America's Wandering Families

            Loretta Schwartz-Nobel’s chapter titled “America’s Wandering Families” illustrates depressing yet hopeful stories. She establishes her ethos right at the beginning by giving the reader multiple statistics that could be surprising. These statistics allow her audience to understand that she knows the topic and will definitely give them valid information. Her audience is more likely to stay since they know she is knowledgeable about her topic. These statistics also provide logos to allow her to support her narrative. Without these statistics to help establish her ethos, readers might not be as interested in the article since they don’t know if she truly understands her topic. All of these characteristics allow Nobel to establish a strong tone of voice that allows her to captivate her audience with the encounters she has with the homeless.

            Pathos is the main rhetorical appeal that the author wants her audience to feel. She uses the emotion to get her audience to feel for the hardships that these homeless people experience every day of their lives. The emotional story that is told from Tina is one prime example of Nobel putting pathos to use. It makes the reader feel terrible for these people and gets her audience thinking about ways that this problem can be remedied. It is definitely an effective way to get her audience to take action or to think about the predicament that faces homeless people. The personal interviews that she conducts allows her chapter to not be overloaded with depressing facts, but a more personal look into the lives of these people. It allows her audience to imagine themselves in these peoples’ shoes. It is an effective strategy that allows her to achieve her purpose.

            She also utilizes different human elements to appeal to her audience. Character development is an important aspect that she brings through her interactions with the homeless people. The dialogue that occurs in the chapter allow the reader to gain a sense of understanding about their lives. It creates a deeper connection between the audience and Nobel’s encounters. The amount of detail that was placed into this also assists in keeping her audience engaged as they understand everything that is happening at that point of time. Overall, Nobel does a great job of writing an effective chapter that highlights a problem that many other people choose to ignore.