"Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide,” Napoleon Bonaparte once spoke. This quote meaning that freedom was hard to come by and where there is freedom, it is a precious thing. Two historical speeches strive for the same end result, freedom, one by an African American man by the name of Frederick Douglass and the other by a woman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Both historical speeches were impactful and changed America. Douglass and Stanton had the same basic purpose for giving their respective speeches, however, they accomplished their end goal in very different ways, including their uses of rhetorical devices, their use of allusions, and their tone in their speeches. Frederick Douglass
…show more content…
Two main rhetorical devices that she used were parallel structure and repetition. Her use of repetition was a strong approach that she took to be to the point and stern about how women felt. “He has…” (296), Stanton uses this at the beginning of multiple sentences to express how she feels that men have treated women. “He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation in which she had no voice. He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men…” (296). Stanton uses parallel structure to state that men haven’t allowed women the same rights as men for many reasons. Using parallel structure was a strong approach to list out why what men were doing was …show more content…
His allusion was in support of the bible, saying that they deserved freedom by the words written in the book. To challenge in the bible where it states that women are not to be in power alongside or above men, Stanton states, “He allows her in Church as well as State, but a subordinate position, claiming Apostolic authority for her exclusion from the ministry, and with some exceptions, from any public participation in the affairs of the Church.” (297) A second allusion she makes is not to the bible, but to the Declaration of Independence. With a slight word addition, Stanton restates the words from the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal;” (295). The additional word, women, was a bold move made by Stanton to show that men and women are
Two main rhetorical devices that she used were parallel structure and repetition. Her use of repetition was a strong approach that she took to be to the point and stern about how women felt. “He has…” (296), Stanton uses this at the beginning of multiple sentences to express how she feels that men have treated women. “He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation in which she had no voice. He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men…” (296). Stanton uses parallel structure to state that men haven’t allowed women the same rights as men for many reasons. Using parallel structure was a strong approach to list out why what men were doing was …show more content…
His allusion was in support of the bible, saying that they deserved freedom by the words written in the book. To challenge in the bible where it states that women are not to be in power alongside or above men, Stanton states, “He allows her in Church as well as State, but a subordinate position, claiming Apostolic authority for her exclusion from the ministry, and with some exceptions, from any public participation in the affairs of the Church.” (297) A second allusion she makes is not to the bible, but to the Declaration of Independence. With a slight word addition, Stanton restates the words from the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal;” (295). The additional word, women, was a bold move made by Stanton to show that men and women are