In her editorial, “Why Establish This Paper,” Mary Ann Shadd Cary uses syntactical strategies and deliberate choices in structure (parallelism and rhetorical questions) to prove the necessity and legitimacy of her newspaper, Provincial Freeman.
Cary uses interrupted syntax to qualify her statements in order to highlight the reasons why her newspaper is necessary. The first reason she gives is written in this manner, “We need an organ, too, for making our voice heard at home.” (Cary 1). The interrupted “too” is implemented into the sentence in order to declare that in the United States and Canada, there are already numerous pieces of anti-abolitionist rhetoric, meaning a pro abolitionist message is necessary to have all views expressed. This …show more content…
Early on, Cary makes a point to clarify the inclusion of African Americans in the society of the United States, “As the country grows, we grow with it; as it improves and progresses, we are carried forward on the bosom of its onward tide.” (Cary 1) by associating parallelism between the nation and African Americans themselves. By phrasing the description of the two items’ progress with the same diction, Cary is associating the two together in an effort to profess the importance of African American influence, such as her newspaper, onto America. She proves this same point, once again with parallelism, saying, “we must allow our fellow subjects to know who we are and what we want through our own authorized mouth-piece. Hence we must have a mouth-piece.” (Cary 1). Cary also uses rhetorical questions at the end of two of her paragraphs to put the onus of disagreement or concession on the audience of whites who would oppose her. The first, simply after listing her first reason for wanting the newspaper, reads, “Is not that plain?” (Cary 1) inciting the ignorance and childishness of the audience to question her abilities and motivations. The second ends the piece, a cumulative, “Do you agree with us?” (Cary 1) which gives the audience the responsibility to respond. However, since Cary has already factually proven the necessity for the newspaper, a response of “no” from the audience would only constitute nonsensical racism. This is the introspective conclusion that Cary wants for her audience to reach when considering her use of parallelism and rhetorical
Cary uses interrupted syntax to qualify her statements in order to highlight the reasons why her newspaper is necessary. The first reason she gives is written in this manner, “We need an organ, too, for making our voice heard at home.” (Cary 1). The interrupted “too” is implemented into the sentence in order to declare that in the United States and Canada, there are already numerous pieces of anti-abolitionist rhetoric, meaning a pro abolitionist message is necessary to have all views expressed. This …show more content…
Early on, Cary makes a point to clarify the inclusion of African Americans in the society of the United States, “As the country grows, we grow with it; as it improves and progresses, we are carried forward on the bosom of its onward tide.” (Cary 1) by associating parallelism between the nation and African Americans themselves. By phrasing the description of the two items’ progress with the same diction, Cary is associating the two together in an effort to profess the importance of African American influence, such as her newspaper, onto America. She proves this same point, once again with parallelism, saying, “we must allow our fellow subjects to know who we are and what we want through our own authorized mouth-piece. Hence we must have a mouth-piece.” (Cary 1). Cary also uses rhetorical questions at the end of two of her paragraphs to put the onus of disagreement or concession on the audience of whites who would oppose her. The first, simply after listing her first reason for wanting the newspaper, reads, “Is not that plain?” (Cary 1) inciting the ignorance and childishness of the audience to question her abilities and motivations. The second ends the piece, a cumulative, “Do you agree with us?” (Cary 1) which gives the audience the responsibility to respond. However, since Cary has already factually proven the necessity for the newspaper, a response of “no” from the audience would only constitute nonsensical racism. This is the introspective conclusion that Cary wants for her audience to reach when considering her use of parallelism and rhetorical