Rhetoric. Rhetoric is the art of speaking or writing effectively. It involves the study of the ways that speech and writing affect or influence audiences. As you read, think about how an audience in 1872 might have reacted to this speech.
Argument. In nonfiction writing, an argument is the case for accepting or rejecting a proposition or course of action. Argument is a form of rhetorical expression that is intended to convince or persuade. What is the central argument of Susan B. Anthony’s speech? How does Anthony support her main argument?
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Susan B. Anthony gave her well-known speech, “Woman’s Right to Suffrage,” after her arrest for casting an illegal vote in the presidential election of 1872. Without allowing Anthony to testify during the trial, the judge found her guilty and fined her $100, which she refused to pay. Not discouraged, Anthony continued to fight for women’s suffrage. She published three volumes of the History of Woman Suffrage, a collection of writings supporting a woman’s right to vote. In 1905 Anthony met with President Theodore Roosevelt in Washington, DC, about submitting a suffrage amendment to Congress. Her lifetime goal was accomplished fourteen years after her death in 1906, by the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, also known as the Susan B. Anthony amendment, giving women the right to vote in 1920.
As you read, make a cluster chart showing the main points Anthony uses to support her argument that women should have the right to vote. The first one has been done for you.
Have you ever been discriminated against? How did you react?
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