Rhetorical Analysis Of A Latina Judge's Voice

Sydney Groves

What rhetorical choices do Judge Sotomayor use to convey her message regarding her identity?

In her 2009 speech “A Latina Judge’s Voice,” the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor accentuates how her personal experiences as a Puerto Rican daughter living in a diverse nation cultivated her own identity. Sotomayor argues that different cultural identities should not be categorized unambiguously when referring to recent disputes between adopting a culturally homogenous or heterogeneous society. Through a diverse utilization of creative diction, vivid narratives, and directly addressing the audience, she establishes a candid tone to influence the perspective of those in the federal judiciary.
Judge Sotomayor begins her speech by supporting

She articulates the concept of one’s cultural identity as comprising more than one culture in a single crossbred word. While directly addressing her audience, Sotomayor also creates a profound emotional connection between herself and her audience. She differentiates some of the unique tastes she has acquired throughout her life, before speculating, “I bet the Mexican Americans in this room are thinking that Puerto Ricans have unusual food tastes.” Sotomayor calls upon members of the audience directly in hopes of making her message about existing outside of either a culturally homogenous or heterogeneous society more relevant and insightful to listeners. After pointing out that Puerto Ricans have unusual food tastes, she then emphasizes that “Some of us, like me, do” to use her food palette as the subject to show that just because she is Latina and like those foods, does not mean that all Latinas like these foods, too. In saying this, Sotomayor continues to enforce her point that cultural identities are stratified

She begins this portion of her speech by asking “does any one of these things make me a Latina?” with reference to her previous narratives. She goes on to describe that the answer is no because each community “has their own unique food and different traditions.” By directly asking the audience a rhetorical question, Sonia Sotomayor furthers her point and explains how a single experience or memory cannot classify an entire identity, because every culture is different. Sonia Sotomayor then reflects on the fact that if she had pursued her undergraduate degree and was asked what being a Latina means, she would “define Latinos as those peoples and cultures populated or colonized by Spain.” By narrating how a different version of herself would answer the proposed question differently, Judge Sotomayor continues to enforce that cultural identity is more complex than a textbook definition. Simultaneously, she demonstrates that those who try to classify the concept of cultural identity into one, clear definition simply have a lack of understanding of the abstract qualities of cultural identities. She then goes on to bluntly tell her audience that her previous definition is “not an adequate explanation,” reestablishing a candid tone to be truthful and straightforward. By being clear and assertive, she contributes to her goal of discouraging the