Oprah's Acceptance Speech Analysis

“Unbought and unbossed” is an interesting film that covers issues with African American women, and sexual politics that also offers a simple  literary perspective of a black woman who puts herself in the middle of at the some of the most political and important issues like: black nationalism, feminism and african american women, etc. Chisholm herself writes in her book “unbought and unbothered”, “…My present attitude toward politics as it is practiced in the United States: it is a beautiful fraud that has been imposed on the people for years, whose practitioners exchange gilded promises for the most valuable thing their victims own, their votes. And who benefits most? The lawyers. (Chapter 4)”. Shirley was very active in the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People

Sojourner Truth, formerly known as Isabella Baumfree, was a famous women’s rights activist, most commonly known for her speech in 1851. Taking place in Akron, Ohio, Sojourner stood up in front of the Women’s Convention and delivered an impressive rebuttal to white men’s claim of denying the rights of both women and slaves, all done extemporaneously. The speech not only points out the sexism and racism present during those times, but also the strong hypocrisy between men’s view of how to treat a lady, versus how black women were treated – and of that, the title “Ain’t I a woman?” came to be.

Doris Anderson’s essay is designed for any person due to the fact that the situation she mentions could apply to anyone. Racism and Degrading rights of women are still societal issues that the world needs to know and find solution to this inhumane problem.

From the beginning, the world was a place of inequality. However, it is possible to change. Through hard work from significant individuals, the world has fought wars and created laws that have led towards equality. The world has developed in many areas such as in gender, sexual, and racial rights. Shirley Chisholm stands as one of these individuals in history that has paved a path to equality. Her Presidential bid, delivered on January 25, 1972, is one moment cemented in history. This paper will analyze that speech by examining her pathos, logos, and ethos.

Throughout the article, McIntosh integrates ethos and a comparison of male privilege to white privilege into her argument. Interestingly, these methods create a reading that, nearly 30 years later, is still shockingly relevant.

Sojourner Truth was a very strong speaker who had a very strong opinion on women's rights and equality among races. She was born into slavery but fought her way out. She spread the truth about slavery around the nation. In the 1850, slavery was a very important subject in America. The African Americans were solded in the south to plantations to help with farming. Many slaves were mistreated and through time a war arose from it. Many people disagreed with slavery and thought it was wrong. There was many individuals that stood up and fought for their freedom. Many individuals went to different states preaching and spilling the truth about slavery.

In Sojourner Truth’s speech that she delivered at the Women’s Convention of 1851, she addresses the inequalities that women and blacks met at that time in America. I will focus on the way Sojourner uses own experiences to get an emotional acknowledgment from her audience, correlating with them as both mothers and women. She also uses repetition and rhetorical questions to rebut opposing cases for gender equality. Sojourner makes biblical references during the speech to connect with her Christian audience and bring her audiences to connect on a more personal level. I will analyze the way Garnet and Sojourner uses rhetorical strategies to achieve a fruitful and powerful delivery of their message and features they share with Garnets speech as

Beyonce’s 2016 visual album, Lemonade, carries her audience through different emotional chapters of her life, presumably following the infidelity of her husband, Jay Z. Although Lemonade touches upon sensitive racial issues and the oppression of African-Americans, I decided to focus more on the sentimental aspect of the film. It is a consensus that women of all kinds are stereotyped as ‘frail’ or ‘hysterical,’ especially when their emotions are transparent, but why is it that the black woman is perceived as ‘angry’ when she does so? Beyonce’s third track on Lemonade, “Don’t Hurt Yourself,” features an excerpt of a speech given by Malcolm X that reads: “The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman.” To dismiss and undermine the emotional traumas Beyonce discloses in Lemonade confirms the veracity of Malcolm X’s statement. Although critics claim that Beyonce’s album portrays the black woman as the ‘victim,’ Lemonade instead empowers black women to freely express themselves and their ‘anger’ because there is no greater oppression than suffering in silence.

