Rhetorical Analysis Of You Can Not Live On Hope Alone By Harvey Milk

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In the early 1970s, Harvey Milk decided to campaign for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. In 1977, Milk was finally elected, and became the first openly gay man to hold office in U.S. history. During his campaign he wanted his supporters to know that he supports, and would not undermine the less privileged. In doing so, he became an advocate for racial minorities, differently abled, and elderly Americans. The famous speech “You Can Not Live on Hope Alone” was presented to his audience twice. The first time he gave the speech, it wasn’t as influential or appealing to his supporters— it was not until he rallied at a parade supporting gay pride, in which people began to support his opinions. The second time he presented the speech, it was …show more content…
He allows an open-heart theme of aspiration for his compassionate views. Described by Denby in “Milk”, he noticed that “throughout his speeches he is a very caring, compassionate, and hopeful speaker” (Denby, 2008, p.1). Logos and Pathos had a huge aspect through his tone and diction of his speech because this appeal towards the audience made it apparent what his purpose was and used his experiences in inspiring hope. He does this by asking questions such as “Why are we here?”, Why are gay people here?”…. The questions force an opinion and forces you put yourself into homosexual’s shoes (Black, Milk, Morris, 2013, p. 221). By referring to his experiences and how he helped changed young children’s lives, one said “thanks”, and this would have had a huge impact on the audience, and most likely touched many hearts, as people tend to open up when children are involved. He also uses logos by saying the following phrases in his speech, “and you’ve got to”, “hope for a better”, “stay and fight” this makes people feel obliged in a positive way to do something about the issue. (Black, Milk, Morris, 2013, p. …show more content…
There is a drawback from some homosexuals when it comes to publicizing their political agenda. Expressed by Hilderbrand, in “A Suitcase Full of Vaseline”, “Gay-rights movement, organized efforts to end the criminalization of homosexuality and protect the civil rights of homosexuals. While there was some organized activity on behalf of the rights of homosexuals from the mid-19th through the first half of the 20th cent., the modern gay-rights movement in the United States” (Hilderbrand, 2013, p. 374) Many couldn’t fully speak out for fear of coming out to their family or workplace. Milk understands this, but he strongly urges the gay community to raise their voices. Milk encourages them to elect gay leaders, stand strong in their beliefs, and most importantly to have hope. Hope is the key word in this entire speech. “I know that you can't live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living” is a powerful line to remember. (Black, Milk, Morris, 2013, p.227). It is an example of his plea to the gay community to remain hopeful. There is no question in the success of Harvey Milk’s Hope speech. He persuades the audience to rise past their fear and take a stand for gay-activism. He tells them to elect gay officials, to personally come out themselves, and to above all, have hope. For without hope, he says there is no point to life. Milk respectfully acknowledge the uncanny decisions of anti-gay activists

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