Nowadays, more and more people are coming out of poverty in drastic numbers, yet many people of this world have been misinformed and believe the opposite. In this essay, Nicholas Kristof builds an argument to persuade his audience that globally, we are winning the war on extreme poverty. He employs rhetorical techniques like statistics, appeals to humor, personal anecdotes and more.
The author starts the argument by claiming what many Americans have come to believe: billions of people have been suffering from war, famine and poverty, and it is just getting worse. He then uses America’s reputation as the home to various beliefs to employ a clever joke “Fortunately, the one point Americans agree on is dead wrong.” Seeing this, the audience would relate better with Kristof and at the same time be relieved. The author then employs some hard evidence from historians and cites reputable organizations (United Nations) to clear any disbelief and doubts from the readers.
Nicholas Kristof continues his argument by effectively citing reputable organizations and utilizing metaphors. The author, yet again, cites the all-reliable United Nation, which aims to eradicate poverty by 2030, which has been backed up by other experts. This statement gives a clear image to the audience of how much poverty has improved. The author then uses a metaphor, comparing poverty and illiteracy to illness, allowing the readers to relate the dramatic improvement in medicine with the fight against poverty.
Kristof wraps up his argument by showing practical examples, disputing possible counter-arguments and using powerful diction. In the fourth to last paragraph, He shows some examples of humanitarian aid, like providing Vitamin A capsules and surgeries for poor people. Doing so, the reader understands how poverty is being fought. He also acknowledges a common claim that if parents are assured that their kids will survive, they will choose to have more. He then shows some statistics “Indian women now… , Mexican women just 2.2.”, proving that the situation is quite the opposite. At last, NicholasKristoff reminds the reader to take “a nanosecond of silence to acknowledge the great gains in human well being in the history of our species”, causing the reader to feel a sense of hope and take pride in the progress humankind has made.
There are many people who have been misled into believing in a world where more and more people will be plagued with poverty. With Nicholas Kristof’s stylistic tone and evocative diction, he ensures that his audiences (even the Americans) will live in hope of a world without poverty.
Tony's College Writing blog 