TOW #6 - Homelessness in America

“Girl in the Shadows: Dasani’s Homeless Life” is the first part in a 5 part series about the life of an 11 year old homeless girl. It was written by Andrea Elliot who is a staff writer for the New York Times that received the Pulitzer Prize in 2007. She establishes her ethos through using quotes from interview with the girl that she is writing about. This shows that Elliot is getting the information from the direct source and that it is as accurate as possible. Elliot publishes her article from New York Times, so her audience is those who can afford to read New York Times. She wants to reach out to the American public as homeless rates are high and help the public realize that homelessness is an issue that needs to be solved. Elliot uses many rhetorical devices to establish her purpose. She appeals to logos by using statistics that support her argument that homelessness is a real struggle for many Americans. She says that there are “more than 22,000 homeless children in New York, the highest number since the Great Depression, in the most unequal metropolis in America” (6). However, Elliot utilizes the story of Dasani well to show her audience that homelessness is a genuine issue. Elliot uses narration to show that Dasani’s family has suffered from being homeless. Combined with her family’s money and drug problems, Dasani’s “future is further threatened by the fact of her homelessness, which has been shown, even in short spells, to bring disastrous consequences” (21). The effects that homelessness has had on Dasani and her family, includes her uncle’s arrest or her constant hunger and was shown effectively by Elliot’s narration. Elliot also uses metaphor language to make her writing more interesting and effective. She uses metaphors in the beginning when she says, “‘Her gaze always stops at that iconic temple of stone, its tip pointed celestially, its facade lit with promise” (2). This metaphor not only makes the article more interesting to read, but it shows the depth of Dasani’s hopes. She looks out at the city to try to find inspiration to continue working as hard as she does. These hopes show that people that are homeless are not irrelevant and that they have lives and hopes and dreams that are as important as every other American citizen. Ultimately showing the audience that they should help the homeless achieve the dreams that they have. Elliot beautifully combines logos, narration, and metaphoric language into a well crafted article that truly shows the importance of homelessness in New York. She accomplished her purpose well through the use of many rhetorical devices.