Rhetorical Analysis Of Congresswoman's Clare Boothe Luce

In the middle of the 20th century, women were at a cultural crossroads in American society. Work or not to work? Ration or consumption - a ration? These very concerns were a hot debate across the nation at the time, as women of this period were expected of nothing more than keeping the house and raising children, but the goliath that was World War II opened up opportunities in manufacturing and other non-traditional jobs for women because of the fact that there was no men to fill these vacancies. Many women upon hearing Congresswoman’s Clare Boothe Luce’s speech in September of 1942 directed to the women’s banking committee were motivated to fill these spots that men normally would’ve worked at. But what specifically about the Congresswoman’s

Luce introduces within the myriad of these rhetorical techniques, a few that stand out in particular: her changing but consistent usage of tone, euphemisms, alongside anaphora. Firstly, one of Luce’s rhetorical strategies is the way her tone fluctuates throughout the speech. Towards the beginning of the address, Luce happily proclaims, “So far in this war we are still the luckiest women in the whole world.” She first draws in the listener through this hopeful explanation of where American women stand in the midst of the war, then elaborating, “We still have lipsticks, and even some silk stockings.” This helps Luce hook the audience in by reminding them of these privileges they are able to enjoy even in the midst of a total war. Later on in the speech, Luce begins to adjust her way of speaking and the words she includes, opting for a rather sullen yet motivational tone. She then admits, “The women of the next few years--and please believe that my use of the plural ‘years’ while pessimistic, is honest.” She’s illustrating how it’s widely believed that this war will last a significant amount of time, and there’s no certain

Next, another rhetorical device heard that Luce consistently conveys throughout the address are euphemisms, and specifically how she applies them in order to illustrate her concerns regarding the hardships of the time. Throughout the entirety of the speech, Luce remarks how, “Our president has called this the ‘toughest war in history’” or, “We must fight a hard war.” These specific word choices of “tough” or, “hard” are trying to reduce the impact in people's minds of how war really is, it's more than tough or hard, it’s deadly and gruesome, especially with how World War II was the deadliest in history. Later in the address, Luce boldly states, “...dreams of comfort are insidious saboteurs of our war effort.” The specific feature of the phrase, “insidious saboteurs” is her trying to describe in the best possible way how, if we don’t rationalize and work as hard as possible, we will lose this war and our country. Finally, another rhetorical strategy Luce employs in the essay is anaphora, which she works with to support her overall argument of how women need to view themselves and their roles in the