Oprah Winfrey uses her Cecil B de Mille acceptance speech to cast light on societal issues of corruption, discrimination, objectification, and racism. Oprah’s speech reflects an age and dialogue of constant controversy and arguable division surrounding allegations of sexual assault, mistreatment, and the seemingly unthinkable idea of an underlying patriarchy within the film industry. Oprah explores and conveys these ideas through the use of various persuasive linguistic and oratorical techniques. This is seen through her use of ethos and pathos when creating an emphatic delivery and appealing to the emotions of the audience when utilising anecdotes. This is also further seen through her repetition of female pronouns when persuading the audience

Ambition is defined as the strong desire to achieve a specific goal and is often driven by determination. It can guide people to achieve goals and aspirations, and some are willingly to do anything in order to satisfy their ambitious personalities. The French military and political Napoleon Bonaparte successfully defined what ambition truly is by stating, “Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.” In other words, ambition is not only aspirations that will help people strive to their successes, but it can also fuel a dangerous desire that people will manipulate and use toward ruthless acts. The desire to achieve has proven

One huge impact in the present pop culture that has been influenced by intersectional feminism is the Me Too Movement which started in October 2017. This movement gives people the platform to stand up to their abusers and showcases the vast majority of people that have been affected by sexual assault. The movement started based on accusations of sexual assault made against Harvey Weinstein, later accusations against famous comedian Aziz Ansari were made which drove many other victims to come forward about their experiences with sexual assault. Intersectional feminism is represented here through the conflict of social and political power frequently shutting down the voices and justice for victims of sexual assault. In the Me Too movement, Marxism and feminist themes intersect in the subject of equality, it shows how justice and equality are being shut down because of Marxism i.e. financial and political power. All the victims speaking up for the movement indicates that they will no longer tolerate the silencing of their voices because of political and social power. The movement is a great example of how intersectionality is considered in modern day issues and is a very effective tool for creating consideration of all factors in

“Those who kept silent yesterday will remain silent tomorrow”. That was what Elie Wiesel said in the original yiddish version of his book Night. Society creates labels for everyone and everything. If people go against the society will be hostile. The hostility of society has made people not speak up when they see something wrong. Society limits so many things that a person could ask the question: How do societal norms limit individuals and the power of words? Societal norms can cause individuals to not speak up when they see something wrong, therefore limiting the power of words and limiting the individual themselves. Individuals may keep quiet because they are frightened of what the consequences may be, of what society says, and because

Chisholm describes the black women's role in American society as displaced and misunderstood. Chisholm utilizes cause and effect to describe the unfair perspectives others have on African American women in society. When Chisholm states “ Since time immemorial the black man’s emasculation resulted in the need of the black woman to assert herself in order to maintain some semblance of a family unit.” As a result of this historical circumstance, the “black woman has developed perseverance.” Chisholm creates the generalization that black women are known for taking care of their families, while the men fight the political and

One of the most outstanding figures of the Black Feminism, Anna Julia Cooper, fought irresistibly for the black women`s rights. Because of her stance, she was often called “the voice of the South” (Rosser-Mims, 2010). She argued that a black woman “is confronted by both a woman question and a race problem, and is as yet an unknown or an unacknowledged factor in both” (Cooper, 1969). African American women have to struggle with discrimination against their race and, at the same time, they have to fight for recognition in their workplaces where leadership positions are usually occupied by men. Cooper wanted to prove that women can succeed in every spheres of life and should be treated equally with men. During one of her speeches, she stated that

“We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society” (“Famous Angela Davis quotes - We have to talk about ….). Angela Davis no longer accepted the philosophies or ideas she could not modify within others, but worked to change the beliefs she could no longer accept. Davis aimed for her voice to be heard, so that her perspectives would perceive and taken into account by society. Davis is best known as a profound African-American educator, extremist for civil rights, and other advocate of other social issues. She realized about racial prejudice from her experiences with discrimination growing up in Birmingham, Alabama. She emerged as an influential counterculture activist and radical in the 1960s as an authority figure of the