Minimum wage has always been a topic of controversy for America. Obama has recently proposed a plan for an increase in the minimum wage, which brought this long debated subject back into today's topic of discussion. This subject isn't just a small concern, according to some people it could be the determining factor of whether people are stuck in poverty for the rest of their life or not. U.S news article, "The Case for Raising the Minimum Wage " by David Cooper, exemplifies a perfectly written article that shows why we should raise minimum wage. A good persuasive article is not the case when it comes to the Los Angeles Times article, "Why we need to raise the minimum wage, " written by Andy Stern. Stern was very biased in his article. He mainly lists personal and widely accepted opinions but he does not use evidence to back these opinions up. While on the other hand, Cooper does an outstanding job with including both standpoints, and also not letting his personal thoughts get in the way. Stern's article only lists opinions and ideas as to why raising minimum wage would be smart. This shows that he is very strong-hearted towards this particular topic and his information is coming solely from himself. Cooper's article is more appealing because he gives evidence for every statement that is said and this makes the audience realize that they don't have to be forced into choosing a certain side, while Stern's narrow-minded article makes the audience choose one side over the other. .
Giving the reader background information to help better understand the article is a very helpful writing technique. Cooper uses this technique very effectively in the beginning of his article. He does so by giving us background information of his career as an economic analyst for the Economic Policy Institute. This gives the reader a sense of trust within Cooper's words because we know that he is not just an everyday citizen talking about this topic.
