I selected a "Whisper of AIDS" by Mary Fisher. Mary Fisher is an artist, author, and political activist. She travels the world speaking on HIV in hopes to create awareness. I selected this speech because Mary Fisher used a public forum to put a new face on a growing epidemic. At the time she delivered her speech AIDS was thought to be a disease that only affected gays, drug addicts, and minorities. The speech was a call to action, she was a white mother that contracted the disease in marriage. She appealed to people's inaccurate assumption that this disease only happened to people unlike themselves. The speech was given at the 1992 National Republican Convention.
I need assistance developing a rhetorical analysis of this speech.
Each section of her speech is a rhetorical appeal. She also uses metaphor and repetition to make her points.
Keep in mind that rhetoric is the "art of persuasion" and consistently point to those places where Fisher uses a //Rhetorical device//.
Good luck with your analysis. Follow these guidelines and you should be able to discuss the speech using rhetorical analysis.
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. In order to understand how we are being manipulated by language, there are a few devices with which we can become acquainted. This is a powerful speech that relies on some specific strategies.
Here are some examples. Use phrases like Fisher uses metaphors like the "Shroud of silence" to illustrate the dire need to concern ourselves with the AIDS virus.
//As you read the essay, look for phrases or words that illustrate and then discuss how these illustration help make her point by allowing us to visualize what might otherwise be an abstraction.//
"Shroud of silence..."
I want your attention, not your applause.
Two hundred thousand Americans are dead or dying
It does not care whether you are Democrat or Republican. It does not ask whether you are black or white, male or female, gay or straight, young or old.
Pathos (Emotional) ...
An explanation that will help you understand rhetorical analysis in an essay or speech used to persuade or manipulate an intended audience. 850 words, and web references.