Rhetoric Techniques Used In Margaret Atwood's Speeches
‘Ultimately in a speech, it is the effective representation of ideas that captivates audiences.’
In compelling speeches it is not only the content, but the appropriate use of rhetoric techniques and structure which reveal and emphasise key ideas and captivate the audience. This has been shown in Margaret Atwood’s speech, Spotty-Handed Villainesses (1994) as well as Aung San Suu Kyi’s speech, the Keynote Address at the Beijing Conference on Women (1995). These two speeches focus on the role of women in society and effectively discuss it in a way that has successfully raised the issue and resonated through history.
Margaret Atwood uses a variety of rhetorical methods in captivating the audience. She uses wit and humour, as well as establishing …show more content…
Being a contemporary literary composer, she appeals to the intellectuals of her audience by referring to “high”, classical literature through allusions to William Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen, and George Bernard Shaw, colloquially referred to as ‘GB’ Shaw. The title itself, Spotty-Handed Villainesses, is a literary allusion to Lady Macbeth which gives the address some humour, as well as giving it the connotation of spotty hands, and uses this as an extended metaphor throughout her speech, “…to be essentially spotless of soul…”,”…women left their mark” which gives the speech coherence and unity. Through the use of literary allusions Atwood has added credibility to her argument by providing references and examples to women in literature. However, Margaret Atwood also alludes to “lower” forms of literature and makes humorous pop culture references to fairy tales, “Never mind the fact that Snow White is a Vampire” to add a universal appeal to her speech, providing her entire audience with something to relate to. She then includes an accumulation of allusions to Villainesses, “Jezebel and Medea and Medusa and Delilah and Regan and Goneril and spotty-handed Lady Macbeth” to effectively convey the diversity and extremity of the portrayal of women in literature. These allusions act as a convincing portrayal of her ideas, that
In compelling speeches it is not only the content, but the appropriate use of rhetoric techniques and structure which reveal and emphasise key ideas and captivate the audience. This has been shown in Margaret Atwood’s speech, Spotty-Handed Villainesses (1994) as well as Aung San Suu Kyi’s speech, the Keynote Address at the Beijing Conference on Women (1995). These two speeches focus on the role of women in society and effectively discuss it in a way that has successfully raised the issue and resonated through history.
Margaret Atwood uses a variety of rhetorical methods in captivating the audience. She uses wit and humour, as well as establishing …show more content…
Being a contemporary literary composer, she appeals to the intellectuals of her audience by referring to “high”, classical literature through allusions to William Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen, and George Bernard Shaw, colloquially referred to as ‘GB’ Shaw. The title itself, Spotty-Handed Villainesses, is a literary allusion to Lady Macbeth which gives the address some humour, as well as giving it the connotation of spotty hands, and uses this as an extended metaphor throughout her speech, “…to be essentially spotless of soul…”,”…women left their mark” which gives the speech coherence and unity. Through the use of literary allusions Atwood has added credibility to her argument by providing references and examples to women in literature. However, Margaret Atwood also alludes to “lower” forms of literature and makes humorous pop culture references to fairy tales, “Never mind the fact that Snow White is a Vampire” to add a universal appeal to her speech, providing her entire audience with something to relate to. She then includes an accumulation of allusions to Villainesses, “Jezebel and Medea and Medusa and Delilah and Regan and Goneril and spotty-handed Lady Macbeth” to effectively convey the diversity and extremity of the portrayal of women in literature. These allusions act as a convincing portrayal of her ideas, that