Rhetorical Analysis Of Sojourner Truth

In 1851, in the town of Akron, Ohio, an African American woman delivered a speech that will be remembered for its authenticity, compassion, and powerful messages. Who was the woman you may ask? Sojourner Truth. Sojourner spoke about her experiences and tribulations about being a black woman in that day 's society. She used her personal experiences to relate to others, and connected emotionally with her audience. Effectively, a sense of power to overcome inequality was developed. Truth quickly established a sense of identity. She was a victim of discrimination. She faced prejudice as a black person, and as a woman. She invited her audience, who were mostly women, who suffered in their own forms of discrimination. They quickly realized they themselves

Sojourner leans on the emotions of her audience in order to grab their attention and their willingness for change. Once she has incited an emotional response in her audience, Sojourner empowers them through the repetition “and ain’t I a woman?” Her exclamation states her belief in the right to equality. Every time Sojourner repeats the saying, she builds more and more on the emotions of her audience, telling them they should be feeling the same way. They should too feel that they deserve freedom from discrimination. She continues with this repetition, and she builds up energy in her voice and she pulls in the audience with a brief personal experience. She draws mental picture of her equality to men by explaining her strength as she “ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me.” Although we cannot actually hear Sojourner speak the words, reading her speech, I can feel her energy, anger, and resentment building up as she repeats the phrase “and ain’t I a woman?” She brings the rhythm slowly to an end with an image of the grief and hardships she has faced as a slave and a

Growing up, my mother always told me I should have been born a boy. She told me my “spirit with the outdoor world” wasn’t fit for a young lady. My parents came from the Middle East to America, so as I grew older and I noticed how most girls of the same culture acted in my school, so I began to understand her role. At the same time, I felt like I was being shielded from greater opportunities. I don’t want to grow up and be a house wife. I want to be able to get my degree, and then settle down to whomever I fall in love with. But that’s not the way they pictured things. My father always spoke about getting me married after high school, then me settling down and starting a family