Analysis of "And Ain't I a Woman?" by Sojourner Truth
Analysis of “And Ain’t I a Woman?” Speech by Sojourner Truth
Introductory Paragraph In 1850, Sojourner Truth delivered a speech at the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio that left an impression on the entire country. Her main point in this speech was the equality of women and men, and she emphasizes the rights of African American women as well.
Summary
Truth defines a woman as man’s equal by including several examples of the way she was raised and her experiences. She utilizes a religious argument to support her stance to prove how strong a women can be and what she can achieve. That point becomes the strongest tool of her speech.
Argument/Persuasion Strategies By including the struggles she encountered in her lifetime and the labor she did that white women did not experience, she tries to persuade her audience that black women might deserve equal rights to men more than the white woman. She uses facts and logic to persuade, and by deduction, she illustrates that women are not inferior to men. Truth uses effective appeals by pointing out that someone as significant and powerful as Jesus Christ was conceived and born without the involvement of a man. Mother Mary was a woman and she created the most influential man in history without a man. This shows that a woman can make consequential differences that a man could never make and it elevates her speech further. Truth’s illiteracy was an anchor to her credibility, but she did not let that keep her from speaking her opinion. She attempts to compel the audience and put each one of them in her shoes by briefly giving several examples of her unpleasant enslavement. For the effective use of pathos, she tells the audience that she gave birth to thirteen children and could on watch as each of them get sold off into slavery. This appealed to the parents who made up most of the audience. No one would want to watch their children be taken away for any reason, and the realization that it was inevitable for
Introductory Paragraph In 1850, Sojourner Truth delivered a speech at the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio that left an impression on the entire country. Her main point in this speech was the equality of women and men, and she emphasizes the rights of African American women as well.
Summary
Truth defines a woman as man’s equal by including several examples of the way she was raised and her experiences. She utilizes a religious argument to support her stance to prove how strong a women can be and what she can achieve. That point becomes the strongest tool of her speech.
Argument/Persuasion Strategies By including the struggles she encountered in her lifetime and the labor she did that white women did not experience, she tries to persuade her audience that black women might deserve equal rights to men more than the white woman. She uses facts and logic to persuade, and by deduction, she illustrates that women are not inferior to men. Truth uses effective appeals by pointing out that someone as significant and powerful as Jesus Christ was conceived and born without the involvement of a man. Mother Mary was a woman and she created the most influential man in history without a man. This shows that a woman can make consequential differences that a man could never make and it elevates her speech further. Truth’s illiteracy was an anchor to her credibility, but she did not let that keep her from speaking her opinion. She attempts to compel the audience and put each one of them in her shoes by briefly giving several examples of her unpleasant enslavement. For the effective use of pathos, she tells the audience that she gave birth to thirteen children and could on watch as each of them get sold off into slavery. This appealed to the parents who made up most of the audience. No one would want to watch their children be taken away for any reason, and the realization that it was inevitable for
Cited: 1. Japtok, Martin. “Sojourner Truth.” American Women Prose Writers: 1820-1870. Ed. Amy E. Hudock and Katherine Rodier. Detroit. Gale Group, 2001. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 239. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Apr. 2012 2. Truth, Sojourner. “And Ain’t I a Woman?” Language Awareness. Eds. paul Escholz, Alfred rosa, Virginia Clark. Boston: Bedford S. Martin’s, 2009. 200-203. Print.