people and businesses to donate to their cause, to set up housing for people who do not have homes with not only the person helping bu...
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...lothing to showing everyday people in their own environment in different parts of America, George is reaching out to all of us so we have an understanding of how organizations are portraying poverty in adds, but need to change into something realistic. It is hard to relate to charities when videos and mail flyers don’t connect to people and their emotions.
With the realization of more than 35 million Americans being considered poor, it is important that charities take a look at what George has written and consider changing the way their ads are being seen. George realizes that all these organizations are important and have a time crunch to get their info out to people, but she also knows that with a few changes they could get so many more donations from money to time. I truly feel as if George had a great argument for her cause and I stand behind what she states
1). This was an effective point because it immediately grabbed the reader’s attention. It also played on people’s natural, instinctive qualities to help those who are in need. It got readers to start thinking from the author’s point of view and could make them try to help him in any way they can. Another way he used an emotional response was by talking about “tax dollars” (par.17). This was well placed because many Americans think that they work too hard to have their hard-earned tax dollars go to waste. This also brought the readers closer to the author because they would not want that to happen, which is a typical fear of
Aniston states, “Her parents turned to St. Jude, where our discoveries have doubled the chance of Ellie’s survival.” This small statistic makes a big impact. Not only does it back up St. Jude’s reasoning for donating to medical research, logical appeal, it gives the audience hope that Ellie might be able to beat cancer and live a normal life, emotional appeal. By combining these two rhetorical appeals, the producers have now created an exemplary argument for why the audience should donate to their foundation.
Poverty in America is a very complex issue that can be looked at from many directions. There are a plethora of statistics and theories about poverty in America that can be confusing and at times contradicting. It is important to objectively view statistics to gain a better understanding of poverty and to wade through the stereotypes and the haze of cultural views that can misrepresent the situation.The official poverty line in America begins with a person making at or below $12,060. To calculate the poverty line for a family, an additional $4,180 is added to the base of $12,060 for each additional member(“Federal Poverty Level Guidelines”). According to the last U.S. census, over 45 million or 14.5% of Americans are at or below the poverty line(Worstall). At this level, the U.S. poverty level has not changed much from the 1970s when the government began a “War on Poverty.” However,
He has enough brains to realize he could never spend that amount of money, and obviously realizes that some luxuries are just a waste of money. Money, which can be used to help out the less fortunate. I hope many of these families are affected by his actions in a good way. Many of the poor just don’t know any better, poverty and hardship is all they know. Many have a broken nature, drug abuse, mental and behavioral problems. There will always be poor and I believe a motivation can help them, but they also have to want to help themselves and have a desire to
The average American spends their excess wealth on vacations, fancy dinners, new clothes, and other unnecessary desires, completely disregarding impoverished children in other parts of the world. In an accusatory article published in the New York Times Magazine, utilitarian philosopher Peter Singer condemns the actions of financially secure Americans’ as immoral. By incorporating pathos into his analogies and factual evidence, Singer argues that Americans have the moral responsibility to donate their excess money to help children overseas, ultimately causing the audience to make the choice between a child’s life and personal luxuries.
Most people feel that they should help the needy in some way or another. The problem is how to help them. This problem generally arises when there is a person sitting on the side of the road in battered clothes with a cardboard sign asking for some form of help, almost always in the form of money. Yet something makes the giver uneasy. What will they do with this money? Do they need this money? Will it really help them? The truth of the matter is, it won't. However, there are things that can be done to help the needy. Giving money to a reliable foundation will help the helpless, something that transferring money from a pocket to a man's tin can will never do.
“Inequality is evident when looking at the earnings of the people at the top compared to the ones in the middle” (Inequality for All). The larger share of the nation’s income goes to the top unfairly, and leaves the rest struggling to get to financial levels they may or may not ever reach. This is the unjust system that exists in the nation which people pretend not to participate in so the poor can be blamed for their own issues. Most people participate in this system often involuntarily or unknowingly through turning their backs, taking larger pay cuts than necessary, and participating heavily in consumerism. Statistics from the video proved that “Seventy percent of the economy is consumer spending” (Inequality for all). While many of the working poor do in fact spend unnecessarily and unwisely it is unfortunate that they cannot enjoy the same pleasures as everyone else. The inequality in America is very apparent and the responsibility should be given to the top one percent and the government. It would be great if every person would step up and help make the nation great again by taking responsibility/accountability, and by creating a culture of justice, equality, and wealth. The video reported that in the year 1978 compared to 2010, the income of the typical worker differed by more than $345,000 (Inequality
... to World Poverty", the speaker uses potent pathos, thought provoking rhetorical questions, ethos, and a assertive tone to demonstrate that it is in the best interest of man kind for those living lives of luxury to exchange opulence for altruistic lifestyles which leads to a more meaningful existence. Through his usage of rhetorical questions and aggressive tone the speaker is able encourage self reflection which leads to greater acceptance of his utilitarian philosophy. The speaker also utilizes a bold tone, allusions, and references to professionals such as Peter Unger to build his credibility as an author and to gain the trust and respect of his audience. Singer uses pathos along with his assertive tone to evoke anger from the audience and make them more willing to accept the idea that forsaking materialism is in the best interest of the world community.
