Address To Congress On Women's Suffrage Rhetorical Analysis
In America, all people have the right to vote, except for women, “Woman suffrage is inevitable. Suffragists knew it before November 4, 1917; opponents afterward” (Catt 1). It is important for women to have the right to vote because all people deserve to have a say in what happens in their government. Catt believes that women should have the right to vote and wants others to agree. In “Address to Congress on Women’s Suffrage,” Carrie Chapman Catt conveys ethos to achieve the audience’s trust, pathos to engage the audience emotionally, and logos to present factual information in order to persuade the audience to believe that woman suffrage is a very important topic and should not be overlooked. First, Catt stresses ethos in order to gain
the audience’s trust. She says, “Eighty years after the Revolution, Abraham Lincoln welded those two maxims into a new one: “Ours is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people (Catt 3). Catt is using ethos to say that Abraham Lincoln said the American government is supposed to be lead by the people. It needs to be lead by the people, but not all of the people can vote. Second, Catt shows pathos in order to engage the audience emotionally and spark a sense of thought into the people. She states, “Do you realize that when you ask women to take their cause to state referendum you compel them to do this: that you drive women of education, refinement, achievement, to beg men who cannot read for their political freedom?” (Catt 10). She is saying that women are doing so much for America, but they cannot even participate in voting. She is using pathos to make the audience feel sorry for the women of America. Finally, Catt implies logos in order to provide facts about women suffrage. She says, “There are thirteen black states where no suffrage for women exists, and fourteen others where suffrage for women is more limited than in many foreign countries” (Catt 9). She is saying that other countries have suffrage for women, but the U.S. does not. She uses logos to provide factual information to help better explain the nature of the problem. In conclusion, Carrie Chapman Catt uses “Address to Congress on Women’s Suffrage” to let people know that women deserve the right to vote. She uses ethos, pathos, and logos to help sway the audience towards wanting to defend women suffrage. Without these appeals to rhetoric, the audience may have had a hard time understanding her speech.
the audience’s trust. She says, “Eighty years after the Revolution, Abraham Lincoln welded those two maxims into a new one: “Ours is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people (Catt 3). Catt is using ethos to say that Abraham Lincoln said the American government is supposed to be lead by the people. It needs to be lead by the people, but not all of the people can vote. Second, Catt shows pathos in order to engage the audience emotionally and spark a sense of thought into the people. She states, “Do you realize that when you ask women to take their cause to state referendum you compel them to do this: that you drive women of education, refinement, achievement, to beg men who cannot read for their political freedom?” (Catt 10). She is saying that women are doing so much for America, but they cannot even participate in voting. She is using pathos to make the audience feel sorry for the women of America. Finally, Catt implies logos in order to provide facts about women suffrage. She says, “There are thirteen black states where no suffrage for women exists, and fourteen others where suffrage for women is more limited than in many foreign countries” (Catt 9). She is saying that other countries have suffrage for women, but the U.S. does not. She uses logos to provide factual information to help better explain the nature of the problem. In conclusion, Carrie Chapman Catt uses “Address to Congress on Women’s Suffrage” to let people know that women deserve the right to vote. She uses ethos, pathos, and logos to help sway the audience towards wanting to defend women suffrage. Without these appeals to rhetoric, the audience may have had a hard time understanding her speech.