Quintos,Danessa+Lapitan

Quintos,Danessa Lapitan

Yes the text that I have examined was rhetoric. The speech I used to examine was written by Gloria Steinem called " Scholars, Witches, and Other Freedom Fighter." According to the text "Modern Rhetorical Criticism," written by Roderick P. Hart and Suzanne Daughton, most people make rhetoric because they believe in something they want to share with others to make a difference. The objective of rhetoric is to persuade a particular audience to consider the alternatives that you strongly believe in. In the speech given by Steinem, she uses historical events to justify the inequality women has been facing for many years. In chapter one of the text the authors mention the functions of rhetoric. One of the function was rhetoric unburdens. It suggest that the reason why people use rhetoric because they believe in something that has yet to be influence by others. And this is exactly what Steinem wanted to do. She wanted others to acknowledge the problem that many has often ignored and wanted to make a difference in the world by speaking out. When I was first given this speech to analyze I assumed it was like every other speech given by a feminist. I thought it would be a speech that blamed society for the inequality women has faced for many years. It would have been delivered by a woman who only saw the world through one lenses and believed what ever she had to say was right. After using several analytic tools I realized the technique she used to persuade her audience. Throughout the course of my essay I talked heavily about the historical events Steinem uses to strengthen her arguments. I believed those facts is what made her persuasive throughout her speech. She used facts that anyone, if they wanted to, can look up. I pictured Steinem to be the stereotypical feminist but after analyzing her speech I realized she isn't. This speech captured the truth that questioned society.
 * Was the text you examined, in fact, rhetoric? Justify your answer using what we've read so far.
 * What seem to be the // assumptions // __you__ were making // about the critical process // and // critical product // ? (This asks you to do some analysis of your analysis--"going meta")