Truth's Speech on Women Rights Analysis Paper Example

What was Truth's motivation for giving this speech?

Truth's motivation for giving the speech was a deep conviction that women were as equally important as men. In several occasions, she portrays women as having equal traits as men, or being more important than men, yet they were not accorded equal rights as men.

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What does Truth mean when she says, "the white men will be in a fix pretty soon"?

Truth states that all black people from all ends of the country were talking about rights. The blacks were slaves at the time and were discussing how slavery denied them all their rights. Truth was therefore meaning that after the slaves were set free, the white men would suffer losing their workers.

What examples of women's strengths does Truth provide? How does these examples support her purpose?

Women's strengths discussed by Truth include women working the same as men, bear lashes as men and yet give birth to children. She also mentions that Jesus came from woman and God. The strengths support the message in her speech, that women are also important, and should have rights as well.

How does Truth's cup analogy in paragraph 3 answer her question about the connection between intellect, Women's right and black rights?

The cup analogy means that whether one's cup is full or half empty, they have the right to drink from it. Thus, even if a woman's intellect is below man's intellect, they are all equally important as blacks and should have equal rights.

What does the historical context of the letter add to your understanding of its content?

As slavery was being abolished, there were people who believed that women rights were not as important as men rights. For Truth to have made such a speech, the problem must have been present, and common.

The Strategies

What is the thesis of the speech? State it in one clear sentence in your own words.

Black women, just like black men are important and have rights too.

What repetition is being used in the speech? How effective is it?

Epimone repetition (repetition of a phrase) has been used in the speech. The question "And ain't I a woman?" has been used severally used to emphasize that she was a woman, yet could handle all that a man can handle.

How are rhetorical questions used in the speech? How effective are they?

Rhetorical questions have been used all along the speech. Some of the questions have obvious answers, others might not have answers, while others have been answered by Truth. The use of rhetorical questions in the speech is effective as in all occasions, the question persuades the audience/reader to understand how important a woman is in the society.

Truth refers to her audience as "children" and refers to herself as "old sojourner," why does Truth do this?

Children are not exposed much to the world and therefore they know little about various aspects of life. She refers to the audience as children to get their attention on a topic they might have had very little knowledge of. on the other hand, sojourner has experiences over the same topic from different angles, as she has travelled to various parts of the country.

What biblical references does Truth use in her speech? How does she use them?

The story of the birth of Jesus, where she states that for the birth of Jesus to occur man was not involved, it was God and woman's work. She also talks of the creation story, where the first woman did sin, making life more difficult for mankind. The two references are used to portray how significant woman is, given that they are both the beginning of significant events in the bible.

The Issues

Given that the speech involves women rights being more important just like the men right, it means that men did not respect women's rights. Women were seen as less significant compared to men, which bothered Truth. Therefore, when she states that women should be given an opportunity to set the world back straight and men better let them, she expected resistance from men. She, however, makes it clear that men should step aside, and if they did not, there would be serious repercussions. The statement is used as a polite demand.

Men participate in women rights movements from either a positive perspective or a negative perspective. In some cases, men support women movement through various initiatives, like funding them, demonstrating with them, or holding debated that support equal rights for women. Currently, there has been a debate on equal pay and promotions among women and men, a debate that has also been supported by most men. On the other hand, there are men who have oppressed women rights and regarded women at a lower level than men. Such men fight women right movement by debating against them.

Truth's speech resonates today at different capacities. Women are still fighting for equal rights, though not from slavery like during Truth's time. Today, women are fighting for equal rights in the workplace. There are more chances of a man getting promoted thus there are more men at top positions in the world.

Prejudice in the united states against black women exceeds that of any other developed country. In matters of health, black women loose children at childbirth at a higher rate compared to any other country. At the workplace, black women get casual positions and are rarely promoted. Compared to other people, it is also common for a black woman to get depressed.

The United States can have a black female president one day. The current generation of people gives merit to achievements compared to previous generations where race contributed significantly to one's success. Before Obama became president, no one would believe that a black person would become president. Therefore, it is possible that a black woman becomes president one day.