StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Rhetoric Criticism - Article Example

Cite this document
Summary
Rhetoric Criticism on Mary Church Terrell’s Speech Racial discrimination has always been a social issue and in America, the predicament became more prevalent towards the turn of the 20th century. Black people suffered multifarious unfair treatments which led them to fight for their rights, finally gaining the confidence to face difficulties and even death in the midst of their struggles if only to give their children a better future…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER94.3% of users find it useful
Rhetoric Criticism
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Rhetoric Criticism"

Download file to see previous pages

entitled What it Means to be Colored in the Capital of the U.S. at the United Women’s Club, expressing her views about what was happening then. In this speech, Terrell used Aristotelian forensic rhetoric to present her version of injustice towards colored people in order to increase awareness to their rights and to acquire them. According to Aristotle, forensic rhetoric uses facts to attack or defend, making the audience a judge of what has been done in the past. In Terrell’s speech, she talks about various challenges she has been through as a colored woman and the experiences of others as well in order to show the injustices committed against colored men.

She begins with the instances that happened to her or those which she observed and considered to be most possible in her condition as a Black woman. She mentions that there is no other race treated as the Blacks, who may walk the streets to the White House without being fed or accepted in a house, hotel or restaurant. She exposes that even if one has money to buy food or pay for a decent room to stay for the night, if that person is Black, he would not be entertained at all. In a rather ironic tone, Terell points out that even if she were to enter the house of God where color and culture should not be a problem or where love and equality should be most evident, she, as a colored person, would not be given a welcoming reception as expected.

This shows that even the very persons who proclaim equality and love, can be void of what they preach when it comes to colored people and the speaker considers this as an injustice. Concerning work, America has always been perceived as a land of promise because of its vast lands and various opportunities. However, to the Blacks, it is not so. According to Terell, there are many able and qualified Black men and women who are highly qualified to do white collar jobs. Nevertheless, color seems to be a hindrance to them.

The writer speaks further about this issue by presenting the experience of a young woman who was a rising literary star. She applied to work as stenographer at a company and proving herself to be the best candidate for the job; she was invited in for the interview. Contrary to what the young Black woman expected, she was not given the job because of her color and instead, she was advised to do menial work as that is what the society expects from colored people. Such are the facts Terrell knew about a colored man’s life which she expressed in a compelling manner.

“Her speech isn't as long as others, but it is effective in getting her message across, that there is an abundance of prejudice in America” (Johnston, 2001). She did not merely state examples of injustices that happened to her or a handful of her people but includes the whole community of Black people regardless of their economic status, religion, education and views. Terell used the Association theory by expounding on a specific experience of one person before proceeding to include others in her discussion.

For instance, after mentioning the highly qualified applicant who was not given the job of a stenographer, she goes on to speak on a general note, including all the colored women in her discussion of employment opportunities. She says that Black women are not given the fair chance to get employment

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Rhetoric Criticism Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words”, n.d.)
Rhetoric Criticism Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/journalism-communication/1479648-rhetoric-criticism
(Rhetoric Criticism Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words)
Rhetoric Criticism Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words. https://studentshare.org/journalism-communication/1479648-rhetoric-criticism.
“Rhetoric Criticism Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/journalism-communication/1479648-rhetoric-criticism.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Rhetoric Criticism

The Work of Dancer and Composer Meredith Monk, and How It Draws Attention to Form and Content

This article deals with principals and works of Meredith Monk as the pioneer of modern rhetoric in performing arts and also deals with uniqueness of her performances and compositions.... At the same time concepts of time, ‘kairos', rhetoric and political rhetoric are also discussed.... The paper focuses on development of form and content of Meredith Monk, with respect to the concept of rhetoric....
13 Pages (3250 words) Research Paper

Rhetoric from renaissance to modern day

rhetoric, being an art of speaking or writing persuasively to convey certain impressions, or promote concrete interpretations, especially to support the power of a speech or a text to reveal the truth, has always played a very important practical role in the history of development of man as a sentient being.... In this light, study of rhetoric means not only examination of some modes of language usage, but may lead to a better understanding of cognitive processes. It is important to understand from the very beginning, that the division of the history of rhetoric into periods is somewhat conventional....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Rhetorical Criticism I

Here, he is the one seen as the most overcome by the emotions, compared to the… Thus, the ad put the viewer in a different position compared to the other ads, in that the viewer has been made to view the man as weaker when it comes to emotions brought about by physical contact of a man and a woman. In the first ad, three people are seen who appear to Rhetorical criticism Question What do you think?... Rhetorical criticism: the applicable and informative point of view....
1 Pages (250 words) Article

Rhetorical Criticism Using Ernest Bormann Fantasy Theme

First, present and explains the chosen theories within classical rhetoric and the genre of the address.... By utilizing this approach, it was possible to deduce whether Obama's inaugural speech was rhetoric.... The Obama's rhetoric inaugural address has its own genre....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay

Rhetorical Analysis of a Funeral Oration

It is the opinion of certain critics that Pericles' speech is just a typical politician's empty rhetoric on the basis of the description of democracy in Athens.... Rather than empty rhetoric, Pericles' speech is a model of epideictic oratory which is used to blame or praise in ceremonies.... Epideictic rhetoric is a rhetoric of commemoration, demonstration, declamation, and ceremony on one hand, and on other hand, is the rhetoric of display, entertainment, and self-display....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Rhetorical criticism, a proposition paper about Derrida Jacque

However, the writer was smarter and wiser than his radical followers Rhetorical Critism – Jacques Derrida YourFirst YourLast Rhetorical criticism - Jacques Derrida Introduction Derrida was famously recognized for Poststructuralist.... His argument that words are only used to signify other words and not thoughts or things has been the subject of much criticism.... Inheriting Deconstruction: rhetoric and Compositions Missed Encounter with Jacques Derrida....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

The History & Theory of Rhetoric

This paper demonstrates the view and different approach of famous philosophers to rhetoric.... nbsp;… According to Aristotle, there are three kinds of rhetoric: the deliberative rhetoric (one the aims to establish the usefulness or the harmfulness of a proposed or future action); forensic rhetoric (the kind that defends or accuse, referring to past acts and circumstances; and, the epideictic or celebratory rhetoric (the kind that eulogize or diseulogize, presenting facts or events, particularly the one recommending those who are worthy of praise or blame)....
9 Pages (2250 words) Assignment

Rhetorical Journey through Time

The main objective of the present literature review is to discuss the history of rhetoric from ancient times to the modern world.... Specifically, the writer will focus on explaining the current understanding of rhetoric and how it has changed with the advent of technology.... rhetoric may be finely defined as the art of public speaking, being able to portray our ideas and thoughts to others.... While talking about rhetoric in this day and age, electronic management systems come into play....
16 Pages (4000 words) Literature review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us