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Alex Hanson

English 1010
Spring 2014

Letter of Transmittal
Throughout the course of this term I have been given several writing assignments to
focus in on, which while they were based on a subject, I was given some freedom as to what
direction I could take these assignments. The three large assignments this term consisted of a
Literacy Narrative, which was a text where I was really able to elaborate on my history as a
writer and what I had hoped to accomplish, being a Literacy Narrative, it was something that I
got to write about me, which helped get the ball rolling for this class. For our next large
assignment, we were required to write a Rhetorical Analysis. The Rhetorical Analysis was based
on looking behind the message of the article and seeing how the writer used their words to
influence their readers. Lastly, we explored an issue in our Issue Exploration Essay. It was
preferred that we chose an issue that interested us, and applied in some sort of way to our major.
The main structure of the issue was to provide a summary from multiple viewpoints, and then to
elaborate based on the information we gathered as to what was the most effective point. Each of
these pieces also had a target audience it was trying to reach, a purpose, and revisions that went
into play between the initial and final drafts.
When writing my Literacy Narrative, I was asked to brainstorm what my primary purpose
for being a writer was, and to add some small stories about turning points in my writing. During
this brainstorming process, a lot of the examples that came to mind were from High School
where I really began learning how to become an effective writer, so my message became about
which parts of my High School experience would be effective in showing the reader where I had
developed. The target audience for this piece became the instructors and my peers to which I
would be improving my own writing experience around, the audience could expand outside of
this as there was no direct target audience. During my revisions process for this paper, I tried to
cut down on some of the clutter that was not as relevant to the paper. I wrote about when I
played music and used writing to strengthen my musical skills, but it did not flow with the rest of
the paper so I cut it.
To begin the process on my Rhetorical Analysis, I had to select an article from a provided
list and analyze the authors effectiveness in conveying his message to his readers. The article I
had chosen was, Five myths about hunger in America, by Robert Egger. The target audience
was focused on people who had struggled with hunger, not just in America, but throughout the
world. Egger showed that there were different kinds of hunger that deprived people of things
other than just food. During my final draft revision, I added some information that helped to
convey the message I was trying to get across to my audience about his writing. To do this I had
to cut some of the summary material to make the article fit in a reasonable space.
Lastly written was my Issue Exploration essay, which was the most time consuming out
of any of the essays. The purpose of this essay was to thoroughly research a topic of interest and
Alex Hanson
English 1010
Spring 2014

relation to our major. The topic I had decided to approach was Welfare in the United States,
where my essay mostly focused on the state of welfare spending. This essay required multiple
viewpoints though, so it also showed the benefits of such systems in the United States, and
dwelled into their history. The target audience was for anyone who was either directly or
indirectly impacted by the system, almost everyone either contributes or gains from the system, it
includes tax payers, recipients, or relatives of either. During my revising process the most
difficult part was deciding which material was going to be most relevant for my audience
without outlining every article I decided to take information from.
Writing these essays has certainly helped me grow as a writer this semester. The structure
of this class was a new one for me, but I feel like it has been instrumentally effective, being able
to approach the essays from my own angle is an amazing freedom, but the lab sessions added to
the experience by being able to get some direction and constructive feedback. Some of the most
powerful skills I have gained were the ability to do more effective research, and reach out to
essay structures which I have not dwelled into in the past.

Posted below this document are my essays which I encourage you to read since there was a lot of
time put into them, enjoy!












Alex Hanson
English 1010
Spring 2014

Literacy Narrative
Growing up I never was much of a writer. It was never something that quite caught my
interest. I began reading and writing at a young age like most American children, nothing
special. Most of my writing was about simple things, picture captions, short stories about what I
did with my day, or simple writing just to write or improve my handwriting. I began writing in
Montana, where I was born. It was not until I moved to Oregon and was enrolled in a new
elementary school that my second grade teacher sparked something in my mind. She showed me
that writing can be about more than just words to fill the pages of a book. She showed me that
writing was something that could preserve a memory, convey a new idea, and help you explore
things that you didnt think possible. Somehow after second or third grade this idea wandered to
the back of my mind.

Several years passed, I had grown into a teenager with seemingly more important things
to do. I played a lot of sports in middle school, and was an avid gamer. On top of that I was
chasing girls and hanging out with friends in all my spare time to occupy myself. Writing was
introduced back into my life as perhaps something that could be potentially fun. My seventh
grade teacher let us write a lot about topics that were interesting to us. It was more of a decision
to write instead of just some assignment to get a grade. My brother and I both had his class and
we would write about things that we did outside of school, or even fantasized about. This opened
my vision even more to the possibilities writing had to offer. As I read more complex pieces of
literature I began to find that writing could take many different forms and have a meaning that is
different to each and every single person.

