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Rhetorical Analysis Of Mary Fisher's Speech 'A Whisper Of Aids'

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American political activist, author, and artist, Mary fisher, in her speech “A Whisper of AIDs,” presents the growing national epidemic known as HIV and AIDs, from a personal and national point of urgency, condemning the silence surrounding these viruses and calling all peoples to action in the fight against HIV and AIDs. Fisher first comes to her audience through emotion, establishing ethos from the moment she began speaking, connecting herself to the HIV community by stating that she is HIV positive, and like many of those listening to her that tonight she did not choose to be apart of the millions of infected. She presents evidence and logic against the idea that HIV and AIDs present bias against any one group of people by quoting the …show more content…

Her message helped to empower a seemingly torn apart community and draw together volunteers to fight the rising HIV and AIDs epidemic. Mrs. Fishers speech still lives on today, conveying a still equally important message, just as she still lives so does HIV and AIDs, without her help they may have never found medicine that combats HIV and AIDs providing the infected with longer more fulfilling lives. Fishers use of repetition and emotion powered this speech, her emphasis on the importance of the fight against the viruses made her speech strong and memorable, which is why it lives today. I do believe that Fisher could not have included some of the message to her family, and the draw of attention to herself, after saying that she was not there for applause but rather to help the HIV and AIDs communities it felt a bit hypocritical; it does provide a nice connection to emotion for the listeners but also is contradictory to her beginning statements. A Whisper of AIDs helped to bring a nation together against a sickness that was killing much of the nation and I applaud Mary Fisher for her efforts in the

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