RUNNING HEAD: POVERTY IN AMERICAN SUBURBS

The effects Poverty has had on American Suburbs

Erica Dominguez
University of Texas at El Paso















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Poverty in America has increased significantly since 1964 when President Johnson
declared war on poverty. Since then, there has been an increasing gap between the rich and the
poor, leaving almost no middle class. Because of this, more and more people have moved to
suburbs in America for the safe, but cost effective environment for their lifestyle. In America, it
is a human right to live above the poverty line. There are many obtainable ways to eliminate
poverty (depending on which political party is taken into consideration), and managing those
ways is entirely opinionated. Many news sources, broadcasts, websites, and media discuss
poverty at hand in the U.S. today. Some may be more informative than others, and some may be
composed solely for persuading an audience for a specific purpose.
In the 9 minute video, Poverty rates surge in American Suburbs, published by PBS
NEWSHOUR, the audience is directed toward taxpayers, and the middle and upper class. The
video is organized so that the audience has a story to follow, and is structured to persuade using
pathos, ethos, and logos. The video was kept in a professional manner, but did not use difficult
vocabulary to express its message. Instead, the video showed many images to give a sense of
sympathy, compassion, and consideration. For example, at the opening of the video, a single
mother and her twin daughters are displayed as a typical under-the-poverty-line suburban family.
They later become an icon to those around America who live similarly as they do. Pathos is used
when the mother discusses the stress she undergoes when she believes she might not be able to
provide anything for her children or herself. The emotions keep rolling when the audience
watches old footage of angry crowds, school buses, and lined up children in raggedy clothes.
This particular message is implying that Americans are not thinking about the children that are
suffering from poverty as well, and cannot break the cycle of living on welfare. Footage of
businesses displaying the sign We accept food stamps, evicted homes, and lastly, an American
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flag all symbolize what people living in poverty have to face, and ending with America being a
whole. The American flag implies that America should be working together as a country, a
family, to help those in need.
Alongside pathos, ethos is also heavily used in the video. The video gives off a sense of
credibility when people involved in poverty related areas are interviewed or quoted. President
Johnson was shown giving a speech about poverty, and asking what can be done? The audience
knows poverty has been an issue for over 50 years, when President Johnson is discussing the
matter, and America still lives with the same poverty issues today. Richard Koubek, Chair of
Welfare to Work Commission in Suffolk County, makes an appearance in the video, discussing
how he advises the county legislature on issues affecting low-income residents. Including
Koubek in the video allows the audience to understand that poverty is a real, and serious issue.
Another credible source provided in the video was Elizabeth Kneebone, Fellow at The Brookings
Institution and Co-author of Confronting Suburban Poverty in America. Kneebone explains
that poverty may not always be easily visible to others, but America still has to acknowledge
its there. This almost makes the audience feel guilty for maybe not always noticing other people
struggling to survive.
Logos is finally used in the video by providing many poverty rates over the years, maps
of poverty percentages, and food stamps usage throughout America. This is to persuade the
viewers by numbers, instead of emotion. The facts are stated; the audience cannot argue against
the statistics provided, unless other forms of statistics are used. Providing this logos allows the
audience to put fact and emotion together, and be able to justify why there should be something
done about the poverty level in America.
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This particular iconography has more of an advantage than an article because the
audience sees what its like to live in poverty. The viewers can see actual expression and
emotion on the mothers face, the children shown, and the old footage of crowds and of President
Johnson. The video grows to prove its purpose. For example, the video starts with who the
family is, and how they live, then use them as a symbol for everyone living under the poverty
line. Once all the information and facts are stated, it ends with the family again to give a sense of
closure on the video, and maintain an afterimage of the family and their hard times.
Information on poverty can also be expressed through a typography medium such as the
article These days, more poor live in suburbs than in cities. For this particular article, what is
provided is meant to be more informative than persuasive. The intended audience knows about
poverty in America, but also wants to know more about why lower class incomes are moving to
suburbs. The article is more neutral toward poverty, since no persuasive wording is used such as
poor, families, or suffering. If this loaded diction was used, the article would lean more
toward that of pathos, and touch the audience about the importance of family, live, and the
struggle for survival.
The opening of the article starts with the introduction of Marcus Thomas. Thomas
supports the claims of a poor and dangerous neighborhood he previously resided in. His
comments on his last neighborhood support why he moved to a more suburban place, leading to
the demographics and logos of the article. The article then transitions its way into the nations
increase in poor from the year 2000-2011. Here it continues to follow more statistics to clarify
why poverty is being pushed to the suburbs.
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Although this article is mostly informative, it attempts to persuade its readers by adding
in two pictures of poverty-living Americans. The first picture is a man at his computer with a
caption that reads he was once living in middle class, but is now living under the poverty line
since he was laid off. The second picture displays a mother and her son shopping at a free food
pantry Wheaton. This use of pathos allows the readers to feel sympathy, consideration, and
understanding. The pictures also provide a visual to what its like to be living under the poverty
line, and justify that all the information that was provided in the article is factual and real.
Both sources provided information about poverty in America. The way they did,
however, is somewhat different. Different genres allow bending and creating new rules within
those guidelines. Could the video have been just informative? Could the article have been much
more persuasive? The wording in each, the pictures and icons used, all make up a bigger picture.
Different genres have different ways of conveying their message, but little things such as adding
a picture of a child in poverty can persuade an audience greatly, and therefore succeeding in the
significance of the subject.









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Reference List
Mertens, Richard (2013, September 11). Face of US poverty: These days, more people live in
suburbs than in cities. Retrieved February 9, 2014. From
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2013/0911/Face-of-US-poverty-These-days-
more-poor-live-in-suburbs-than-in-cities.
PBS (2014, January 11). Poverty rates surge in American suburbs. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
From http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/nation-jan-june14-povertysuburb_01-11/