It was not until High School that I had my breakthrough, my life had changed. I no longer
participated in so many sports, friends became too busy to constantly hang out, and I found
myself with more free, empty time to occupy myself with. One day I arrived at school and my
friend walked up to me and handed me a large pile of papers. He explained that he had decided
to start writing a book. I asked him if it was for some class project or if he was trying to get it
published. He said he was writing it simply because he wanted to. He urged me to take it home,
read it, and tell him what I thought. I thought it was one of the best stories I had ever read. It was
a fantasy world that featured characters that we had made up in earlier conversations. I brought it
back the next day and told him I would help him write his book. We worked on it for months,
most of the school year actually. We would decide the parts we wanted to write and we would
collaborate them together. Eventually we got other friends to join in and critique us as well as
add their own ideas. We were very proud when we finished our story, and although it was never
published or famous it was something that we treasured.
Alex Hanson
English 1010
Spring 2014

To me, writing is something that can ease a lonely mind, or create something amazing to
someone without a skill in visual art. It is something that lets minds join together in a way that is
difficult in conversation. It is something that can be looked back upon with clarity and bring
back all sorts of emotions and memories. The world would not be the way it is today if people
were not able to communicate through writing.





















Alex Hanson
English 1010
Spring 2014

Rhetorical Analysis
What is the real problem?

In Robert Eggers article, Five myths about hunger in America, he appeals heavily to
logos by showing his readers five of the most common misconceptions that Americans have
about what makes people hungry. To reach out to his audience, the author shows his passion by
appealing to pathos and creating an emotional bond with them by using specific examples of
where hunger is really a problem. Egger has strong credentials to write about this topic as well,
being the founder of DC Central Kitchen, a nonprofit organization, as well as being the founder
of Campus Kitchens Project which is another nonprofit organization that delivers donated food
to schools for students who might otherwise not be able to afford it.

Five myths about hungry is America, was written in 2010, and more specifically,
published on November 21st, 2010. This text was written by Robert Egger, and published in the
Washington Post. This text has a large intended audience; it is intended to reach out beyond the
people who are hungry in the United States, but to political leaders and anyone who has the
capability to lend a helping hand to those who struggle with hunger. There is certainly a larger
conversation at play in this article; many people think that hunger is something that happens to
struggling or developing countries, but not in the United States. The author brings to light that
hunger is a large problem, and many people in cities across the country are affected. The author
also shows that hunger can bring on problems other than just malnutrition; it has been linked to
crime, obesity, and proves to have many monetary costs outside of simply trying to provide food.
The author likely felt the need to write this article because this is a rare problem that is often
overlooked, and continues to get worse.

Eggers makes his article easy for the reader to follow by organizing his information into
five main points about hunger in America. These five points are each laid out in their own
paragraph. According to Eggers, the first myth about hunger in America is that, No one goes
hungry in America. In this paragraph, he conveys the fact that many people in America think
that hunger is a distant problem outside of the United States. In reality, hunger is a problem for
an estimated 17.4 million American families. The second myth that the author dwells into
states, Ending malnourishment is merely a humanitarian concern. It is in this paragraph that
the author shows that hunger creates problems with the economy as well as national security. He
adds credit to this point by stating that, A kid who is hungry cannot learn. A kid who cant learn
drops out of school, A kid without a job may turn to crime, get arrested and cost taxpayers
Alex Hanson
English 1010
Spring 2014

$40,000 a year to sit in prison. He also makes the statement that a kid who is obese cannot join
the armed service to protect the country. In the next paragraph, Eggers destroys the myth that
children are the only ones who go hungry, as hunger is a large problem for many adults as well.
He claims that it is difficult for many low income parents to make a decision between, food,
rent, gas for the car, health care or new shoes for the kids. Along with this, there was a study by
Meals on Wheels that estimated as many as 6 million seniors are going hungry in the United
States. The fourth myth in his article is that, The food that America wastes could feed
everybody. The author uses statistics to show that much of the food that is wasted would not be
fit for consumption because it may be expired or pose other health risks. Finally, to strengthen
his entire text, he lets his audience know that hunger is not just about food. He says the main
reason Americans struggle with hunger is as simple as the fact that they do not have stable jobs
and wages. The author says that even with 42.4 million people receiving support, there is more
of a problem than ever with Americans being hungry.

