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Florence Kelley Ap Language Essay

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In her speech at the National American Woman Suffrage Association convention in 1905, United States social worker and reformer, Florence Kelley addresses the ills of child labor that that nation has turned a blind eye to. Throughout the speech, Kelley calls attention to the unethical conditions that children are forced to work under and prompts voters to use their power to vote for stricter child labor laws. She adopts a critical tone in order to unify her audience against unethical labor practices, and encourages those who can vote to be a voice for women and children. Kelley employs emotive imagery to highlight the injustices of child labor, repetition of phrases to suggest the nation’s negligence to the reality of child labor, and rhetorical …show more content…

In the third paragraph, Kelly describes how on a given night “several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills, all the night through, in the deafening noise of the spindles and the looms.” This auditory imagery is intended to portray the painfully loud noises created by the machinery that young children are forced to work among. Additionally, Kelley depicts “a girl of six or seven years, just tall enough to reach the bobbins,” who may spend the whole night working in a factory. This image emphasizes how incredibly young and small many working girls are, making child labor unsafe and unethical. Florence Kelley’s use of such emotive imagery moves the audience to pity working …show more content…

Firstly, Florence Kelley asks, “if the mothers and the teachers in Georgia could vote, would the Georgia Legislature have refused at every session for the last three years to stop the work in the mills of children under twelve years of age?” In this rhetorical question, the speaker acknowledges that women cannot yet vote, so she is placing the repsonsibility to end child labor on those with the power of the ballot. Similarly, in the second-to-last paragraph, Kelley poses a question that asks “what can we do to free our consciences?” in reference to the guilt that the audience feels as bystanders of child labor. She then suggests the solution of “enlist[ing] the workingmen voters,” to work towards stricter child labor laws, placing this responsibility in the hands of the audience. Kelley’s utilization of rhetorical questions calls the audience to contemplate their duty in the protection of working

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In her speech to the National American Woman Suffrage Association, Florence Kelly descriptively vocalizes about chid labor. She talks about the horrible conditions young children face in the states. Kelly uses repetition to put emphasis on little girls working in textile mills, “while we sleep” is repeated 3 times this makes the audience feel guilty for enjoying life while little girls are working. Kelly also uses pathos, appealing to the emotion of her

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On July 22nd, 1905, Florence Kelley, a United States social worker and reformer who fought successfully for child labor laws and improved conditions for working women, delivered a speech on child labor before the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia. The purpose of her speech was to convince her audience that the only way to stop child labor was by allowing women the right to vote. Florence Kelley uses certain rhetorical strategies, such as pathos, diction, and an extensive use of figurative language, to appeal to her audience and accomplish her goal. Kelley’s speech is composed of a substantial amount of emotional appeals to aid her in connecting with her intended audience. In paragraph four she says, “Tonight while we sleep, several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills, all the night through, in the deafening noise of the spindles and the looms spinning and weaving cotton and wool, silks and ribbons for us to buy.”

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Children from as young as the age of 6 began working in factories, the beginning of their exploitation, to meet demands of items and financial need for families. In Florence Kelley’s speech before the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia 1905, Kelley addresses the overwhelming problem of child labor in the United States. The imagery, appeal to logic, and the diction Kelley uses in her speech emphasizes the exploitation of children in the child labor crisis in twentieth century America. Kelley’s use of imagery assists her audience in visualizing the inhumanity of the practice.

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July 22nd, 1905 Florence Kelly delivered a speech about the unfairness of child labor at a National American Women Suffrage Association conference. Throughout this speech Kelly uses rhetorical strategies such as repetition, sarcasm, and an appeal to the audiences emotions to express the issue of child labor in America. Kelley uses repetition in this piece to emphasize the importance of her argument about child labor. In paragraph two, talking about the rapid increase in the amount of fourteen to twenty year old women who are working, she says, “ Men increase, women increase, youth increase, boys increase.”

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Kelley continues to explain the increases in child labor, as well as the children now taking up the role as breadwinners. As the speech progresses, she also addresses different scenarios that appeal to the audience’s sentiments such as,” Tonight we sleep, several thousand little girls will be working in the textile

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The audience is angry and Florence uses the anger to her advantage as she says " If the mothers and the teachers in Georgia could vote, would the Georgia Legislature have refused at every session for the last three years to stop the work in the mills of children under twelve years of age" (Kelley paragraph 8). Once again she uses logic to highlight that Child Labor could have been restricted, but in this text she is moreso empowering the women. Even though she says this before evoking anger, the anger is already there and therefore the audience thinks back to her claim here. Florence Kelley is specific about the structure of her speech and knows when she has established

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Child Labor Analysis Child Labor was one of Florence Kelley’s main topics at a speech she gave in Philadelphia during a convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Kelley talks about all the horrors children were going through and the injustices they were suffering. She talks of the conditions children working in, the hours they were going in, and all in all, how wrong child labor was. Her purpose for this was to gain support of people to petition for the end of child labor. Kelley’s appeals to Ethos, Pathos and Logos through the use of great rhetoric is what allows her to achieve her purpose.

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Ms. Kelley uses rhetorical questions to inspire deep thought in her listeners. She does this by speaking and saying questions such as “Wait, what can we do to free our consciences?” which is then followed by: “There is one line of action which I can do much.” This sets, in the listeners, a pride in voting for change otherwise not there. Think of the literary acronym SPACECAT, especially the C in CAT.

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In her speech at the National Women's Suffrage Association in 1905, Florence Kelley, a woman and labor rights activist, expresses her concern for the harsh labor conditions imposed upon children. Kelley’s concern has been expressed in many different ways within her speech, using strong emotional appeals to connect with her audience. Kelley adopts a disapproving disapproving tone to admonish the states that have relinquished labor laws used to protect children. In order to emphasize her distress for children working in harsh labor conditions and to call upon her audience to take action to nullify these harsh child labor laws, Kelley employs clear imagery to demonstrate , agonizing diction, and classifying personification.

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The small village is inhabited by the mill workers, most of whom are men. In her description of the workers, the author refers to them as masses of men who work have bended to the ground, their bodies begrimed by the smoke and ashes of the mills, their lives imprisoned by the circumstances they find

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In America’s history, child labor was fiercely criticized. Many activists of child labor laws and women’s suffrage strived to introduce their own viewpoints to the country. Florence Kelley was a reformer who successfully changed the mindset of many Americans through her powerful and persuading arguments. Florence Kelley’s carefully crafted rhetoric strategies such as pathos, repetition, and sarcasm generates an effective and thought provoking tone that was in favor of women’s suffrage and child labor laws. Florence Kelley uses pathos continuously throughout her speech.

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