Logos refers to the authors appeal to persuade by reason. In "Ain't I a Woman," Sojourner Truth has several arguments as to why women deserve equal treatment to men. She affirms that "[she] could work as much and eat as much as any man." She compares herself to men. Her argument is that they are the same and should be treated as such. By comparing herself and what she is capable of to men, she shows the audience that their are no huge differences between the two. Women are capable of all things men are. Another element of reason is her use of the Bible. She destroys the argument of men being more powerful because Christ is a man. "Where did your Christ come from then?" She uses several rhetorical questions to show how invalid the argument is. She alludes to the bible. I believe this is because religion was a big part of life back then, and she is using the church's word against them. She points out the hypocrisy of the men and demands that they let the women come in and make a change.
The logos of the piece adds validity to the argument instead of just pure emotion and anger. She makes specific comparisons comparing men and women that makes the audience think about why there is inequality to begin with and showing the reasoning behind the demand for inequality and by invoking religion and such, she adds the backing of the support of the church which greatly helps her argument
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you here. I think that Truth uses her own body to represent how women and men are not inherently different--and I love the way she articulates her own truth, which is quite different from other suffrage seekers.
ReplyDeleteI like seeing the same parts of the bible being used to argue both sides of the argument. There's not much you can say when your own reference is turned against you. Considering how important religion was to people back then, that must have been a real hot point in her text.
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