Rhetorical Strategies Used in The Morality of Birth Control Speech by Margaret Sanger

The emotional state of any given person’s mind can determine the way in which they think, act, behave, or respond to any certain event. When used correctly, persuasion is a deadly weapon at the tip of your tongue, and it certainly can, and will, help you obtain your desired outcome. So, if anyone may not know, what do you truthfully use to manipulate the thoughts of others? Well, whether you are aware or not, your strategies more than likely fall under ethos, pathos, or logos, that of which, I would like to uncover in the speech of Margaret Sanger.

Margaret Sanger was, at large, a birth control activist, but this speech was more about the questioning of birth control corrupting morality in women. People must remember, in the day and age where Sanger presented this speech, November 1921, women were considered very far from equal and much closer to servants or maids. In her speech, I saw that ethos was present in the sense that she gave herself credibility. Through Sanger’s detailed words and actions, and her statements including the presence of scientists and, or, professionals, the masses of listening people could infer that she was very well informed and solid in her statements. Though she presented herself as agreeable, Sanger was firm in her beliefs. In addition, Sanger says, “We desire to stop at its source the disease, poverty and feeble-mindedness and insanity which exist today, for these lower the standards of civilization and make for race deterioration. We know that the masses of people are growing wiser and are using their own minds to decide their individual conduct” (Sanger, par.15). To me, Sanger made herself appeal to the audience by using the word ‘we.’ In the practice of ethos, this focused on the author more than...

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...s to her full ability. By using the talents and prospects of rhetorical strategies, she was able to change the conglomerate of people to putty in her hand.

Margaret Sanger was an inspiring speaker, and through her obvious manipulation, the tools of ethos, pathos, and logos were once more effective. I really enjoyed analyzing the strategies used in her speech, but I can’t help but ponder her questions previously mentioned in this piece of work. In a day and age where women were beat down for our gender, I do imagine Sanger suffered ridicule; alas, she pulled through to create a masterpiece, full of manipulation, persuasion, and truth.

Works Cited

Eidenmuller, Michael E. "American Rhetoric Top 100 Speeches." American Rhetoric. N.p., 2001. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.

Sanger, Margaret. "The Morality of Birth Control." Gifts of Speech. Smith College, 2012. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.