A Whisper of AIDS: The Speech that Lifted the Silence

Nine years. It took nearly a decade, and more than two hundred thousand Americans’ deaths until a brave soul spoke up to encourage people to speak up about AIDS. “A Whisper of AIDS” was written to encourage people to “lift the shroud of silence which has been draped over the issue of HIV/AIDS” (Fisher). The effectiveness of this speech lies in its addressing of a problem that has affected many people not only in the 1980s, more than thirty years ago, but has continued to even in the 21st century, and through its use of many rhetorical devices it makes for a convincing and heart wrenching speech.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). These two conditions have caused so much heartache and pain since the 1980s. One of the first signs of AIDS in America was in 1981, and was found in a homosexual man that was inflicted with Pneumocystis pneumonia, a fungal pneumonia. Upon inspection, the doctor observed that the man did not have any helper cells; cells that would help the ailed young man fight the infection. Following this several other young homosexual men were admitted to hospitals with the same problem. The following year hemophiliacs were observed to have been inflicted with the same problem and this disease was finally given a name, AIDS. The year 1983 brought about the identification of the virus, HIV. Even to this day many AIDS is still a problem that continues to affect many people.

Mary Fisher was the stepdaughter of the multimillionaire Max Fisher. She worked in as a television producer and assistant to President Gerald Ford, as well as a successful artist. The year after her divorce from her second husband, she soon learned that she had contracted HIV from him. Following this ...

... middle of paper ...

...h.html>.

"Bio." Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. .

Fisher, Mary. “A Whisper of AIDS.” Republican National Convention. Houston Astrodome, Houston, TX. 19 Aug 1992. Address.

"Gifts of Speech - Mary Fisher." Gifts of Speech - Mary Fisher. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. .

"Mary Fisher's Whisper of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos." Clburdettwrites. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. .

"Mr. Newman's Digital Rhetorical Symposium." : Mary Fisher’s “A Whisper of AIDS” Speech Analysis. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. .

PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. .