Sojourner Truth's 'Ain T I A Woman?'

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“Ain’t I a Woman?” was a speech given in 1851 among many others that were being delivered at the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio. The speech given was presented by Sojourner Truth, a former Negro slave. She took a stand and spoke out against the arguments of women being inferior to men because of how they were made and because Christ was a man. In her speech, she repeatedly asks the question, “Ain’t I a Woman?” and speaks in a Southern dialect, leaving readers who look back on her speech, puzzled. A Southern dialect is not the typical language of a New Yorker. In fact, it’s most commonly the complete opposite. So why did the author choose to use this? After some research, I found that the author chose to use Southern dialect and low …show more content…
Truth uses repetition of this phrase to build the intensity of her speech and to continue to show that she is a woman who deserves her rights. As a slave, she has performed the work of man, and she has cleaned and gave birth like a woman. “Ain’t I a Woman?” emphasizes all the points and ideas she presents. Truth also uses rhetorical questions like “But what’s all this here talking about?” “Where did your Christ come from?” etc. This allows people at the convention along with the readers viewing her speech years later, to think and wonder. Truth then follows her questions with answers adding just a little more detail into the speech and onto the mood. Lastly, Truth also uses metaphors, the comparison of unlike things without like or as. In the third paragraph, Truth says “If my cup won’t hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?” Truth throws this in there to point out that Negro women already have few rights as citizens, yet the people that have more rights and more opportunities for great things are determined to take away what little those women
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