Analysis Of Sojourner Truth's 'Ain T I A Woman'

Born into slavery in 1797, Isabella Baumfree led an almost identical life to those around her. After obtaining freedom in 1826, the African American settled in New York with her daughter, Sophia, where she announced that she would travel the world and speak the truth on the subject of slavery. This ambition to travel caused her to change her name to Sojourner Truth. As she spoke widely around the country, she toured with abolitionists and continued to speak on slavery as well as human rights. In May of 1851, Truth attended a Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio (“Sojourner Truth: Biography”). She discoursed her “Ain’t I A Woman” speech to promote independence among women. This motivational speech has been influential to many generations
of colored women since then, and has allowed women to be more comfortable in their skin as well as being independent women. Truth suggested different appeals such as repetition and rhetorical questions, ethos, and pathos, which allowed her audience to relate to her on a more personal level. When Truth first began speaking, she pointed out that there was a lack of balance, or “som’ting out o’ kilter,” (“Sojourner Truth”) about this topic. As she continued, she suggested that between the “negroes of the South and the women of the North” that there would be a bigger controversy. Connecting with her audience, the prejudice-faced woman used emotional appeals to draw in other women who suffered from discrimination as well. She acknowledged a man in the audience and pointed out that he said, “Women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere” (“Sojourner Truth”). This accentuated her pathos points. She then went on and clarified that no one had ever helped her “into carriages, or over mud-puddles,” (“Sojourner Truth”) or any of the benefits that the particular man in the audience claimed that women should have.
With this emotion already embedded throughout the audience, Truth emphasized repetition and increased emphasis on what she was trying to address. According to Beth Hill, editor of “Repetition in Fiction,” repetition can give off the effect that someone [Truth] wants his/her audience to know and remember something (“Repetition”). She combined repetition and rhetorical questions by using the phrase, “Ain’t I a Woman?” By putting this phrase in the spotlight, Truth gained more pathos and connected deeper with the women in the crowd. Sojourner bantered back with tribulations that countered the outspoken man. “Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me!” (“Sojourner Truth”). She used this example not only to relate herself to the many other women who were discriminated and who trekked through similar situations, but also to show the concerned men her capability of being an independent colored woman. Again, she repeated the phrase, “Ain’t I a woman?” “Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it?” (“Sojourner Truth”).
Intellect; speaking further on equality, she used intellect as an example of how women and men were separated. Men were seen in that time period as the “doers” and “workers,” while the women did the household tasks. She questioned, “What's that [intellect] got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights?” (“Sojourner Truth”). This certain aspect should have gotten the audience to think deeper and to possibly agree with the point she was trying to get across. Along with intellect, Truth spoke on the subject of God A man in the back of the room was pointed out by Sojourner. She claimed he said, “women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman!” As this accusation had been made, she continued and refuted saying that Christ came from a man and a woman. If not, “Where did your Christ come from?” (“Sojourner Truth”). This was repeated twice, emphasizing her beliefs in
Christianity. With this speech still used and analyzed in literature classes today, many students have the ability to learn about Sojourner Truth and how her speech has had a positive impact on the way society was approached in the early 1800s.
Since Truth had been able to emotionally connect with the audience, it helped her achieve her goal of reaching out to the same discriminated women. Repetition and rhetorical questions provided emphasis on the message she was trying to deliver at the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. Overall, I feel as if Truth delivered her speech to her full potential with intimidating words and high hopes that caused a change in the way men and women viewed
equality.