Rhetorical Analysis

For the agency discourse memo I decided to focus on the

Salvation Army. In order to relate that agency with this article, I tried to
find an article that dealt with helping people who were in need. The
article I chose was about a physician who provides medical care to the
homeless population in Boston. I found this to relate perfectly with the
Salvation Army since this agency is known for helping those who are
struggling with money problems, and providing selflessly with the use
of donors and volunteers. Dr. OConnell goes out on his own time, with
a group of volunteers, to help the homeless people in Boston that
cannot afford proper health care treatment. This is a generous act that
not only costs him time, but money as well. Although heartwarming, I
would not consider this article to be a credible source due to the lack of
factual information and true medical journals or evidence.
The author of this article is not displayed, however they provide
their information based on the acts of Dr. OConnell. Dr. OConnell has
good credibility not only as a physician, but also as a volunteer. He is
the President of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, and
is also an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Graduating from Cambridge University and Harvard Medical School,
two very prestigious institutions, can make him be seen as trustworthy
in his level of education. According to Boston Health Care for the
Homeless Program , Dr. OConnell began his work on helping the

homeless in 1985, giving him a total of thirty years of experience. It

was also in 1985 when he established the nations first medical respite
program for homeless persons. Dr. OConnell also became the National
Program Director of the Homeless Families Program of the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (2010). If that alone does not give him enough
credibility, he has also published his own book titled Stories from the
Shadows, which explains his experiences treating the people he found
in the streets. He was also featured on ABCs Nightline, received the
Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award in 2012, and has had numerous
articles published in several well-known medical journals. With all of Dr.
OConnells accomplishments and awards, he cannot only be seen as a
credible physician, but as someone who is experienced in helping
homeless persons in need of medical care.
The main emotional appeal that I found in this article occurred at
the end of the article. They interviewed Dr. Oconnell, and he began
speaking about the different patients that he had seen and how bad
their conditions were. He explained that since they had very little
money, their main priority was if they would be able to eat that day
and not whether their health was in danger (OConnell, 2015). I know
this hit me, as well as it may affect many other readers, because it
made me feel bad for those people and consider their everyday
struggles compared to my own. He also explains that since they do not

look for treatmeant, or are possibly even be oblivious to the fact that
they need help, their condition has advanced to the later stages and
they suffer a lot more than a patient who is able to afford to get help
right away. There was one image on the article, and it added to the
emotional appeal but it was simply the cover of his book. It showed
him kneeling down next to a homeless woman that he was looking to
treat, and it was obvious that her living conditions werent great and
she was crying.
The logos aspect of this article was a bit disapointing because
there were no facts or supporting details. It would have been efficient
for the author to provide statistics on about how many people Dr.
OConnell has treated and how his works have helped the people of
Boston. However, the article was structured in an organized fashion
and it was very easy to follow. The greatest use of logos that I could
find was the interview with Dr. OConnel himself. This provided the
most accurate information on the subject and allowed the readers to
hear first hand what it was like to care for those special patients. I also
noticed that there were a lot of diseases and medical terminology
incorporated into the article. It would have been helpful to provide a
quick description on the main diseases that he encountered and how
they affected the patients. Overall, there should have been more
factual data within the paragraphs.

The audience for this article was very general, and did not really
exclude any particular group of people. Even though he is a physician
and there were some complicated use of medical terms, overall it was
very easy to understand and was targeted to the general public. I could
see how this writing could have been altered and focused on appealing
the medical community by talking more about the different cases he
found and not simply the good deeds he was doing. I did not find this
article to be very persuasive, but more informative.
Assessing this article, I would say the ability of it to be able to be
used as a resource would depend on what it is you would use it for. For
example, if you were writing a paper on diseases and certain diseases
that can be found in the homeless community, this would not be a very
efficient resouce. However, if you were writing a paper on a physician
who has made a big impact on a community then this would be a good
source to use. Overall, I think the credibility of Dr. OConnell overruled
the other two appeals. There was definitely not an equal balance in the
three appeals, with such a great lack of logos.

References
House Calls To The Homeless: A Doctor Treats Boston's Most Isolated
Patients. (2015, September 29). Retrieved October 2, 2015, from
http://www.npr.org/sections/healthshots/2015/09/29/444214320/house-calls-to-the-homeless-a-doctortreats-bostons-most-isolated-patients
Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program - Executive Team. (n.d.).
Retrieved October 2, 2015, from http://bhchp.org/executives.htm