Diana George Changing The Face Of Poverty Rhetorical Analysis

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.

As illustrated in the short essay “Changing the face of Poverty” Diana George shows an illustration of a little girl named “Mandy” that doesn’t look very happy and doesn’t look

like she is living in poverty. In reality, this little girl is in need of help. The point George is trying to make in her essay is many of these so called organizations that help those in need have to use pictures of people from third world countries so they can get the attention of Americans to donate to their organizations so they can help those here in the United States. George uses some examples like “To do that they must represent poverty as something that can be seen and easily recognized: fallen down shacks and trashed out public housing, broken windows, dilapidated porches, barefoot kids with stringy, emaciated old women and men staring out at the camera with empty eyes (George 668).” Most see poverty as a child that is malnourished with the big belly, but poverty can run in those people who do not even show it like for example “Mandy”, the child who is on the “ad for Children, Inc. (George 669). In reality, there are kids and people like her that need help.
In the short essay “Changing the Face of Poverty” George explains how poverty exists Not only in a third world country but here at home as well. The reason others do not see poverty here at home is because poverty is now represented the wrong way. In the United States, there’s people that live in poverty and get help from the government such as Public Aid. Most people do not realize that and just believe that they’re just taking “advantage” of the government benefits. In Reality, these people live in poverty. George explains how she goes around and asks how those who are living in poverty how they feel about poverty being represented “I talked with young black women receiving state aid, who have not worked in years, about the issue of representation. They all agree they do not want to be identified as poor (George 673)”. People living in poverty may look like normal people, but they do not like accepting the fact that they are poor and do not like identifying as living in poverty. It feels embarrassing to them.
In the beginning of this essay, George uses the title “Changing the Face of Poverty; Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation’ (George 667)” which explains what the essay is about.

The idea of this essay is to explain how poverty is being represented the wrong way by nonprofit organizations here at home. The author uses the title to explain to the readers that poverty is not being represented the correct way. The way organizations represent poverty is by using images from a third world country instead of using pictures of people that live here at home that are living at poverty. The author explains how there are children here in America that need help just to get their basic needs, she explains “There are so many children like her – children that are deprived of their basic necessities right here in America” (George 668). The author is referring to “Mandy”. The picture of the girl on the Children Inc. flyer. She looks normal but she is need of help. The title gives an understanding to the reader about what is about to be

read.
In Diana George’s essay “Changing the Face of Poverty”, several key rhetorical methods are being used to argue how poverty is being represented. She uses the illustrations she provided in the essay to explain the representation of poverty. Interviews with the people who are receiving help is being used to get her point through, and the title of the authors essay explains how nonprofit organizations are representing poverty.