Rhetorical Analysis On Florence Kelley

In her 1905 speech to Philadelphia convention of the National American Women's Suffrage Movement, Florence Kelley successfully conveys the much needed reforms and changes to the child labor force, and offers a solution by letting women vote. Highlighting the horrendous conditions these child workers undergo, repeating her key concepts, she appeals to the maternal side of these women. Kelley captivates her audience with a highly effective argument against the conditions child workers undergo, building up empathy before creating a rallying cry and attesting that, in order to solve this, women should be able to take to the ballots. Right out of the gate, Florence Kelley manages to use forceful, emotional appeals to pull her audience in. At the

Towards the end of her speech, she beings to describe all the things these children make, how they spin and weave to“stamp buckles and metal ornaments”, spin and weave to “make our shoes”, spin and weave “knit our stockings”. They slave away as “little beasts of burden” inside these factories and mills, all to produce goods. Kelley tactfully includes things that the women in the audience would be wearing, or perhaps planning to buy later, to draw them in, making the horrendous conditions seem that much worse. Her strong choice of diction and examples throughout the speech help her create this harsh, driving call to action. Her use of the oxymoron “pitiful privilege” is another excellent example of this, showing her successful use at juxtaposing the ridiculousness of these laws; the government says its a privilege, while in reality it is far from

Yes, she truly wishes to see these awful conditions changed, wants to see reform in the nation, but that’s not her entire goal. Instead, she begins to conclude her speech by offering a solution to these problems; allow women to vote. Becoming more intense with her tone and diction, Kelley begins to provoke thought in her audience, asking them that “if the mothers and teachers” in all of these states could vote, would these harsh laws exist? If women could take to the ballot, would children have to slave away inside of factories all night while their mothers lay safe in bed? She tells her audience that until women can vote, none of them can be free of conscious from what is happening, that nothing will ultimately change. After using such strong diction, repetition, and metaphors to create an emotional bond with her audience and a pull to take action, Florence Kelley hits them with a solution that none of them would want to ignore. Her timing and strategic use of words is what allows her to pull this off, seamlessly shifting the spotlight from child labor reform to women's