Cristina Sierra

ENC 3331

Professor Wright

19 April 2015

Rhetorical Analysis of Civic Issue

Panhandling has been a continuous problem occurring across the country for quite a while.

Panhandlers have proven to be faking their identity of homelessness and having a loss of income

a good amount of the time. There have been many reported stories and statistics of panhandlers

being followed and reported as realistically “more fortunate” then stated on their cut out piece of

cardboard that’s stated, “Homeless, hungry, anything helps.” Reassuring the community of how

untruthful panhandlers are and how the community responds to this issue is what I planned for

this project. As I stood and watched bystanders sitting in their cars bring their window down and

pull out a buck or two, then stuck it out the window, waving it to the so called “poor homeless

man” I was left to understand most people do believe that these frauds are really what they say

they are, homeless and in need of money.

I started to gather feedback from the community on how they felt about panhandlers and if

they supported them or not. Many people agreed that if they participated in giving panhandlers

anything it would be food or water, very few said they gave money. If they did give money it

would just be some loose change or a buck or two. The reason’s they participated in helping

panhandlers was because they “looked” like they were truly in need and they felt sorry for them.

As I informed them of how often panhandlers turn out to be frauds they were more surprised

than anything based off of the expression on their face. They stated “They just always seem to be

dressed so ragged and look so hungry and sad.” As I informed them they ended their discussion

with me stating that in future occurrence’s they plan to think twice before supporting a

panhandler and if they do help one out it will be with applications for jobs or food from the

dollar menu, never money.

I have not only learned a lot about this civic issue from gathering research online, but I have

started to accomplish what I had wanted and that was to inform the community of this ongoing

civic issue with panhandlers and for the community to have a change of heart for the issue and to

not be so naïve all the time. Not all panhandlers are true to being honest and you honestly never

know who is truly “homeless” and in need of money or not. The best good dead you can do in a

situation like this is to help them with what they really need help with; getting a job and earning

a legal income that files for taxes.

In just September of 2014 Seminole County wrote a newsletter on how they are starting to

crack down on aggressive panhandlers. They noted that panhandlers “are serving as a threat to

public safety” (Comas). Panhandlers have become more aggressive in such manners, as blocking

pedestrians from walking when asking for money, by physically touching someone and

“stalking” them to consistently harass them for money. Sanford police had stated that there has

been a large increase in panhandlers living and hanging around the downtown area and it’s no

longer just a nuisance anymore, it has evolved into a bigger problem. There have also been

notices of panhandlers urinating on walls and in alleys of the downtown area of Sanford.

Panhandlers have given a terrible message for those that are just homeless and minding their own

business on the streets; panhandlers have been verbally and physically abusive and it has to be

put to a stop.

Based on the rhetorical audience of my project I have noticed that almost every person I

interviewed that participated in helping panhandlers in our community were capable of being

influenced by discourse in mediators of change. They all pretty much stated that they weren’t

aware of the issues that panhandlers have been involved in and you can’t always trust them even

when you feel sympathy for what it seems when looking at them, because it isn’t always what it

seems. Based on the community being closer to UCF, students felt more sympathy being able to

relate to not being as fortunate, living on a college budget; when comparing to a panhandler

he/she is also struggling day in and day out, so they just wanted to give a hand and help out. But

the community closer to the downtown Orlando area was more business clientele and they were

more aware of the issue with panhandlers so they were found to be less supportive of

panhandlers and already influenced by discourse in mediators of change, based on the news and

research they’ve heard about panhandlers.

Works Cited

Comas, Martin E. "Sanford to Panhandlers: Mind Your Manners or Else." OrlandoSentinel.com.

Orlando Sentinel, 2 Sept. 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.