Florence Kelley's Speech

Words: 766
Pages: 4
Open Document
Revealing her talent of appealing to emotions and uniting the audience under one idea , Florence Kelley gave a speech about women’s rights and child labor to the National American Woman Suffrage Association convention. Her speech addressed the increasing problem of child labor over the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. She rallies up her audience and explains that child labor is not to be blamed only on the government and factories but also on all the consumers as well. Throughout her speech she appeals to her audience’s various emotions, to express her concern and bring shame onto the audience for allowing this problem continue for as long as it has. Kelley’s speech makes the audience rethink their actions and be more eager to fight for these …show more content…
Her concluding statements, “Not wholly powerless…are citizens who enjoy the right of petition” (80-81), are meant to call the audience to action. “This statement enlightens the audience that with a right to vote they have the power to change anything. She transfers the responsibility of changing the situation onto the audience with a simple message—once we get the right to vote, we can stop child labor and make life better for us and the children! Her powerful statement “free the children” and “these children will vote after we are dead” (89, 93) brings forth the truth; that in order to change the world it has to start with freeing children from this slavery of work. Her authoritative tone in her concluding sentences leads the audience into action; to “[free] the children from toil” (95-95) and to have the desire to — free ourselves from inequality. Florence Kelley’s use of literary techniques such as diction, repetition and the emotional appeal to the audience’s emotions help her in the argument against child labor. Her words bring the audience together, acknowledging that they too are a part of the problem but can be part of the solution only if they are ready to fight. Kelley proves that freeing the children, who are a part of our future, will be a big step not only for the children but also for the women who saved them
Show More

Related Documents: Florence Kelley's Speech

Analyzing Florence Kelley's Speech

unsafe conditions. Florence Kelley, a United States social worker and reformer, fought successfully for the laws to improve these conditions. In a speech she delivered in 1905 to the Philadelphia convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, she argues for the betterment of child labor laws in society by illustrating the scale of the issue and by emphasizing the hardships the children face to appeal to her audience’s emotions. Throughout the first half of her speech, Kelley uses shocking…

Words 528 - Pages 3

Rhetorical Analysis Of Florence Kelley's Speech

In Florence Kelley’s speech she uses several different rhetorical devices to convey her message to her audience. Through the use of these devices Kelley made her audience feel guilty, made them feel like she was one of them, and also lead her audience from one point to another. One thing that also helped Kelley was her audience. She gave this speech at a National American Woman Suffrage Association convention. This means her audience was most likely all women and therefore the fact of child labor…

Words 473 - Pages 2

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Florence Kelley's Speech

Florence Kelley, through her brilliant use of rhetorical strategies, brings awareness to the public of a tragedy plaguing the nation. Her speech on the hazards of child labor and the importance of women’s suffrage coherently describes the dangers of everyday life and the solution to the turmoil. By using repetitions, the laws and the atrocities the laws allow, and the stark contrast of the consumer versus the producer, Kelley crafts her argument and uses and emotional appeal to draws her audience…

Words 535 - Pages 3

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Florence Kelley's Speech

Florence Kelley, a United States social worker and reformer, in her speech brought forth at the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia (NAWSA), proposes the reinvention of the little or nonexistent child labor laws in the United States. Kelley’s rhetorical strategies such as logistically comparing and contrasting states’ laws and voicing a demanding call to action, urge suffragists to create a movement curtailing these abusive practices. Kelley employs logistical…

Words 388 - Pages 2

Florence Kelley's Speech On Child Labor

Social worker and reformer Florence Kelley fought for child labor laws and improved working conditions for women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. At the 1905 National American Woman Suffrage Association convention she delivered a speech giving her opinion on child labor. With the use of rhetorical devices, such as strong diction, rhetorical questions, and hypophoras, her speech successfully advocates for the end of child labor. First of all, Kelley’s powerful diction, or word…

Words 455 - Pages 2

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Florence Kelley's Speech

Florence Kelley: Rhetorical Analysis Florence Kelley was an extremely intelligent woman. In 1905, she delivered a speech in Philadelphia at a convention for the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Throughout her speech, Kelley makes very important and valid points about child labor. Through the use of repetition, oxymorons, parallelism, and other rhetorical devices, Florence conveys her message to her audience efficiently. In the second paragraph of her speech, Kelley uses parallelism…

Words 535 - Pages 3

Rhetorical Analysis Of Florence Kelley's Speech

Florence Kelley once delivered a speech back in 1905 showcasing the abuse children were working through. She was a suffragette who called for reforms on several topics, including one about child labor laws. Florence Kelley fought for the children liberation from these unmoral working laws during a speech made at the National American Woman Suffrage Association, thus giving more of a reason to allow for women to vote. By using different tactics in her speech, she was able to convey a sense of guilt…

Words 657 - Pages 3

Rhetorical Analysis Of Florence Kelley's Speech

While discussing child labor laws with her fellow women’s rights activists, Florence Kelley wrote a speech made to strike guilt and empathy in the hearts of the women that heard her speak. In this speech, she used guilt driven sentimental appeals and colorful diction to persuade the audience to consider the possibilities of women being given more political involvement. Her presented facts and opinions were an influential tool in elaborating her message; her audience was overflowing with women, bubbling…

Words 598 - Pages 3

Rhetorical Strategies In Florence Kelley's Speech About Child Labor

Florence Kelley, United States social worker and reformer, uses the rhetorical strategies of tone, description, and ethos in her speech before the NAWSA convention to convey her message about child labor to her audience. In Kelley’s speech, she uses tone to capture the audience’s attention so that they can fully grasp the concept of her speech. She indicates a guilty sensation as she explains how often and how long young children are working in factories. First, she states “tonight while we…

Words 366 - Pages 2

Florence Kelley Rhetorical Analysis

July 22, 1905 was the day Florence Kelley, a women’s social worker and reformist, delivered her speech on women’s suffrage and on the children’s working conditions in early 20th century United States. Throughout her speech, Kelley benefits from the use of multiple rhetorical devices, specifically selected for the purpose of better depicting her views and opinions on the righteous cause of women’s suffrage. Incidentally, some of her most noteworthy uses of rhetoric inhere to the use of anaphora and…

Words 282 - Pages 2