The Legacy Of Eleanor Roosevelt Rhetorical Analysis

In her essay, The Legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt, author Betty Houchin Winfield argues that because of her journalistic career and the precedent she had on the role of the first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most influential women in American history. Winfield, unlike many other authors who write on the topic, does not spend an extensive amount of time focusing on Eleanor’s works in organizations and charities. However, Winfield chooses to support her argument by supplying ample information concerning the precedent Eleanor left not only on the role of the first lady, but also on the role of the American woman. Although only briefly mentioning her active involvement in several organizations, The Legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt is effective in demonstrating how by

Winfield pays close mind to the vocabulary she uses and how readers are likely to perceive it. This conscious decision benefits and strengthens both the quality of the essay and her argument alike. Although Winfield does present several strong pieces of information to support her argument, she misses an opportunity to validate her position to an even greater extent. In order for the essay to reach it’s full effective and useful potential, information of Eleanor’s strenuous efforts in various organizations should have been included. By including Eleanor’s volunteer work as part of her argument, readers could have better understood how far the scope of Eleanor’s legacy reached. Winfield chose to focus her essay on the more career-driven and public side of Eleanor, and although that is important to the development of Eleanor, one cannot ignore how large of a role charity and helping others played in Eleanor’s