By visiting the five ideas that he believes to be myths, Egger effectively created a strong
article by using a mixture of facts, his past experience and credibility, and a small amount of
emotion to gain readers attention. This article is recent enough that it is hard to say for sure if it
has had any large impact on any of these problems; it is also likely that his audience was struck
with mixed messages. For the people who are hungry, this article confirms what they already
know, that hunger is a problem, and there is a long road ahead in order to correct it, however for
Eggers intended audience, he may have created another idea. By exposing all of the problems
that hunger creates, he shows that the people who are low income or struggling with these
problems may actually be hurting the country as a whole. It may leave us all with the question,
what is the easiest solution?








Alex Hanson
English 1010
Spring 2014

Issue Exploration
Welfare is defined as, the health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group, or more
recently it has also been described as, statutory procedure or social effort designed to promote
the basic physical and material well-being of people in need. Given either description, welfare
was created under the good intentions of the fortunes of mankind, to help further promote the
human race as a whole. Although it seems like a simple deed to accomplish, to help those in
need, welfare has become a very complicated beast in itself. It is widely agreed that a system of
welfare is necessary to keep society running smoothly and to protect the rights of the citizens of
the United States, but each year the amount of spending on welfare programs seems to increase
with no end in sight. Currently the United States is close to spending a trillion dollars annually to
support all of the welfare programs it has invested itself in. Given the necessity of welfare and
the spiraling budget, several different viewpoints have risen as to what direction this system
should turn.

Welfare was not always assistance that was offered by the government, prior to the great
depression, almost all welfare was provided by private organizations and contributions. It was in
the 1930s that many of the modern welfare systems we see today began to take place, even
social security was created in this time period. These programs seemed to work well for the
country, they provided for those who could not afford the costs of raising children, or to feed and
house themselves, however in 1996, the Welfare Reform Act was passed which tried to
encourage employment among the poor to try to lessen the costs of welfare programs. One year
later is 1997; TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) was established. This program
provides a cash benefit for lower income American families with dependent children. TANF
replaced the earlier model AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children), which many
believed created too much of a dependence on the government. Along with TANF, a large
program known as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is also available to
provide food for low income families or individuals. SNAP is often referred to as food stamps
dating back to its predecessors which provided physical stamps to be used in purchasing food. It
wasnt until 2004 that the US government changed the distribution system to an electronic
method known as EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer), which directly deposits benefits onto a
debit card. Obviously with so much assistance, there is a large cost to the government and the tax
paying citizens of the United States.

One view that seems to be a popular point of discussion in todays politics is the belief
that the welfare system is broken. The people who share this viewpoint believe the system is
leading to many unnecessary economic losses, as well as providing for those who are not really
Alex Hanson
English 1010
Spring 2014

in need. So what kind of economic losses are we talking about? In the words of Ed J Feulner,
Surely this pales compared to what we spend on defense right? Actually it doesnt
Surprisingly, since 1993 the amount spent on welfare programs in the United States has
surpassed the defense spending and only continues to rise. In Feulners 2012 article, The
Spiraling State of Welfare Spending, he makes a rather astonishing ratio comparison. For every
$1.00 the US government spends on defense it spends $1.33 on welfare. This ratio is expected to
increase in the favor of welfare, and this number has been proven to be an Unsustainable Debt.
To further add to this problem, the Obama administration has decreased the number of welfare
programs that have work requirements from 4 programs to only 2. This might not sound bad
until you consider the fact that the United States has 79 active welfare programs in effect, one of
which being the new Affordable Care Act. It raises the question as to why we are introducing
more programs when the country cannot support the ones that it has previously obligated itself
to. In another article, Where Work is for Suckers, by Colby Cosh, he brings up the astonishing
fact that almost 9 million Americans under 65 are receiving social security disability benefits,
and that does not include, veterans injured on duty, persons on state disability programs, or
beneficiaries of workers comp. In fact, Cosh points out that the number of payees has tripled
since 1990. It has been contemplated that this growth could be contributed to, vague
musculoskeletal disorders, unverifiable chronic pain and an astronomical expansion in the
definitions of mental illnesses. In laymans terms, it is way too easy to get on the disability
benefit program.

