The speeches reviewed, Elie Wiesel’s “The Peril of Indifference” and Susan B. Anthony’s “On Women’s Right to Vote”, while having major differences in content and minor differences in layout, have a lot in common, both from the overall structure of the speech and also some of the mechanisms by which they make their arguments.
Both speeches are structured similarly, each containing an opening in which the speaker outlines the reason for their speech, the body in which they make their argument and a conclusion where they hope their plight has been overcome. In the opening is a paragraph in which both Susan B. Anthony and Elie Wiesel address their audience as “friends” and both begin by saying “I stand before you”12.
The major similarity in the manner they make their argument is that they both adopt a humanistic approach. Susan B Anthony equates denying women the right to vote and participate in democracy as being the same as saying they are not persons2, while Elie Wiesel argues that indifference denies victims their humanity and betrays the humanity of the indifferent1. Both speakers make the case that the subject of their speech denies one of the basic tenets of humanism, that of respect. It is disrespectful to treat a class of citizens as anything less than equals and it is …show more content…
“On Women’s Right to Vote” has one opening and one closing paragraph with four between the two making her argument. In contrast, “The Peril of Indifference” is much longer in every aspect of the speech. Elie Wiesel takes two paragraphs to open the speech and nearly six in closing. In between he spreads the subject of his speech over 14 paragraphs. His opening and closing paragraph tie nicely together with an image of a young boy, now an older man and uses this to express his hope and fear of the new
Both speeches are structured similarly, each containing an opening in which the speaker outlines the reason for their speech, the body in which they make their argument and a conclusion where they hope their plight has been overcome. In the opening is a paragraph in which both Susan B. Anthony and Elie Wiesel address their audience as “friends” and both begin by saying “I stand before you”12.
The major similarity in the manner they make their argument is that they both adopt a humanistic approach. Susan B Anthony equates denying women the right to vote and participate in democracy as being the same as saying they are not persons2, while Elie Wiesel argues that indifference denies victims their humanity and betrays the humanity of the indifferent1. Both speakers make the case that the subject of their speech denies one of the basic tenets of humanism, that of respect. It is disrespectful to treat a class of citizens as anything less than equals and it is …show more content…
“On Women’s Right to Vote” has one opening and one closing paragraph with four between the two making her argument. In contrast, “The Peril of Indifference” is much longer in every aspect of the speech. Elie Wiesel takes two paragraphs to open the speech and nearly six in closing. In between he spreads the subject of his speech over 14 paragraphs. His opening and closing paragraph tie nicely together with an image of a young boy, now an older man and uses this to express his hope and fear of the new