In The Economists article, “The poor in America need help” talks about poverty in the United States of America, particularly in the period during Barack Obama's tenure. The Economist's take on the topic of global poverty, particularly in the United States, contains a strong argument and in-depth research and statistics to show the lifestyles of the 10.5 million Americans trapped in poverty, while providing several paragraphs of factual, unbiased evidence about the reasons for the high rate of poverty in America, without providing solutions to remedy the situation. With a strong voice, an expert use of logistics and an appeal to the emotions, The Economist writer makes a strong argument that will give the audience a new stance on the topic of poverty in America. “The Poor in America Need Help” attracts a large audience, generally made up of any ordinary citizen who has a general interest in everyday politics or economics, which will help the article influence many people. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The article begins with strong pathos for several paragraphs that captivate the reader by telling the story of a destitute woman who recently lost her home due to an accident at work that left her unable to carry out her old work tasks. The author of the Economist uses very strong diction that captures the reader's attention and encourages the audience to continue reading. After starting with two related anecdotes, the article veers towards a more factual and logistical form of writing. Leader with the staggering statistic; “About 15% of Americans (about 46.2 million people) live below the poverty line”(5), The Economist immediately shocks the reader by exposing the immediate truth of the enormous amount of people in America living in poverty. The first page of the article, as shown, sets the tone for the rest of the article: a strong balance of heavy pathos, then solidifying the argument soon after with hard facts. Soon after, The Economist explores the political side of the American economy. The government plays an important role in trying to help people in poverty. It has been proven that American politicians have tried to help the poorest throughout history, up until recent years. “Mitt Romney famously said he wasn't 'concerned about the poorest' because they have a safety net to protect them” (7). Furthermore, it is written that Barack Obama spoke about the poor only once, during his two to four years in office. The purpose of these political examples may be to show the harsh reality that helping the poor has become too expensive for new presidents to act on. This is later expanded and shown to have many possible negative outcomes. The author analyzes the impact of decreasing political action on behalf of the poor, providing examples such as “The deterioration of family structure among the poor threatens to trap poor children at the bottom of the income ladder for life”(8) . The author goes on to show further examples of specifically youth poverty and the racial aspect of the impoverished in a subsequent paragraph in order to further break down the topic. The Economist continues with a paragraph showing the demographic relationship with poverty. We can try to take a stand in this context by showing the correlation between race and the average poverty rate. All in all, writes the Economist, “more than a quarter of blacks and Latinos live in poverty, while only a tenth of whites” (11). The writer does little on.
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