Rhetorical Analysis Of Gloria Steinem's Living The Revolution

Whether it’s during the time of World War II or before Election Day, people have always found ways to persuade others their arguments. During World War II, Hitler was able to convince a large majority in Germany to join in his campaign. In America, candidates often have debates or commercials in order to persuade the citizens that they’re the best fit for the job so they can vote for them. Even in everyday activities, while you're reading the paper, or discussing in school, you’re using a strategy called a rhetorical situation in order to persuade people the argument you're trying to make or your viewpoint. A rhetorical situation is a set of conditions that need to be met in order to convince or modify your audience’s mindset. It is used to persuade a crowd. One of the many people who uses rhetoric to get their point across is Gloria Steinem, in her speech, Living the Revolution. She was requested to speak to the 1970 graduating class of Vassar College on May 31st, and while the speech was supposed to focus on the student’s …show more content…
There is always a primary audience, but there can also be a secondary audience that the speaker considers when making the speech/writing. In the case of Gloria Steinem, her audience would be the 1970 graduating class of Vassar College, which was an all-girls school prior to the year that Steinem made her speech. They were her primary audience, while her secondary audience would be the family, friends, and teachers attending the event. She makes reference to the primary and secondary when she states, “The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to un-learn. We are filled with the Popular Wisdom of several centuries just past, and we are terrified to give it up”(431). She is not only speaking to the graduating class at this moment, but to everyone listening to the speech at that