World hunger has been a topic of discussion among different people for many years. An epidemic that seems to have remained stagnant for decades. Different strategies have considered to try to eliminate or at least reduce starvation but to no significant avail. There are several reasons why efforts to eradicate world hunger & poverty have seemed ineffective and some of these reasons are addressed in the Presidential Commission on World Hunger's "World Hunger. Why should the United States be concerned? What should it do?" and in Frances Moore Lappe's "World Hunger, Twelve myths". These two books address the issue from different perspectives and that is why they are good candidates for comparison. A good number of rhetoric strategies are also used in the books. The intended audience is anyone who might be interested in the topic of starvation and who wants to know more about what is being done to stop it from progressing.

The first source addresses starvation by stating reasons why the United States should be concerned, it uses pathos in the first reason it gives stating that it is a moral obligation and responsibility. The author uses phrases such as "basic human need", "subhuman conditions", and "food crisis" so as to appeal to the emotion of the reader. In "Twelve myths" the author also appeals to the readers emotions with the first myth which states that "There's simply not enough food". The author debunks this myth and while doing so uses phrases like "The poor" and "Hungry countries" to raise the reader's emotion on the topic. He explains that there is sufficient food for everyone but it is not made available to the general public and only a select group of people can afford it. "...even though enough food exists, the poor are not able to purchase it" (Lappe, 11). The reason I picked these two sources is because one of the books is giving reasons as to why the US should be concerned with world hunger while the other is exposing some reasons why the US might not want to get involved. These two sources are somewhat alike but also very different. Appealing to the reader's emotions creates a picture in the reader's mind, "At least one out of every eight men, women, and children on earth suffers malnutrition severe enough to shorten life, stunt physical growth, and dull mental ability" (Presidential, 1). The authors stand on this issue is obvious and the reader is able to view things from the author's point of view.

The next reason that the first source gives for US involvement in world hunger is National Security because the authors believe that a general effort to conquer world hunger will result in national security. The author explains that the issues addressed in this book are reliant on the elimination of World Hunger. "The commission believes that stimulating an effective, cooperative campaign against world hunger would help the United States to break the impasse in "North-South" relations" (Presidential, 4). Another myth addressed in "Twelve myths" is that there are "too many mouths to feed". According to Lappe, this is a myth because "If too many people caused hunger, then reducing population density could indeed alleviate it. But for one factor to cause another, the two must consistently occur together. Population density and hunger do not" (Lappe, 25). Lappe explains that more food is being produced than mouths to feed and this is just another myth to prevent the public from seeing a feasible solution to Starvation. He also agrees that "Without doubt, most hungry people live in Asia, Africa, and Latin America where populations are growing fastest" but Lappe states that the only reason they occur together is because they have a common cause (Lappe, 25).

It is obvious what exigency these sources are appealing too, the issue of World Hunger is one of serious concern and the authors are using different methods to relay this to the reader. Similar to the Presidential Commission on World Hunger's book, Lappe gives a tenth myth stating that "More US Aid Will Help the Hungry". Lappe explains that the way to render help to the hungry is to redefine what the governments describes as national interest. "Our government is already intervening in countries where the majority of people are forced to go hungry. Our primary responsibility as US citizens is to make certain our government's policies are not making it harder for people to end hunger for themselves" (Lappe, 103).

These two sources use the author's credentials to appeal to the reader. "World Hunger. Why should the United Stated be concerned? What should it do?" was written by Doctors, Senators, Congressmen, and executive directors in the Presidential Commission on World Hunger. Frances Moore Lappe is an activist involved in investigating causes of hunger and poverty and also co-founder of the Institute for Food and Development policy (FOOD FIRST). This shows ethical appeal (ethos) used by the authors to convince the readers to accept their opinion on the issue.

Analyzing these two sources enabled me to get a better understanding of what the authors were trying to pass across to the reader, view the rhetorical elements used, and getting a detailed understanding of the content. It also broadened my knowledge of the issues associated with starvation and some possible reasons why it still exists. These two sources showed that the authors had great interest in the topic and wanted to relay substantial information to the reader. Starvation is on the rise and considering these two sources and others it shows that there are efforts being made to solve the problem and bring a final solution to it. 
