Economic Improvement: A Closer Look at Poverty Reduction

Journalist, Patricia Cohen, in her New York Times article, writes that millions have managed to lift themselves out of the poverty in the past year. Cohen’s purpose is to inform and convince readers that indeed poverty levels have declined despite that millions across the country are still heavily affected by the 2008 Recession. She adopts a sympathetic and informative tone in order to transmit upon her readers the idea that the economy is not perfect but it is in fact improving. Cohen establishes a strong ethos by including anecdotes of success stories, she supports her argument with a significant use of logos through statistical figures as well as graphs in order to assure her readers that unemployment has definitely declined. First

She appeals to the emotions by providing a sort of imagery through the use of certain phrases such as “watching his 1984 Chevy Nova cough its last breaths” that makes the reader feel bad for this young man. He is a hard- working man, but cannot get a stable job and has to drive a car that is practically giving up on him and will stop working at any given moment. But then she transitions to talk about his progress by getting a way better paying job that provides benefits. She manages to appeal to emotions by quoting Mr. Caceido on “but nobody just wants to move in with their in-laws” (Cohen) because it must feel terrible for a man to work so hard yet not be able to provide a house for his wife and children. Cohen goes on to tell of Mr. Grayson, a construction worker, who works with mainly Spanish speaking workers. The language barrier makes it extremely difficult for Mr. Grayson to communicate and that sometimes lead to others doubting his abilities. After a foreman demonstrated his skepticism about Grayson’s, abilities he says that he “had to prove this man wrong,” that pushed him to sharpen his construction skills. After joining a union, Grayson now makes over twenty dollars an hour and was able to open his first bank account. Although it may not seem like dramatic changes to the reader, Cohen reminds us that “for those on the lower rungs of the income ladder,