Defining who qualifies as poor is the first problem. Researchers alike have all created their own definitions of the poor. Ken Auletta, a journalist defines the poor as a group of individuals who share common attributes such as high school dropouts, delinquents, and the homeless (Ricketts, & Sawhill, 1988). Psychologist Kenneth Clark and political scientist Richard Nathan describe the poor as those who share the same status and are involved in a number of characteristics that are against dominant culture and behavior. Finally, sociologist William J. Wilson views the poor as people who lack training and skills, experience prolonged periods of joblessness, engage in criminal activity, and have a dependency on welfare. As a result, most of America has the conception that the poor can be characterized by the status and behaviors that deviate from dominant culture such as joblessness, delinq...
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.
What does it mean for someone to be on the lines of poverty or living in poverty? What is this word that is falsely used and missed analyzed? Poverty is the state of being extremely poor or being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount. In 2010, 16.4 million children, or 22.0 percent, were poor in the United States alone. (Tanner, 2014) The poverty rate for children also varies substantially by race and origin. If the rate of poverty continues to rise, will there be any hope left in humanity? The real question is not what is poverty but why is there so many people living in it. The ideal job of the government (federal and state) is to create a better/safer environment for the people. The model the “government” campaign is that everything they do is for the “benefit” of the people. When does the word “benefit” come into play when twenty-two percent of the population cannot supply a place for their children to sleep, put food on the table, and get a job that pays well enough to support their family. Are there any real benefits knowing families living in poverty have only one percent of a chance of getting out? Who is to blame? Where and how did this problem all start? What is this so called “government” doing to help stop the increasing rate of poverty? As you read this essay, it will explain what it means to be truly poor and why the government does so little to help. Include real stories from people living in poverty, what the government is doing to help (and if it’s enough), and is the problem of poverty becoming worst or slowly rising to become better.
The writer behind “Singers Solution to World Poverty” advocates that U.S. citizens give away the majority of their dispensable income in order to end global suffering. Peter Singer makes numerous assumptions within his proposal about world poverty, and they are founded on the principle that Americans spend too much money on items and services that they do not need.
Growing up in the inner city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania I’ve experienced my fair share of homeless people on the streets. It is of no surprise to me that this is a common trend in most major cities across the country. Moving to San Diego I didn’t expect that the streets would be completely free from homelessness but the magnitude of this glaringly evident issue was more than I could ever imagine. I was faced with an overwhelming reality of a city filled with shopping carts full of few belongings, pillows and blankets on the sidewalks, and more signs, held by the hands of utterly helpless people asking for just a little help, than I had ever seen before. Walking by fifteen people all in a row, sleeping like it was no big deal that their comfy bed to go home to every night was a concrete slab on 5th Avenue, made me wonder how these people got to this point and why there was no one there to help. Finding the source of glue keeping the homeless population stuck in their situation not only comes from a desensitized community, over-exposed to people living on the street, but also a lack of resources and willingness to help decrease homelessness and work toward preventing it all together.
When one hears poverty they think of having no money or a house and being on the streets like a homeless person. That is in fact true but, poverty is more than that it is more widespread across income levels. Not just those at the absolute bottom of income earned and wages. 12% of Americans are unable to meet their basic needs 20% being 18 years or younger (mit.edu). Poverty does not just affect people on the individual level it also can have effects on communities as a whole.
What is poverty? The World Bank Organization takes a unique way of looking into the question of what is poverty. “Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time.” With that being said, according to the United States Census Bureau in 2013 the nation’s poverty rate fell to 14.5%, down from 15% a year earlier. This drop of a half percent is the first significant drop since 2006 when it was 12.6%. If one were to do the math a whopping 45.3 million Americanss fall under the line of poverty. Unfortunately of those 45.3 million living in poverty,