Summary Of Speech By Florence Kelley Ap Language

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Imagine families waking up on their kid’s sixth birthday and having to head towards the nearest cotton mill instead of going out and celebrating the occasion. All over the country kids of different ages were working in the same unsafe conditions as adults to help their family earn money. Florence Kelley’s speech was to fight for better working conditions and child labor laws in the early 1900’s. At this time each state had distinct laws about the work requirements. The author uses various forms of rhetorical devices such as pathos, personifications, and repetition throughout the speech to gain the audience’s support. One strategy that particularly stands out is the author’s appeal to her audience’s emotions. Florence Kelley uses pathos throughout her speech to connect with her audience. For example she states, “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.” Kelley uses emotions to convince her crowd to side with these her in the push for labor laws regarding these poor children. By doing this Kelley makes it almost impossible to oppose her view because she reaches out to every family. This strategy helps her gain more support and delivers a clear message. …show more content…

She uses personifications to consider the residents in each state as one. For example when she states, “Last year New Jersey took a long backward step.” Kelly talks about how the whole state took a step back as far as child labor laws go. By doing this she helps people realize that have to unite and push for their goals together, or else the whole population will suffer. This strategy unites her audience and encourages them to take a

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