Jewel Kilcher's Rhetorical Analysis: Changing The Streets
Professor Zapoluch
English 201: Rhetorical Analysis Draft 1
Sunday September 15, 2013
Changing the Streets
Have you ever traveled to a big city such as New York City, Chicago or L.A? As you’re walking down the street, completely captivated by the skyscrapers and chaos of the city, did you notice the man on the corner with sign saying “Homeless. Need money”? More importantly, did you notice the child sitting on the same bench for the three days you were in the city? In the November 2007 edition of the USA Today Magazine, the famous singer/songwriter Jewel Kilcher wrote an article titled “Street Life is No Life for Children”. The article explains the increase in youth homelessness and as a former victim of youth homelessness, Kilcher …show more content…
It also creates a bigger argument because her facts cannot be questioned because they are her own and have been seen through her own eyes. Reading an article from first person point of view, like this one, it is human nature to believe the story even without credible statistics. Kilcher uses first person point of view successfully because she does incorporates credible statistics with her personal story. Her story helps inform the reader more about youth homelessness and appeals to the logos of the reader. People relate to statistics and can grasp a concept more holistically when given numbers. She immediately shares that more than 1,000,000 kids in the U.S. call the streets their home (Kilcher par.1). However, more than that, Kilcher gives her personal testimony about living on the streets and it allows the reader to be more apt to believing the idea of other children living on the street. It increases her credibility in her article. The statistics are placed strategically throughout the article. In her moments of personal evidence she uses a statistic to help validate her personal claim. For example, after describing her personal encounter with youth homelessness, Kilcher validates that youth homelessness is a serious issue by giving that statistics that “Some researchers estimate that up to 1,600,000 youth experience homelessness each year.” (Kilcher par. 7) The reader now knows that Kilchers’ story is not ‘one of a kind’ so to speak. Yes, her rise to fame from poverty is unique, however, her encounter with homelessness is not as unique as readers may imagine. Kilcher uses these statistics as confirmation for the
English 201: Rhetorical Analysis Draft 1
Sunday September 15, 2013
Changing the Streets
Have you ever traveled to a big city such as New York City, Chicago or L.A? As you’re walking down the street, completely captivated by the skyscrapers and chaos of the city, did you notice the man on the corner with sign saying “Homeless. Need money”? More importantly, did you notice the child sitting on the same bench for the three days you were in the city? In the November 2007 edition of the USA Today Magazine, the famous singer/songwriter Jewel Kilcher wrote an article titled “Street Life is No Life for Children”. The article explains the increase in youth homelessness and as a former victim of youth homelessness, Kilcher …show more content…
It also creates a bigger argument because her facts cannot be questioned because they are her own and have been seen through her own eyes. Reading an article from first person point of view, like this one, it is human nature to believe the story even without credible statistics. Kilcher uses first person point of view successfully because she does incorporates credible statistics with her personal story. Her story helps inform the reader more about youth homelessness and appeals to the logos of the reader. People relate to statistics and can grasp a concept more holistically when given numbers. She immediately shares that more than 1,000,000 kids in the U.S. call the streets their home (Kilcher par.1). However, more than that, Kilcher gives her personal testimony about living on the streets and it allows the reader to be more apt to believing the idea of other children living on the street. It increases her credibility in her article. The statistics are placed strategically throughout the article. In her moments of personal evidence she uses a statistic to help validate her personal claim. For example, after describing her personal encounter with youth homelessness, Kilcher validates that youth homelessness is a serious issue by giving that statistics that “Some researchers estimate that up to 1,600,000 youth experience homelessness each year.” (Kilcher par. 7) The reader now knows that Kilchers’ story is not ‘one of a kind’ so to speak. Yes, her rise to fame from poverty is unique, however, her encounter with homelessness is not as unique as readers may imagine. Kilcher uses these statistics as confirmation for the