LeMoine 1

Sam LeMoine

Mr. Smith

Honors Junior Literature

19 October 2023

Poverty in America

Poverty in America is a huge problem that needs to be solved. The reason it’s a problem

is because there is such a large number of people suffering, as well as increased crime rates in

these communities, due to how little time parents are able to spend with their children, even at

young ages, along with increased rates of disease and addiction. Poverty when coupled with

addiction can limit a person’s ability to reach the American Dream; whether it’s stopping a

person from being able to work, or decreasing one's self worth, making them less motivated and

more likely to fall into addiction.

Poverty and Addiction go hand in hand in America, in some places where people living

on the streets is common, addiction is sure to run rampant closely. They are intertwined, and it’s

easy to find huge problems in communities where it's almost impossible to stay safe, and be

healthy. In the United States just last year, approximately 11.5% of people were in poverty

(Census Bureau). That’s almost 38 million people. That is a large number, that quite frankly,

shouldn’t be that large in the first place, the United States has the resources available to shrink

those numbers at least a little bit. Addiction plays into the stress as well. When in poverty, lower

self esteem is extremely common, and stress is also increased, and so people relieve these

feelings of stress through drug abuse. Drugs are prevalent in poor communities and once a new

drug gets released into a neighborhood, it tends to catch fire rapidly, and it can wreak havoc. In

California, “38% of homeless people are alcohol dependent. 26% of people without a home are
 LeMoine 2

dependent on other addictive drugs” (Genesis Recovery). Poverty and addiction directly

correlate, however, poverty isn’t the only thing that can directly lead to addiction. “Lower

income people are slightly more likely to struggle with drug or alcohol abuse, but doesn’t

necessarily mean that poverty causes addiction. In some cases, financial troubles are the result of

a substance use disorder”(St. Joseph Institute). They asked Mayors from 25 different cities to say

what they thought the top reason for homelessness was for each city they led, and “68% of

mayors reported that substance abuse was the number one reason for homelessness”(St. Joseph

Institute). So both of these studies demonstrate that while poverty can lead to an increased

chance of being addicted to something, it can also be the other way around. A terrible situation

isn’t necessarily needed to get addicted to drugs or alcohol.

The cycle of poverty is difficult to break out of, meaning that it affects current and future

generations. The cycle can start a number of ways, whether it’s by starting off poor, not being

well educated, and therefore unable to get a job, or falling into addiction, and struggling to

maintain a job, but the cause doesn’t actually matter that much, because once in the cycle, it’s

incredibly hard to break out of it, especially if someone has an addiction or a criminal history.

Falling into the cycle of poverty, it might not seem that problematic, however sickness is

common, especially among poorer communities, and medical bills are often too high. Without

insurance, which is rarely seen amongst people in poverty, debt can increase exponentially.

Poverty is even proven to lead to an increased “risk factor for childhood obesity” (US News &

World Report), without available resources for activity in poorer regions, children will often have

to eat cheaper, less nutritious foods because parents can’t afford to feed them anything else.

Similarly, supporting a family while in poverty is almost impossible. Oftentimes, poverty leads

to generations of people in families just being stuck, not being able to escape from poverty and
 LeMoine 3

addiction. Oftentimes, poverty can lead to stealing, and when caught, jail is almost certain,

meaning the higher poverty rates can also lead to more crime. “Robbed just to keep your family

full and nourished, keeping them warm placing wood in the furnace, but your means is what i

would have to discourage."”Forgive me father, i just want to feed them this orange, to keep them

from starving, i'd do it in another way if i could””. (Poverty and Crime), which is from the

perspective of a poor man, who is trying to care for his family. The poem Poverty and Crime is

aiming to encapsulate a typical situation for a person living in poverty, by describing how a poor

person might have to steal in order to keep himself or herself afloat.

Another situation experienced by many in poverty is the lack of parental involvement in

the lives of children, especially those of a young age. Unfortunately, because of inflation, people

are having to work more than they used to, leaving little time for being able to care for a child,

meaning that “more than one out of every five school-age children in the U.S. were living below

the federal poverty line in 2013, according to the federal government. That amounted to 10.9

million children — or 21 percent of the total — a six percent increase in the childhood poverty

rate since 2000” (Layton). A lot of children in the US are living in poverty, which leads to a lack

of parental involvement in their lives. The problem is that as stated earlier, poverty directly leads

to childhood obesity. “Lack of parental involvement and communication have consistently been

highly related to obesity in children and adolescents” (BMC Pediatrics). Poverty itself often goes

from one small issue, to a much larger issue very quickly, because the people burdened with it

don’t have the available resources to stop the problem before it grows.

Fortunately, there’s ways to break out of poverty. The main one is being educated. If

education is possible, it is possible to break out of poverty. “If all adults completed secondary

education, we could cut the global poverty rate by more than half” (Concern Worldwide US).
 LeMoine 4

That means that of the 38 million people in the world currently, only about 19 million of them

would still be in poverty, in the United States if everyone was educated, that’s a huge difference.

Another way to break out unfortunately isn’t really in any specific person’s hands, but if the

minimum wage was raised it would solve a lot of problems, as if someone where to work a

minimum wage job year round, that would only accumulate to about 15,000 dollars, which is

literally considered to be poverty level in the United States, before basic necessities are even put

in the same conversation, with the addition of food and water, that number is unsustainable for

most people.

Poverty in the United States is a huge problem for people on an individual level, but also

just the Country as a whole, and crime, lack of parental involvement, personal and generational

poverty, disease, and addiction all lead to worse and more populated areas of poverty. While

there are solutions, like getting educated, the problems that many face are sometimes too great to

overcome. Poverty is a massive issue in the US and it needs to be solved, especially because the

government has the ability to fix these problems.

