People Without Homes
By humanizing homelessness, people can be compelled to effect change in their community. Change can alter the opinion of people or can influence someone to act differently in their everyday life. Authors Anna Quindlen in “Homeless” and Barbara Asher in “On Compassion” emphasize the human aspect of homelessness; however Asher is more effective in compelling people to change their ideas about homeless because she believes people should see homeless people as human beings.
The author most effective at compelling change was Asher. You could tell she cares about the homeless and the way they are treated. This is evident when Asher says,”Pitty, care, compassion?”. She makes people question their reasons for doing things. She wants you to question whether you do things out of pity or compassion. Her style of writing is better at changing people.
While both articles were effective the less compelling was “Homeless” by Quindlen. Her intentions were just people to be nicer in the sense that we’re all human beings so we deserve it. Quindlen uses a less powerful vocabulary making the passage less impactful. When Quindlen says,” Home is where the heart is.” She does not evoke any emotions. She talks more about the topic while Asher really goes into it.
Everyone has different views on homelessness. Society needs to humanize the act of being homeless so we view them as people before all else. Homeless people have their own desires and families just like the rest of us. The author’s both convey the tone in a serious way which it should be taken. Just because people don’t have humans doesn’t mean they aren’t people.
Works Cited
Ascher, Barbara Lazear. "Living Out Loud." On Compassion [New York] n.d.: n. pag. Print.
Quindlen, Anna. "Living Out Loud." Homeless [New York] n.d.: n. pag. Print.