Question

Excerpt from How the Other Half Lives, by Jacob A. Riis, 1890

The truth is that pauperism grows in the tenements as naturally as weeds in a garden lot. A moral distemper, like crime, it finds there its most fertile soil. All the surroundings of tenement-house life favor its growth, and where once it has taken root it is harder to dislodge than the most virulent of physical diseases. The thief is infinitely easier to deal with than the pauper, because the very fact of his being a thief presupposes some bottom to the man. Granted that it is bad, there is still something, a possible handle by which to catch him. To the pauper there is none. He is as hopeless as his own poverty.

This passage would have been used for what purpose?

(1 point)
Responses

to argue that the poor are responsible for rising crime rates
to argue that the poor are responsible for rising crime rates

to expose the corruption in government housing projects
to expose the corruption in government housing projects

to urge harsher penalties against paupers and thieves
to urge harsher penalties against paupers and thieves

to convince the public that people in poverty need help

Answer 1

to convince the public that people in poverty need help

Riis emphasizes that pauperism grows out of tenement conditions and presents the poor as victims of environment rather than simply blameworthy, supporting calls for reform and assistance.