Sojourner Truth

"Ain't I a Woman?"

Ethos: ethical appeal
Logos: logical appeal
Pathos: emotional appeal
*All are rhetorical appeals.

In Sojourner Truth's Speech of "Ain't I a Woman", Truth uses to ethos, logos and pathos in order to show the importance of woman's suffrage. This speech was given before a large group of white men and women. Truth begins her speech by appealing to ethics, ethos. She describes the work done in her life and shows that she has worked just as hard as a man, if not harder. Truth's strongest part of her speech is her emphasis on logos, or appeal to logic. She uses the analogy of having a cup; if a woman's cup (political voice) isn't as big(important) as a man's cup, should women not get any say at all? "Wouldn't you be mean not let me have my little half measure-full?" Truth describes the struggles she has had to overcome; all of them and she is not given the right to have a voice? I believe Truth's strongest point is when she makes an allusion to the bible, saying "one woman turned the world upside down" and insists that multiple many could fix it. The allusion to the bible gives everyone a common ground. Finally, Truth closes with a thank you to reiterate her politeness.