Rhetorical Analysis On Florence Kelley

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. By choosing to include such a strong sense of pathos, she was able to promote an effective argument that was appropriate for her intended audience; the National American Woman Suffrage Association. The use of pathos, as seen in lines 18-19, “Tonight while we sleep, several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills, all the night through” constructs a sense of guilt, she

The use of sarcasm adds variety to Kelley’s speech, this in turn kept the audience interested in the viewpoint brought forth through her argument. Florence Kelley makes use of oxymorons to show sarcasm, as distinguished in lines 44-45, “the pitiful privilege of working all night long”. During the 1900’s many believed that it was beneficial and necessary for children to work in hazardous conditions in order to supply an income for their families. By using this oxymoron, Kelley was able to show her audience that this “privilege” and righteous action was in fact distressing. Florence Kelley’s use of sarcasm was valuable in developing her viewpoint. Her use of sarcasm and oxymorons challenge the audience’s sense of what is possible, which causes them to more deeply ponder the situation at hand. Florence Kelley wrote her speech with the intention of attacking the dangers of the country’s policies and in the hope of making a difference in the country’s