Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, in her speech, “A Latina Judge’s Voice," at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, addresses her identity as a Puerto Rican New Yorker and urges her audience to take pride in their own identity and culture. She supports this claim by introducing herself, highlighting the importance of identity, then arguing for the value of diversity, and finally Sotomayor encourages minorities and marginalized groups to express their identities. Her overall purpose is to describe her identity and highlight the value of diversity in order to empower her audience. Sotomayor adopts a conversational and reflective tone, addressing the students of the University of California, Berkeley, and members of ethnic communities, and the rhetorical devices that she uses include hypophora, personal anecdotes, and metaphors. …show more content…
For instance, she opens by asking, “Who am I?” and immediately answers, “I am a “New Yorkian.”” (Line 1). By introducing her identity through the use of a hypophora, she not only emphasizes her cultural background but also creates a conversational, reflective tone, making it feel as though she is having a dialogue with her audience. Additionally, in the middle of her speech, Sotomayor asks, “Now, does any one of these things make me a Latina?” and responds, “Obviously not, because each of our Caribbean and Latin American communities has its own unique food and different traditions during the holidays” (Lines 41-44). This use of hypophora highlights the cultural diversity within the Latino community while giving the audience a more personal and intimate understanding of her identity. In the middle of her speech. Sotomayor establishes personal anecdotes to additionally define her identity and strengthen her