A Rhetorical Analysis Of Sonia Sotomayor's Speech

Improved Essays
U.S Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, a former professor at NYU School of law was honored to receive the Doctors of Law degree, and there she delivered the NYU’s 180th Commencement to all the graduates and faculty at the Yankee Stadium on May 16, 2012. In this Commencement Sotomayor was greatly welcomed by the Trustee Maria Bartiromo, Kenji Yoshino, and the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professional of Law highly introduced Sotomayor to the enthusiastic crowd as “a self-described Nuyorican” and an “early and awesome achiever.”
Since the beginning of Sotomayor’s speech, it is obvious that the most effective appeal for her speech was pathos. She catches her audience by expressing herself as a diehard Bronx fan when she said, “ suspect that having

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Even though I want assigned this speech, I do happen to fin its message compelling. I think this speech of hers was spectercular due to many reasons some been the messages hidden behind her words, use of rethorical devices such as logos pathos and more. Looking at this selection from the speech (look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered in to barns, and no man could heard me! aint I a woman.…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Informational Essay Ruth Bader Ginsburg or aka R.B.G. is notorious for her great accomplishments. You probably don’t know what she did or the achievements she have made. Ruth Ginsburg has made notable feats in gender equality, that are no small deeds, especially when you’re a mother in college, facing a sexist society, while still managing to insert females into a unfamiliar field. Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg grew up in a low-income family in Brooklyn, New York.…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In the memoir, My Beloved World, By Sonia Sotomayor, she speaks about the ongoing hardships of growing up in a world that seems to only push you down. Sonia rose above it all, she had the strength to continue on. She speaks of the several hardships she faced throughout her life such as a poor home life, chronic illnesses, anxiety and stress, and just the disadvantages of growing up as a person on Latina descent. In the starting pages of the novel, you get a glimpse into her chaotic world.…

    • 1674 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As stated by Silva Rhetoricae, +“Rhetoric is the study of effective speaking and writing (discourse), and the art of persuasion and many other things”. There are many types of rhetorical devices such as: pathos, logos, ethos, hyperbole, simile, repetition, and et cetera. Rhetoric is used to persuade, to motivate, and to call things to action. The Address to Congress on Women’s Suffrage (text one) uses several rhetorical devices compared to “Chapter 14” from The Jungle (text two). The passage, What is Rhetoric?…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “We are confronted primarily with a moral issue… old as the scripture and as clear as the American Constitution”(Civil Rights Address, 5). In the “Speech at the March on Washington” Josephine Baker creates a much more effective speech than “Civil Rights Address” by John F. Kennedy for the reason of the reason of using personal anecdote, and appealing to ethos to persuade the audience to speak out. Baker was chosen to speak at the March on Washington because her experience of freedom in France and the racism in the U.S. On the other hand, Kennedy had to address an incident that recently happened in that time period. Baker talks about her experience meaning she appeals to ethos, and personal anecdote, but Kennedy appeals to ethos only and both appeals to call to action.…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    William Jefferson Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Through the speech, Clinton desires to relate his presidency to the American dream and values such as, freedom, prosperity, security, and a perfect union. Clinton achieves this using logos to highlight the positive parts of his presidency with diction words such as; stronger, freer, cleaner, more prosperous, safer, ect. These words communicates a disdain for the previous administration before his, it also triggers a subconscious comparison and contrast in the audience's mind of his administration’s achievements. Although there was no mention of all the problems that riddled his regime, such as Lewinski matter, where…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    19th Century advocate for the cause of women’s suffrage, Susan B. Anthony, delivered a speech in 1873 following her conviction for the crime of voting. Anthony’s purpose is to argue that the treatment of women during the 19th Century was unjust and unconstitutional. She adopts a respectful and candid tone in order to address the sexism and prejudicial views of society. Anthony uses rhetorical devices in her speech in order to appeal to her audience’s sense of unity and human compassion.…

    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Carrie Chapman Catt, in her Address to Congress on Women’s Suffrage, effectively claims that a woman’s right to vote is not only necessary, but also inevitable. Her goal is to convince United States Senators and House of Representatives of the idea that women are not inferior to men. Her approach is planned in its attempt to persuade the minds of not only men, but also women to think differently. The speech itself was based on logic and reasoning, therefore making it impossible for her opposition to challenge. Catt urges Americans to support women’s rights by effectively utilizing logic to establish a sense of trust and unity within her audience.…

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stomayor Speech Analysis

    • 1019 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Sonia Sotomayor, a judge, in her speech Opening Statement to The Senate Judiciary Committee, describes her past and her accomplishments such as all of her experience being a judge and her nomination into the supreme court by president Obama. She writes about her experiences and shares her accomplishments so that her audience sees why she is a good candidate to be in the supreme court. Sotomayor’s purpose is to persuade and seek the support of the judges and America for her election into the supreme court. She supports her purpose with rhetorical appeals such as ethos and pathos. Sotomayor uses an optimistic tone and rhetorical appeals in order to convey her audience to vote for her to be in the Supreme court.…

    • 1019 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ruth Bader Ginsburg is able to convey a warm tone throughout this essay. Her rhetoric and structure of the essay helps establish that tone. She choses to have an interview style structure in some of her paragraphs, which can almost make it feel like someone is having a conversation with her. She continues to create a personal attachment with the reader by sharing details about her personal life, consequently, this creates a more personal and engaging tone. It is important for her to have that quality in this essay because her points will resonate with the readers.…

    • 324 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Democratic National Committee invited Barack Obama to give the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention. This news came as a surprise as Obama had not yet gained national attention, and was not an obvious choice when compared to other candidates. After his inspiring speech however, Obama became well known throughout America which was good news for John Kerry, as Obama’s speech was intended to persuade voters to support Kerry as president. Obama uses rhetorical devices such as climax in structure, epistrophe, and metonymy to persuade skeptical voters to vote for John Kerry as their next president. Obama makes his speech more convincing by using climax to split his speech into multiple sections; the first section is used…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Despite the natural rights and humane principles presented in our nation, we are not all treated equally. Our modern world struggles with social and racial discrimination, despite lawful efforts to prevent such attrocities. This has impacted our society through unspeakable means, and has molded many of our beliefs and ideals regarding the freedom and equality of those around us and how they strive to rightfully earn and represent these privleges. These thoughts were much different in 1832, however, and are demonstrated through Maria W. Stewart's lecture. Through careful utilization of the three rhetorical strategies, Stewart enables herself to appeal to logic, emotion, and ethics to persuade her audience of her personal (although biased)…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nakyla Dessalines CENG 311-01 Prof. Clark Obama Speech Michelle Obama Democratic Conventional Speech First lady of the United States, Michelle Obama set the tone for the Democratic Convention with her inspirational speech. There she gave a strong and persuasive speech promoting Hillary Clinton to becoming the next president of the United States. Her emotional speech allowed the public to connect to her. Throughout her speech she uplifted the crowd. Michelle Obama’s speech showed her support, and belief in Hillary Clinton as America’s next president.…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Oprah Winfrey is a well known figure from popular culture. Recently, at the Golden Globes, she was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement. In her acceptance speech, Winfrey spent very little time describing her story. Instead, she focused on the developing “#metoo” movement. She uses multiple rhetorical techniques to develop her speech into one that would be discussed in classrooms and media throughout the country weeks later.…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Prior to English 101, I have been taking several English classes, but each class helped me little by little to an English 101 student. Learning to have efficient studying habits such as study the day of the class and not doing things last minute. Also learning how to actually study other subjects and how to think critically. This has increased my learning habits. My student habits have changed dramatically,…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays