Sojourner Truth's 'Ain T I A Woman?'

Influential abolitionist and women’s rights activist, Sojourner Truth, speaks passionately about women’s rights at the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio in 1851 in her speech later titled “Ain’t I a Woman?”. She implements anaphora, rhetorical questions, and religious appeals to pathos and logos to argue that not only should women be treated equal to men, but women of color should be treated equal to white women as well. She was driven to give this speech, because at this particular convention, there were men in attendance (including ministers) that verbally harassed the speakers. Truth speaks with a frustrated tone to both supportive people and insolent men at the convention. Truth defines her purpose that women of color should be equal to each other and to men, in the second paragraph with anaphora. She points out with obvious dissatisfaction that an audience member said that women need assistance in everyday life, but “nobody ever helps [her] into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives [her] any best place”, which emphasizes the fact that not all women in American society are being treated the same, especially women of color. She accentuates this idea with more anaphora, questioning the audience with “And ain’t I a woman?” several times. This phrase, which came to be the title of the speech, is also a rhetorical question. In her demand for an answer, Truth is actually looking for her audience to contemplate her situation, being a paragon of …show more content…
She effectively gets her point across to everyone at the Women’s Convention, supporters and tormentors alike. This speech was a significant part of the movement to reaching equality for women and people of color in the United