A Rhetorical Analysis Of Mary Ann Shadd Cary

Mary Ann Shadd Cary was an African American writer, educator, lawyer, abolitionist, and newspaper writer. She created her own newspaper called, “Provincial Freeman” that helped link fugitives and promote the cause of antislavery. In the second newspaper, Mary Cary wrote a editorial concerning why her newspaper was a necessity to the fugitive community. She uses personification, strong diction, and dramatic rhetorical question in order to express the necessity of fugitive communication. The first technique Mary Cary uses in her editorial is personification. Cary uses a this rhetorical strategy well by tying in the country as a whole with human action and emotion. She states, “ As the country grows, we grow with it; as it improves and progresses, we are carried forward on the bosom of its onward tide. It gives the country a human characteristic, a bosom. Mary Cary uses this strategy in order to help the audience see how she perceived the country through human traits. This allows the audience to relate to the idea she is

She uses a myriad of inclusive language to connect herself with her audience, and create an emotional bond between her and the reader. In her editorial, she uses the word “we” numerous times to identify her and the reader as one. One statement she makes says, “ We beg to add, that none of the papers published by our people, in the States, answer our purpose.” By using the pronoun “we”, she creates a secure atmosphere for the reader to feel the emotion and passion MAry Cary is writing with. In the first sentence of her editorial, she begins it with the word “we” to emphasize that she includes everyone in her audience, excluding none. Through inclusive language, Mary Cary prevents anyone from understanding the purpose of the editorial. Through her diction, she is able to successfully communicate to her audience the purpose of the editorial through inclusive