Sam,

I think this essay was structured very well. Going from the propensity for those living in

poverty to become addicts -> the cycle of poverty > lack of involvement, etc. I think where

you need to put in some works is with utilize formal language, and making sure that you

don’t go on tangents. There were some moments, such as your paragraph on the cycle of

poverty, where you had interjections that probably fit better elsewhere. Additionally, you

need to review quote integrations. If you need help with this, then let me know.
 LeMoine 5

Works Cited

“Drug Addiction and Homelessness in California.” Genesis Recovery,

www.genesisrecovery.com/drug-addiction-and-homelessness-in-california/#:~:text=Accor

ding%20to%20the%20Substance%20Abuse,dependent%20on%20other%20addictive%20

drugs. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023.

Institute, St. Joseph. “Understanding the Relationship between Poverty and Addiction.” St.

Joseph Institute for Addiction, 23 June 2023,

stjosephinstitute.com/understanding-the-relationship-between-poverty-and-addiction/.

The Cycle of Poverty and Its Traps That Keep You Poor,

money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/saving-and-budgeting/articles/the-cycle-of-po

verty-traps-that-keep-you-poor. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023.

“Poverty and Crime.” Power Poetry, powerpoetry.org/poems/poverty-and-crime. Accessed

17 Oct. 2023.

Emily A. Shrider And John Creamer. “Poverty in the United States: 2022.” Census.Gov, 12

Sept. 2023,

www.census.gov/library/publications/2023/demo/p60-280.html#:~:text=Highlights-,Offici

al%20Poverty%20Measure,decreased%20between%202021%20and%202022.

Layton, Lyndsey. “Student Poverty, Lack of Parental Involvement Cited as Teacher

Concerns.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 10 Apr. 2023,

www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/poverty-lack-of-parental-involvement-cited-as-
 LeMoine 6

major-concerns-for-teachers/2015/06/09/1f3ff3d0-0ec9-11e5-a0dc-2b6f404ff5cf_story.htm

l.

Rahman, Adrita, et al. “How Often Parents Make Decisions with Their Children Is

Associated with Obesity - BMC Pediatrics.” BioMed Central, BioMed Central, 25 Sept.

2018,

bmcpediatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12887-018-1283-8#:~:text=Lack%20of%

20parental%20involvement%20and,12%2C13%2C14%5D.

Rubric

Skill Not Foundational Proficient Advanced

Yet

Identifies a topic Appears in first Thesis establishes a

paragraph complex claim

Thesis establishes a
topic and a claim

Thesis
Comments:
 LeMoine 7

Includes three or Includes multiple pieces Includes specific,

fewer sources of evidence (from 8-10 meaningful, and
sources) that clearly well-chosen evidence
Some evidence relate to the thesis that relates to the thesis
relates to the thesis
Includes multiple pieces Includes a wide variety
Evidence of evidence in each body of evidence
paragraph (primary/secondary
sources, political
Includes multiple types cartoons, opinion pieces,
of evidence studies, poetry,
fiction/narrative, etc.)

Comments:

Summarizes sources Explains how evidence Explains well-selected

supports topic sentence points of comparison
of individual paragraphs among sources and
evidence and their
Explains how evidence connection to the thesis
Analysis supports the thesis of the
essay Demonstrates use of
advanced vocabulary
and varies sentence
patterns; evidence of
distinct voice and style
in the writing

Comments:

Little connection Explains how the Clearly explains

between texts; texts/sources are related, relationships among
difficult for the though points could be texts (how they confirm
reader to see how the more selective or better or challenge each other,
texts are related developed build on each other,
Synthesis provide differing
Includes multiple perspectives, etc.)
sources in each body
paragraph Utilizes a variety of
transition words and
 LeMoine 8

Utilizes transition words phrases

and phrases

Comments:

Some elements Heading is correctly No errors in MLA format

missing or some errors formatted
in MLA format
Pages are numbered

Most in-text citations are

correctly formatted

MLA Works Cited: each source

Format entry is in correct MLA
format
Comments:

Shows evidence of Most quotes are correctly All quotes are correctly
basic proofreading integrated integrated

Convention Follows essay Shows evidence of careful

s organization proofreading

Shows evidence of
proofreading

Comments:

Essay Checklist

Content:
Thesis is the last sentence of my first paragraph
Each body paragraph has a topic sentence that is argumentative and relates to the contents
of the paragraph
 LeMoine 9

I have included the required amount of evidence

My analysis explains how the evidence proves my claims
My body paragraphs relate back to my topic sentence and my thesis
I have attempted to synthesize my sources (agreement, disagreements, etc).
By restated thesis is the first sentence of my conclusion paragraph
I have properly cited my sources (in-text, works cited)

Writing
I have eliminated “dead words” from my writing (see list below)
I have looked at my transition words and phrases to ensure that they are effective
My quote integrations grammatically flow with my evidence (avoiding hanging quotes)
I have included words/phrases from my thesis in the body of my essay (or synonyms)
I have utilized a grammar checker to catch errors
I have read my writing aloud to check for clarity

List of dead words:

● “I”
● YOU
● WE
● LIKE
● THING
● STUFF
● KIND OF
● SORT OF
● GOOD
● BAD
● HAPPY
● SAD
● MAD
● THIS QUOTE SHOWS (INSTEAD: EXPRESSES, ILLUMINATES,
DEMONSTRATES, DETAILS, EXPLAINS)
● “MANY WAYS”
● “SEVERAL DIFFERENT WAYS”
● “TO BE” VERBS: IS, ARE, WERE