A Rhetorical Analysis Of Florence Kelley's Speech

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As a social worker and reformer, Florence Kelley utilizes asyndeton, juxtaposition, and rhetorical questions in her ardent speech for the attendees of the convention for the National American Women Suffrage Association to “enlist the workingmen voters” in helping with the implementation of more stringent child labor laws to encourage the protection of children, especially girls, from working in factories at such young ages. Kelley’s employment of asyndeton in the second paragraph as she states, “Men increase, women increase, youth increase in the ranks of the breadwinners…”, makes her speech more passionate and effective by speeding up its rhythm and pace. She applies this rhetorical strategy to segue into the fact that despite the increase across different demographics, none is so exponential as the growth of “girls between twelve and twenty years of age.” She describes this fact before the convention to depict the extensive hindrances this particular contingent faces. Kelley is valiant in her …show more content…

In her sixth paragraph, Kelley regards the New Jersey Legislature that allows children of fourteen years to work through the night with a sarcastic and satirical comment of, “… boys and girls, after their 14th birthday, enjoy the pitiful privilege of working all night long.” Kelley’s use of juxtaposition develops her purpose by recognizing two contrasting characteristics of the Legislature and listeners and readers will find themselves chuckling humorlessly while shaking their heads disparagingly. Florence Kelley is aghast that New Jersey is progressing backwards and the protection of the well-being of these children has apparently ceased to exist. Kelley appeals to the individuals present at the National American Women Suffrage Association convention to participate in the politics of this moral issue by utilizing their right to petition their local legislatures for stronger child labor

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