Aisha Tarin
Mr. Soeth
English 3AP
February 16, 2011

REHUGO Analysis - Government

A. Articles read:

a. Welfare Reform Has Not Helped the Poor

b. Welfare Reform is helping the Poor Move Out of Poverty

B. Articles Attached

C. Argument

a. The argument being addressed in the article, Welfare Reform Has Not Helped the Poor, talks about the issue of welfare reform and how it is not helping poor families in need. People with families they can't support have the opportunity to get help from the government, but in society today people feel that help is not effective.

b. Where as in the article, Welfare Reform is helping the Poor Move Out of Poverty, people believe that welfare reform is helping support there families while they find a job, so they are then stable enough to get out of welfare and live on there own.

D. Evidence

a. "According to the Urban Institute, about half of those leaving welfare for work between 1997 and 1999 obtained jobs where they earned a median hourly wage of only $7.15. If the jobs offered a steady forty hours of work a week (which lower wage jobs usually don't), that would provide a gross annual income of $14,872. But more than one-fifth of those leaving welfare for work didn't make it through the year—either because they lost their jobs, got sick, or just couldn't make ends meet." The author uses ethos, by stating what a Urban Institution has to say about people in welfare. The institution states that families in welfare who either can't find a job or lose there job within a certain amount of time given, lose there welfare benefits as well. This is a reason why people believe welfare reform has not helped them and their family. "The nation's poverty rate rose to 11.7 percent in 2001, up from 11.3 percent the prior year." The author also uses logos, showing statistically how the poverty rate has gone up and how more families are going to be applying for welfare. The government has also indicated that families leaving welfare for work lose access to other benefits which makes it even more difficult for families.

b. "During his 1992 presidential campaign Bill Clinton promised to "end welfare as we know it." But he then proceeded in his first budget to ask for a $100 billion increase over five years in welfare spending." This statement presents ethos, adding a quote from President Bill Clinton saying he is going to end welfare benefits. Many families must have been devastated hearing that, but he did the total opposite by increasing the welfare budget. "In 1998 this 27-year-old had just given birth to her sixth child and was out of work. Like all Wisconsin residents, she knew that applying for public assistance meant applying for a job." This quote provides pathos and gives the audience an emotional appeal by sharing a persons story and how they struggled through life and how she ended up supporting her family without being on welfare for long.

E. Rhetorical Strategies

a. Definition is used to define what welfare is so the audience can get a better understanding of what the author is talking about. The word welfare is used many times throughout the article and the definition is stated and could be understood when reading the article. Another rhetorical strategy used is cause and effect welfare is help given to poor families and some people would just take advantage of it by not ever working and living off of welfare, when it was really just meant to help families get back on there feet. This cause brought the effect of changing the welfare reform benefits by setting time limits for people to get jobs or else there welfare will be cut. This got people to believe that welfare was not helping the poor.

b. "On a national level, who deserves credit for the changing face of welfare?" Rhetorical questions was used to help get the audience thinking and put more of a statement in a question form. The rhetorical question is saying is anyone willing to go through the struggle of changing welfare. The author used plenty of examples to get his point across from people who went through welfare related problems. "Caseworkers used to be concerned with determining the size of the government check for which an aid applicant could qualify. Now, Kharfen says, they are "trying to get people into work—teaching them how to interview, how to dress, how to fill out application forms, requiring them to go out and do a certain number of job interviews a day." This quote shows exemplification saying how people are now required to try instead of just getting help.

F. Both articles make good arguments because they are backed up with a lot of examples and evidence, but I would have to agree with, Welfare Reform is helping the Poor Move Out of Poverty. Welfare reform is helping change peoples lives on a permanent basis. People who believe the government is not doing much to help should actually be looking at what they are doing to deserve getting the help they are from the government. People should at least look for jobs and not just depend on the help from welfare. The article that agrees welfare is helping the government did a good job using lots of evidence and examples to persuade his audience and get his point across.

MLA Citations:

a. Brodkin, Evelyn Z. "Welfare Reform Has Not Helped the Poor." Poverty and the Homeless. Ed. Mary E. Williams. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. Current Controversies. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 16 Feb. 2011.

b. Howd, Aimee. "Welfare Reform Is Helping the Poor Move Out of Poverty." Insight on the News (31 May 1999). Rpt. in Inner-City Poverty. Ed. Tamara L. Roleff. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003. Contemporary Issues Companion. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 16 Feb. 2011.