Although there are clearly some major problems with welfare, it is an important system
to keep in place in some form. Welfare gives support for those in true need who cannot support
themselves, or their dependents. These types of support systems have proven to be effective in
times of economic downturns, which help not only the struggling people to get back on their feet,
but sometimes even bolsters the economy as a whole. This year, the staff at ProQuest, a company
that compiles databases created a Poverty Timeline for the United States. It is clear that during
times where there is a high level of unemployment and poverty, there are almost always new
welfare systems implemented that cause a spring back to a bustling economy. During the Great
Depression, the welfare systems put in place helped many of the families suffering the worst of
the downturn receive food and have a roof over their head. Later in World War II when many of
the men left for war and families were left without breadwinners, these social programs helped
these families stay afloat, even when some of their loved ones never returned. These programs
proved helpful for the following out of country conflicts, and the recession of the 1970s and late
2000s. To aide in this argument, it has been shown that Americans believe the gap between the
rich and the poor is ever increasing, and that soon the middle class might completely disappear
unless there is some type of government involvement to decrease this gap. In the article, Poll:
Wealth Gap Weights on Many Americans, published this year by Gannett News Service, two
Alex Hanson
English 1010
Spring 2014

reporters took the task of interviewing people from across the nation on this issue. Many of the
people they interviewed said that they directly noticed a change in the gap between the rich and
poor increasing; one example is Brian Davis, who is a teacher in Maryland. He says that his
salary has stayed the same for the last 5 years and he worries about what that will mean for his
10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter. Despite the interviews, they also ran a poll that
consisted of 1,504 adults. Sixty percent of them agreed with the statement that, Most people
who want to get ahead can make it if theyre willing to work hard. Hopefully this means that
people are still willing to work hard for what they receive.

Aside from the first two viewpoints, there are those who believe that welfare is an
entitlement of citizenship and for being affiliated with a nation. This could explain the alarming
number of individuals receiving benefits who may actually be fine without them. After all why
wouldnt you take advantage of something that was handed out to you for free? In the article,
Why Get off Welfare? by Michael D. Tanner, the author quotes that, Poor people arent
stupid. If they can get more from the government than they can from a job, they arent going to
work. As sad as this statement sounds, it is correct, it is similar to the reason that many people
go to college. They want to do less hard work and be paid more. I remember learning in micro
economics that people are very logical in their decisions about money, in the modern world
money is life. So wouldnt it be logical to receive an entitlement of free money if youre eligible?
In fact, in Tanners article, he illustrates that many of the welfare programs pay more than a full
time minimum wage job. How much more do some of these programs pay? After compiling the
numbers Tanner points out that in 33 states the programs pay more than an $8 an hour job, in 12
states the programs pay more than a $15 dollar an hour job, and in a select few states as well as
Washington D.C., the welfare programs pay more than a $20 an hour job! Numbers like these
make welfare sound very appealing. Unfortunately the argument from this viewpoint only
focuses on the benefits for the individuals receiving; it does not show a sustainable future for this
type of system.

This brings us to our last viewpoint, to help slow down the deficit and prevent people
from leeching off the system, there are some that believe social welfare programs should have
little involvement from the government and rely heavily on social contributions. Unlike the
government, if a private organization runs out of money they usually will cease operations. Why
would this be a benefit? A private organization would in theory be better at putting in regulations
that would prevent that from happening. There would be more strict rules as to who they would
provide benefits to, and would perhaps require some debts to be repaid. This would create a
society who relied more on themselves. Keep in mind that this viewpoint still believes there
should be certain government welfare systems in place, but their role would be reduced by as
Alex Hanson
English 1010
Spring 2014

much as 75%. One author who supports this type of reform is Charles Lane, in his article,
Abolish Food Stamps. Theres a Better Way, he believes that reform could take place by
simply realigning the budget to work better with the programs that are already in place. As he
points out one of the problems with welfare is that there is simply too many programs trying to
be run currently. His solution would be to cut SNAP, and other programs that do not provide
cash benefits and distribute the budget assigned to those programs to the ones who would be
more beneficial for the payees. In the words of Colby Cosh, the current system is, much like
70s Britaina place where work is, to some extent, for suckers.

In conclusion, there needs to be some type of reform within the welfare system. Currently
the system is not able to sustain itself, and the benefits are being handed out to those who do not
need them. I think that the government needs to reduce dependence on welfare, and they should
strengthen the work requirements to receive benefits. People who have jobs are less likely to
need welfare benefits, and for many, being off a dependence system provides an overall more
fulfilling life experience. In an ideal world, no one would have to work and everyone would be
provided for, but unfortunately money and capitol does not just come out of nowhere, for every
person receiving some type of benefits, there is someone else paying for it.





Works Cited

Cosh, Colby. "Where Work Is for Suckers." Maclean's 2013 feb 13: 38. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
<http://sks.sirs.com>.



