Why "What is Poverty?" Makes the Reader Uncomfortable
             What does it mean to be poor? Jo Goodwin Parker's article, "What is Poverty?", summarizes her ideas of the true definition of poverty. The article is harsh and direct and can actually make the reader uncomfortable while reading it. Parker's stern and caustic tone throughout the article makes her seem angry at the reader. Parker's content is extremely graphic and too personal for the reader. Though her ethical appeal and logical appeal are extremely weak, her emotional appeal is excessively strong. Parker directs this article at the reader and attacks the reader's emotions through her harsh tone, graphic content, and lack of rhetorical appeal.
             Parker's tone throughout the article causes the reader to feel many different emotions. She begins the article with a stern, harsh tone by demanding, "You ask me what is poverty? Listen to me"(467). The tone is too direct to the reader, causing the reader to feel uncomfortable from the very beginning. Then, her tone starts making the reader feel guilty. Parker uses the phrase, "You say in your clean clothes coming from your clean house, 'Anybody can be clean'"(468). This phrase not only is too direct, but it makes the reader feel guilty for having the opportunity to be clean when we all know that she does not have the same opportunities. The reader also feels guilty when Parker tells stories about her children. She says, "My children have no extra books, no magazines, no extra pencils, or crayons, or paper and the most important of all, they do not have
             health."(468) The reader cannot help but to feel guilty for her children because most people have all of these commodities. Parker also possesses an angry tone. She describes poverty as "acid that drips on pride until pride is worn away" (470). Her tone here is angry because...