Addy Rutter Homeless Shelter Summary

Rutter’s failed attempt at persuasion
The article, “Homeless shelter plan ignores neighborhood concerns” written by Addy Rutter is an argumentative piece written to persuade the officials of the Joint Office of Homeless Services that they cannot create a homeless shelter in Rutter’s Neighborhood. He is beyond angered at the lack of knowledge shown by the individuals planning this shelter and provides an in-depth article outlining why he believes the proposal to create a homeless shelter is unfair to the members of the community and detrimental to those being placed in the shelter due to a lack of services nearby. Addy Rutter wrote an engaging argument about a plan to create a homeless shelter, however, he relies too heavily on pathos, fails to address solutions, and has many assumptions regarding the topic.
Any argument needs an adequate amount of pathos to effectively convince a reader/listener. However, I believe Rutter could have used pathos in a less anger drawn way. In the text I found the sentence, “Apparently, you can put a price on the safety of the children who attend

His article speaks about the creation of a homeless shelter as if it was a dangerous criminal sweeping into the neighborhood eager to wreak havoc. He assumes that all homeless shelters are going to destroy the neighborhood they are placed in and have a negative impact on the community and its people. Not only does he assume the shelter will be dangerous, he talks as if the entire community is backing him up on the idea that a shelter will not be safe. I think Rutter should have provided evidence that the entire neighborhood, or at least the majority, took the same stance as he did. He easily could have taken a poll that asked whether or not the neighborhood thought the shelter was going to be beneficial or not. Yet he doesn’t, and it can easily lead the audience to believe his evidence lacking statement if they are not looking for