A Rhetorical Analysis Of 'The Argument' By Eliza Stacey

The struggle of being financially unstable and in a vulnerable state is something many people have experienced. In 1847 men could go out and get jobs to support themselves and their families, but what about women? Women back in that time still hadn't joined the workforce so they could not help themselves, especially a woman that is pregnant. Eliza Stacey, after her husband was arrested due to an unpaid debt, decided to write to her wealthy father-in-law in hopes that he would help pay the debt of 100 pounds. Eliza Stacey uses multiple persuasion techniques to convince her father-in-law to help them once more, including rhetorical questions or her remorseful diction. Eliza Stacey rationalizes the situation, she elicits, and last but not least,

She does this at the beginning of her letter after stating that the man her husband was indebted to borrowed their horse and killed it. She and her husband thought that” the 12 pounds George owed him would serve the hire and loss of our horse.”(20) This would convince her father-in-law because it is completely reasonable why they believed the debt would have been paid, therefore the blame is not on them and they are not responsible for her husband being incarcerated. Additionally, Eliza Stacey and her husband did not feel any remorse or guilt for the unpaid debt as the whole predicament was due to an” unscrupulous rogue.”(15) She uses the word,” unscrupulous,” because she is trying to paint the person her husband is indebted to as a bad person to convince her father-in-law that the debt was unreasonable. Adding on to the fact that they didn't feel guilty about the debt, she said they didn't think much about the debt because,” we had been generous to the rogue.”(35) She included how they had been kind and generous because she wants her father-in-law to believe that they weren't the problem for the debt and incarceration. She does all this to create the belief that they aren't responsible and to shift the blame onto the

She begins by explaining how since she is pregnant she is vulnerable,” my weary body full of pain.”(50) and how her husband was taken away and she can never rest and asks,” how can I survive?”(50)She is telling her father-in-law how much physical and mental strain the whole predicament put on her. Since she is pregnant she is already in more pain and is more vulnerable and now that she has the burden of taking care of what her husband did. She is pregnant and doesn't know if her husband and the father of the coming child will be present and see the birth of his child, and she wants her father-in-law to know how much pain she is in. After explaining how her husband was going to make a bedroom for her as she approaches labor. Now that her husband is in jail she asks,”How can I do it?.” (55)She isn't just talking about the bedroom, she is talking about the whole situation. She doesn't know how she can manage everything while being pregnant. Eliza Stacey uses these rhetorical questions and details to make her father-in-law feel sympathy towards her and feel the need to