Persuasive Speech (18th century African-American POV)
Adalberto H. Rivera
12th Grade English
November 5, 2013
Natalie Nienhuis
Before I begin my exposition, I want to take a moment to quote the wise King Solomon’s book of Ecclesiastes, whereupon he has written, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Indeed, everything that man sought throughout history has been but one vain attempt after another to satisfy our lust, our wish to conquer and own everything. This fool’s wish hath bent man into a crooked being, to the point of forcefully enlisting the aid of unwilling others to achieve this impossible goal. One of those among the unwilling was in life my grandfather.
My name is Timothy Equiano, grandson of the late Olaudah Equiano, one of the many African slaves who were whisked away from their homes into this land fully without their consent. The intense environment and harsh treatment that he and his brethren endured during their life as slaves in America is, at its least, irrevocably wretched on behalf of those who deviously solidified our people’s place as the de facto labor force behind the success of this land. Yet, it pales in comparison to the treatment that my own people suffer right now.
At the young age of twenty years, my grandfather successfully exchanged the sting of the whip for the cutting power of wisdom and words, and he has passed his abolitionist ideals and legacy to me. Thus, I come to you, fellow townspeople, to ask you the question in a straightforwardly fashion. The great Mr. Jefferson has written, with the same wisdom as Solomon, “All men are created equal.” These prudent words, I assume, relate to all of the men in the world, those who were created in the image of the sovereign God, which in turn makes them brothers with each other under God. In this fashion, therefore, I ask this: am I not a man and a brother?
I must say that my people and I indeed are visibly different from you, some of our cultures and ideas radically unalike. What have this to do with our stance in this new society
12th Grade English
November 5, 2013
Natalie Nienhuis
Before I begin my exposition, I want to take a moment to quote the wise King Solomon’s book of Ecclesiastes, whereupon he has written, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Indeed, everything that man sought throughout history has been but one vain attempt after another to satisfy our lust, our wish to conquer and own everything. This fool’s wish hath bent man into a crooked being, to the point of forcefully enlisting the aid of unwilling others to achieve this impossible goal. One of those among the unwilling was in life my grandfather.
My name is Timothy Equiano, grandson of the late Olaudah Equiano, one of the many African slaves who were whisked away from their homes into this land fully without their consent. The intense environment and harsh treatment that he and his brethren endured during their life as slaves in America is, at its least, irrevocably wretched on behalf of those who deviously solidified our people’s place as the de facto labor force behind the success of this land. Yet, it pales in comparison to the treatment that my own people suffer right now.
At the young age of twenty years, my grandfather successfully exchanged the sting of the whip for the cutting power of wisdom and words, and he has passed his abolitionist ideals and legacy to me. Thus, I come to you, fellow townspeople, to ask you the question in a straightforwardly fashion. The great Mr. Jefferson has written, with the same wisdom as Solomon, “All men are created equal.” These prudent words, I assume, relate to all of the men in the world, those who were created in the image of the sovereign God, which in turn makes them brothers with each other under God. In this fashion, therefore, I ask this: am I not a man and a brother?
I must say that my people and I indeed are visibly different from you, some of our cultures and ideas radically unalike. What have this to do with our stance in this new society