A Rhetorical Analysis Of Florence Kelley's Speech

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Recommended: Negative Impact Of Child Labor

Instead of playing with dolls and ribbons, eight year olds of the early twentieth century were working in factories making them. At this time there was no regulation or policies dictating when or where a young girl could work. In 1905, Florence Kelley delivered a speech advocating for the helpless children being sent to work by their parents. She emphasizes the need for change in the working environment and the underlying need for women sufferage. Kelley presents her argument with an appeal to the emotions, a call to action, and the use of examples in order to encourage the voter to put an end to child labor. Using pathos, Kelley makes a strong appeal to the reader’s conscience. She urges her audience to identify with the victims that suffer from the lack of labor laws. Her speech affects one on a personal level with the statement, “Tonight while we sleep, several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills, all the night through, in the deafening noise of the spindles and the looms spinning and weaving cotton and wool, silks and ribbons for us to buy.” The use of personal pronouns creates a more intense a more intense reaction in the reader. In utilizing this device, readers empathize with the victims which, in turn, motivates the listeners to vote to …show more content…

She emphasizes the similar oppression of the laws “in Alabama”, “in Georgia”, and “in Pennsylvania”, by beginning the paragraphs in the body of the speech with these repeating phrases. She also ends her body paragraphs with the mention of night, “working eleven hours at night”, “And they will do so tonight, while we sleep”, and “Enjoy the pitiful privilege of working all night long.” This parallel structure creates a satisfying rhythm within the speech. By using this device, she also organizes her ideas in a way the listener can understand. The use of parallelism here further amplifies the need to end the agony of the working

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