Essay on Persuasion in Rhetoric: Susan B. Anthony's Speech on Women's Right to Vote

Rhetoric was and still is the strongest way to persuade humans in history. Persuasion is used everywhere and every time in order of convinces the reviser through logic and reason, it begins at an early age, in different cultures and languages, Rhetoric comes as an art of persuasion, To make good effective rhetoric we must identify it first, it's using the language in eloquence, whether spoken or written to influence the audience, rhetoric is not a new thing it goes back for centuries, at least to the fourth century BC, it’s was defined as study and practice of writing and speaking known as Classical Rhetoric, there are some tools and strategies to any successful persuasion through rhetoric such as logos, pathos, and Ethos, these were used in Speech.

Classical rhetoric established the basic theories of persuasion; classical rhetoric is the perception of how language works when written or spoken aloud or becoming proficient in speaking or writing to get proficiency by learning and understanding. Greek teachers Plato, the Sophists, Quintilian, Cicero, and Aristotle dictated three branches and five canons. Classical rhetoric divides communication into three main components, first is the speaker, the character of the speaker is very important because audiences tend to believe the testimony of reliable, familiar, and trustworthy speakers even if it's unlikely, and to discredit the claims of undependable, strange, or suspicious sources even if it's reasonable. According to Aristotle and Quintillian, the audience speakers should make a special effort to seem polite, and friendly to be effective with a moral reputation, common sense, and good judgment. Then comes the massage, Rhetoricians placed great importance on the message context, and the purpose of the message comes with the main contextual concerns (to warn, instruct, edify, arouse, appease, awe, entertain, etc.)

The massage should be composed in such a way that it reflects favorably on the character and disposition of the speaker and accords appropriately with its audience, place, and purpose. In short, it accompanies its delivery from its characteristic images and turns of phrases to gestures and facial expressions. The Audience it would be performed. ( The more you know about your audience, the more likely your chances of communicating successfully.) expectations, political interests, cultural circumstances, moral and social concerns, and intellectual level of your audience(make the speech to a group of preschoolers different from a group of adults). Then a particular place the send the message (e.g. outdoor stadium, small conference room, or courtroom,) all these elements make great rhetoric.

The Rhetoric styles and strategies are the secrets behind a successful and effective speech. There are three elements of rhetorical appeals known Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Although it's not necessary for every act of persuasion to make use of all three appeals. Ethos is called an 'ethical appeal.' Note that this is very different from our usual understanding of the word 'ethical.' Ethos is used to describe the rhetors credibility or authority and how the audience perception it. The audience asks themselves, 'What does this person know about this topic?' and 'Why should I trust this person?' There are two kinds of ethos, extrinsic (the character, expertise, education, and experience of the rhetoric), or intrinsic (how the rhetoric writes or speaks). For example, when you are talking about something you have good knowledge of then your ethos is strong.

Then come to Pathos it's used to describe the creator's attempt to appeal to 'an audience's sense of identity, their self-interest, and their emotions.' its means sharing feelings with the audience such as love, hate, and worry. Rhetoric can create a common sense of identity with their audience, this is why many of them use the phrase 'My friends...' so much when speaking to audiences.

The use of Logos is called a 'logical appeal.' A statement does not have to be considered logical to be a logical appeal. 'Logos' is the use of the strategies of logic to persuade your audience. As an observer, you can recognize that the rhetoric is attempting to use logos to persuade the audience, but that recognition doesn't mean the rhetor is succeeding. We use the term logos to describe what kind of rhetorical appeal is being made, not to evaluate whether or not an appeal makes sense to us or to the audience being addressed. If a statement attempts to persuade the audience by making a reasonable claim and offering proof in support of that claim, then that statement is a logical argument. Repetition is also a strategy which is repeating the same words to make it memorable to the audience, last but not least Rhetorical question is asking a question without expecting an answer.

Susan B. Anthony's speech on women's right to vote

“Friends and fellow citizens: I stand before you tonight under indictment for the alleged crime of having voted at the last presidential election, without having a lawful right to vote. It shall be my work this evening to prove to you that in this voting, I not only committed no crime but, instead, simply exercised my citizen's rights, guaranteed to me and all United States citizens by the National Constitution, beyond the power of any state to deny.” (Anthony .1873) the speaker being her speech says ' Friends and fellow citizens as 'Pathos' to make a sense of identity with her audience and the sense of justice of the audience that what she did wasn't a crime and she repeats the word 'citizens' to confirm her idea of being a part of the society

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“It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union. And we formed it, not to give the blessings of liberty, but to secure them; not to the half of ourselves and the half of our posterity, but to the whole people - women as well as men. And it is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republican government - the ballot.” (Anthony .1873) Then as 'Pathos' she used 'Anger' will be felt if the audience realizes how little has been done by those who are responsible for helping. “For any state to make sex a qualification that must ever result in the disfranchisement of one entire half of the people, is to pass a bill of attainder, or, an ex post facto law, and is, therefore, a violation of the supreme law of the land. By it, the blessings of liberty are forever withheld from women and their female posterity.”(Anthony .1873) the “logos” by using the argument that the reason for what she is doing is for the future of her country and its people. She uses the “we” to consist of the idea of the whole society got the same right equally.

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In the end, we got to know better about Persuasion in Rhetoric, persuasion convinces the reviser through logic and reason, and Rhetoric comes as an art of persuasion and understanding classical Rhetoric, the elements of the speaker or writer, the importance of the message, and the audiences, the linguistic and styles of rhetorical speech from analyzing a successful speech by Susan B. Anthony. The art of rhetoric is big and needs good knowledge and practicing for.

Susan B. Anthony - 1873

“Friends and fellow citizens: I stand before you tonight under indictment for the alleged crime of having voted at the last presidential election, without having a lawful right to vote. It shall be my work this evening to prove to you that in this voting, I not only committed no crime but, instead, simply exercised my citizen's rights, guaranteed to me and all United States citizens by the National Constitution, beyond the power of any state to deny.

The preamble of the Federal Constitution says:

'We, the people of the United States, to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.'

It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union. And we formed it, not to give the blessings of liberty, but to secure them; not to the half of ourselves and the half of our posterity, but to the whole people - women as well as men. And it is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republican government - the ballot.

For any state to make sex a qualification that must ever result in the disfranchisement of one entire half of the people, is to pass a bill of attainder, or, an ex post facto law, and is, therefore, a violation of the supreme law of the land. By it, the blessings of liberty are forever withheld from women and their female posterity.

To them, this government has no just powers derived from the consent of the governed. To them, this government is not a democracy. It is not a republic. It is an odious aristocracy; a hateful oligarchy of sex; the most hateful aristocracy ever established on the face of the globe; an oligarchy of wealth, where the rich govern the poor. An oligarchy of learning, where the educated govern the ignorant, or even an oligarchy of race, where the Saxon rules the African, might be endured; but this oligarchy of sex, which makes father, brothers, husband, sons, the oligarchs over the mother and sisters, the wife and daughters, of every household - which ordains all men sovereigns, all women subjects, carries dissension, discord, and rebellion into every home of the nation.

Webster, Worcester, and Bouvier all define a citizen to be a person in the United States, entitled to vote and hold office.

The only question left to be settled now is: Are women persons? And I hardly believe any of our opponents will have the hardihood to say they are not. Being persons, then, women are citizens; and no state has a right to make any law, or to enforce any old law, that shall abridge their privileges or immunities. Hence, every discrimination against women in the constitutions and laws of several states is today null and void, precisely as is every one against Negroes.

References:

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