Speech Analysis: Atwood
Margaret Atwood – ‘Spotty-Handed Villainesses’
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1. Atwood uses a personal anecdote of herself as a child, and then her daughter, which becomes an intriguing motif throughout her speech
2. Atwood frequently adopts an ironic tone in order to appeal to both Logos and Pathos. She uses logic (Logos) to undermine logic (appealing to Pathos) and this can be shown in the paradoxical line ‘We con-artists do tell the truth’. Overall this paradoxical voice and polyvocal shift between the complexities of an academic argument to simple description of a narrative engages all intellectual levels of her audience. The universal purpose of the speech is made engaging through her use of this tone as it brings light humour to the controversial theme of the dissatisfaction of the current state of the feminist movement.
3. Atwood’s presents an informal and humorous relationship with her audience. Through her use of personal anecdotes in the early paragraphs of the speech Atwood sets a personal yet casual mood. Here again she uses her polyvocal registers to undermine a position previously taken and to lighten her assertive opinion. This can be shown in the line ‘Is Pride and Prejudice about how a sensible middle-class nineteenth-century woman can snare an appropriate man with a good income...? Partly. But not completely.’
4. Margaret Atwood presents a strong theme of the dissatisfaction of the current state of the feminist movement. She introduces this theme through her use of an anecdote which ultimately highlights the influence men have on deciding the appropriate role of the female. In her aside, she appeals purely to the feminist audience. In describing her brother’s method of teasing her “He did manage to make ‘very, very good’ sound almost worse than ‘horrid’.” And it is here that Atwood at large reveals her intended point of discussion for the rest of the speech. She continues to appeal to the feminist audience by questioning their
________________________________________
1. Atwood uses a personal anecdote of herself as a child, and then her daughter, which becomes an intriguing motif throughout her speech
2. Atwood frequently adopts an ironic tone in order to appeal to both Logos and Pathos. She uses logic (Logos) to undermine logic (appealing to Pathos) and this can be shown in the paradoxical line ‘We con-artists do tell the truth’. Overall this paradoxical voice and polyvocal shift between the complexities of an academic argument to simple description of a narrative engages all intellectual levels of her audience. The universal purpose of the speech is made engaging through her use of this tone as it brings light humour to the controversial theme of the dissatisfaction of the current state of the feminist movement.
3. Atwood’s presents an informal and humorous relationship with her audience. Through her use of personal anecdotes in the early paragraphs of the speech Atwood sets a personal yet casual mood. Here again she uses her polyvocal registers to undermine a position previously taken and to lighten her assertive opinion. This can be shown in the line ‘Is Pride and Prejudice about how a sensible middle-class nineteenth-century woman can snare an appropriate man with a good income...? Partly. But not completely.’
4. Margaret Atwood presents a strong theme of the dissatisfaction of the current state of the feminist movement. She introduces this theme through her use of an anecdote which ultimately highlights the influence men have on deciding the appropriate role of the female. In her aside, she appeals purely to the feminist audience. In describing her brother’s method of teasing her “He did manage to make ‘very, very good’ sound almost worse than ‘horrid’.” And it is here that Atwood at large reveals her intended point of discussion for the rest of the speech. She continues to appeal to the feminist audience by questioning their