In his article, Colby Cosh approaches the subject of the welfare system with a sense of humor but
is not afraid to point out that the system is broken. He states that poor people are not stupid and if
Alex Hanson
English 1010
Spring 2014

they can make more money living off the system than working a full time job they are going to
take advantage of it. Surprisingly the United States hands out more welfare than Europe or
Canada. The author also approaches the negative effect of the economy in the United States.

I agree with this article, I think that it is ridiculous to harm the economy and dish out more
welfare than some of the notorious northern European states. There needs to be some type of
reform, and we need to get more people into jobs.

Feulner, Ed. "The Spiraling State of Welfare Spending." The Heritage Foundation. N.p., 22 Oct.
2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.



in this article, Ed Feulner states mostly facts on welfare and why the numbers do not add up with
the spending pattern. If the United States continues to spend this much on welfare it will not be
able to sustain it for long.

This article is mostly informational, it has good numbers in it, the author makes a good point
though that welfare is more about just spending, it is about taking care of people. He also pointed
out that some of the major welfare programs have been able to cut down on the number of
recipients because they've gotten people to sustain themselves.

Lane, Charles. "Abolish Food Stamps. There's a Better Way." Washington Post2013 jul 02: P.
A.15. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. <http://sks.sirs.com>.



In this article, Charles Lane writes about the alternatives for food stamps, and how that money
could be better spent on other programs for the poor. Lane believes that one of the problems with
Alex Hanson
English 1010
Spring 2014

the system is that there is simply too many different programs. One of the statistics he includes in
his article is that, "a third of the seniors living on food stamps also get Supplemental Security
Income." He believes the budget would be better off being spent on a program such as
unemployment insurance to encourage people to better themselves.

I like that this article takes a different approach to the issue and offers a solution, while spending
would be the same, the author believes that restructuring the system could be the solution, as
making less programs and more rules would cause the system to help work itself out.

Lane, Charles. "Food Aid Rise Reveals Strain." USA Today. N.p., 19 Sept. 2013. Web. Apr.
2014.



In this article, Charles Lane discusses the major effects that the welfare assistant program has on
both the economy and the people within the programs.





Page, Susan, and Kendall Breitman. "Poll: Wealth Gap Weights on Many Americans." Gannett
News Service. N.p., Jan. 2014. Web. Apr. 2014.



In this article, the authors conduct interviews with different people, mostly in the middle to lower
income ranges. The results that they find are that many Americans think that the gap between the
Alex Hanson
English 1010
Spring 2014

rich and poor in ever increasing and that the people they interviewed believe there should be a
higher minimum wage as well as wanting a solution for the gap.

I do not fully agree with this article because they were only attacking the issue from the bottom,
they lacked different perspectives. Despite that they do offer some good information and
different solutions discussed with the people interviewed.





Staff, Proquest. Poverty Timeline. N.p.: Leading Issues Timelines, 2014. N.p. Web. 18 Apr.
2014. <http://sks.sirs.com>.



This is a fully informational article, the timeline dates back to 1865 and goes over the changes in
the poverty in the world as well as the trends and laws that have effected it. It focuses in on large
events that have been key in creating poverty.

I neither agree nor disagree with this article because it is purely informational providing time
periods and facts and lacks a bias.

Strauss Einhorn, Cheryl. "Unemployment--Or Welfare." Commentary apr 2011: 22-26. Web. 18
Apr. 2014. <http://sks.sirs.com>.


Alex Hanson
English 1010
Spring 2014


In this article, Cheryl Einhorn brings up facts about the welfare system in the United States. She
states that it has become a system that is, "an entitlement instead of a kind of welfare." She
discusses the costs and history of welfare in the United States and how the current laws came to
be.

For the most part I agree with this source, it has a lot of useful information that I plan to use. I
think it is interesting how the system arrived at the point that it is at today. The author does a
great job at presenting the problems with the system and laws, but she does not point out as
many solutions. It makes me wonder what are the best options for increasing employment and
reducing abuse of the system.

Tanner, Michael D. "Why Get off Welfare?" Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 22 Aug.
2013. Web. Apr. 2014.



In this article Michael Tanner shows that there are many more benefits to people being on
welfare than not if they are in the poverty range. He shows that with all the incentives that are
offered it is more of a reward and entitlement than anything else. For many who are receiving
benefits it would harm them to work harder and work more hours at their job, getting paid more,
etc.

I fully agree with this article, it is very amazing to see the incentives that are offered for those
receiving welfare. It almost makes me just want to quit my job and get welfare. It would be a
great way to pay for college!




Alex Hanson
English 1010
Spring 2014





Thanks for reading!

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