Homework:
Here’s an argument. Analyze two Rhetorical Strategies from the argument and decide if the Rhetorical Strategies made the Main Claim more or less effective. Once you’ve chosen your Rhetorical Strategies, make sure to go back, review what was said about them, and analyze them as either achieving or failing to achieve their goals. Did they satisfy the requirements of what makes them effective, or did they fail them? Why or why not? Did they tie back to the main Claim, or did they not? Why or why not? Give a paragraph of analysis for each Rhetorical Strategy chosen.
Argument 1:You shouldn’t give money to homeless people, and here’s three reasons why: One, giving money to them encourages them to continue their dangerous lifestyle rather than seek help, and increases the chances of something terrible happening to them as they stay out in the streets. We think we’re helping them, but in reality we’re hurting them, and do you really want to hurt them? Two, you worked hard for that money, and if you want to give it away, then you should choose an organization you trust rather than someone you don’t know who may or may not even need the assistance. We want to help the most people possible, and so the best way of achieving that is to give to professional organizations that can help the most people. If you really care about the homeless, then give to a trustworthy homeless shelter so that they can better take care of them and get them back into the workforce. Three, you have no idea what the money will be spent on, and by supporting a possible drug habit, you could be actively contributing to their inevitable death. How would you feel if you found out that a homeless person you gave money to overdosed? It’d be terrible to know that what you meant for good, they’re misusing to abuse themselves. What if you were an addict? Would you really want someone to enable your habit, eventually leading to your death, or would you rather someone do what’s right, even if it wasn’t what you wanted at the time? According to The Atlantic, One report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that six out of ten homeless respondents admitted problems with alcohol or drugs. Given the likelihood of self-reported bias, the actual number could be even higher (Thompson par. 3). Homeless people are just like us, and we need to do what’s best for them, even if it isn’t exactly what they want at the moment. I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking that it sounds nice to give to homeless shelters, but who knows which ones can be trusted? After all, we’ve all heard stories about homeless shelters being worse for the homeless than the streets. So what if by giving them money, we’re wasting it by feeding some businessman who’s just going to pocket it and not use it for its desired purpose or, even worse, just feeding into a system that abuses the homeless. This desire to do real good with your money is good, and all the more reason to not give to the homeless. You see, you can check out homeless shelters. Most are reviewed by third-party sites to make sure that they’re legitimate, and if you really care, you can go to them yourself and make sure that they’re legitimate. More importantly, all of this is more certainty you can get toward their legitimacy, and way more than you can get in a short conversation with a homeless person before the light changes. Most homeless shelters are non-profit, and are just doing what they’re doing to help people, and who knows if you can trust a homeless person you’ve just met. If you really want to help them, then give to a homeless shelter.
