Deborah Tannen Bossy Rhetorical Analysis

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Deborah Tannen believes that the word “bossy” is a category that most women get put into, and not only women but also children from a very young age. Tannen believes that this category is an insult to women, and she uses diction and imagery to create and describe her idea of how women have been put into the “bossy” category since they were young and how that affects them. As a result she gains empathy and understanding from women who read her article. Tannen creates a connection with the readers by having them relate to being called bossy from a young age and on. She uses examples of strong and powerful women that have been put into categories as a way of creating social spaces for women. Tannen uses rhetorical appeals to create an emotional and understanding connection to women all over the …show more content…

She creates negative feelings about being called bossy which creates negative feelings in other people of that word. She wants to persuade people to not judge women for having a sense of authority. Tannen wants to raise awareness to this because she believes young children who hear this word repeatedly in their lifespan can endure negative feelings about themselves and they can end up having real life issues as they grow up. Deborah Tannen feels that when women don’t live up to what others expect them to be they get judged and that this need stop because women do believe that ‘bossy’ is more than just a word. What makes her argument effective is when she uses words like “think twice” and “lets” to not portray an authority tone but a much friendlier one. Another feature is the organization of the article, it’s easy to navigate, she makes her argument clear, and each section of her article seems easy to get through. She comes off as friendly but she still makes her

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