Analysis Of Mary Fisher's Speech

For effective rhetoric to take shape, the rhetoric must create a situation through which they are able to persuade. According to Vatz, "No situation can have a nature...independent of rhetoric" (154). If rhetoric were not present, then there would be no situations. The situations created by

In The Rhetorical Situation, Lloyd F. Bitzer argues that what makes a situation rhetorical is similar to that which constitutes a moral action as he writes that, “an act is moral because it is an act performed in a situation of a certain kind; similarly, a work is rhetorical because it is a response to a situation of a certain kind”.(3) By defining the rhetorical situation in this way, Bitzer further contends that rhetoric is a means to altering reality. (4) It is through the use of discourse that one is capable of changing reality through thought and action. (4) Bitzer then elaborates upon the nature of a rhetorical situation by explaining that rhetorical discourse enters a situation when: providing a response to its state of affairs;

Zarefsky broke this long definition apart and repackaged it into a function statement that a rhetorical situation is a situation in which people’s understanding can be changed through messages (Zarefsky 9), and four components, namely the audience, the occasion, the speaker and the

Mary Fisher and Elizabeth Glaser, at their respective political conventions, take a stand to speak to the American public in an attempt to bring AIDS into the light. Throughout their speeches, Fisher and Glaser convey their thoughts on how the government should appropriately handle this disease. Glaser begins her speech by giving us background information about how she contracted AIDS. After telling her tragic story she recounts the many times she tried to get help for AIDS research by going to the government. Three times in total Glaser “shouted” for help, but still “nothing happened”, and it was only after the third time she realized they didn’t hear because “they don’t want to listen”.

The rhetorical situation refers to “a situation in which people’s understanding can be changed through messages.” (Zarefsky, 12). The rhetorical situation analysis consists of four elements: audience, occasion, speaker and speech, each assessing the quality of speech. In this essay, I will analyze the rhetorical situation of the historical speech “The Challenger Address” delivered by the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan.

Throughout history, individuals have fought for more justifiable working conditions. Florence Kelley, a social worker and reformer, fought to gain more adequate working conditions for the children of the United States. At this time nearly twenty percent of American workers were under the age of sixteen. Kelley delivered a speech in Philadelphia on July 22, 1905, during the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, that strived for more fair-minded hours, rather than the long, unhealthy, and tedious shifts thats children were put through overnight. Kelley utilizes both appeals to logic and appeals to emotion, in order to rally up her audience in joining her to fight for more rational, more healthy, and more just hours.

The rhetorical situation refers to “a situation in which people’s understanding can be changed through messages.” (Zarefsky, 12). The rhetorical situation analysis consists of four elements: audience, occasion, speaker and speech, each assessing the quality of speech. In this essay, I will analyze the rhetorical situation of the historical speech “The Challenger Address” delivered by the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan.

Change has become an incremental aspect when it comes to reaching a success in our society. This can be seen in several different aspects within our society. It is seen within our economy, traditional and nontraditional values, and especially within our government. However, in order for us to reach any form of higher success we must be willing to change. In Florence Kelley's Speech, she expresses her firm and unchanging view of the violation of children's rights in child labor in order to make a change through the use of modes of discourse intertwined with sophisticated uses of diction, imagery, and other uses of appeals to tie into her audience and further encompass her purpose.

In “The Way We Live Now” Susan Sontag narrates the story of the AIDS diagnosis of an unnamed man and explores fear, anxiety and uncertainty in his friends’ reactions to his diagnosis. The story is set in a conversation mode to reveal the fear and stigma of society surrounding AIDS. In my essay I will examine how Sontag’s story highlights varied ways through which people who are close to or at least know an AIDS patient react to his diagnosis.

Rhetoric gives you an avenue to tell a story from your perspective in a way that connects with the intended audience without having to be one hundred percent substantiated. This writing style is evident in almost everything we read from billboards to Internet ads and even political speeches.

Mary Fisher also wants her immediate audience to change their negative perspective toward the disease. She wants them to let the affected speak about AIDS and HIV and not ignore them. She is claiming that the rest of the nation has made the affected be fearful, with the words, “You are HIV positive, but dare not say it. You have lost loved ones, but you dare not whisper the word AIDS. You weep

The AIDS epidemic has been a controversial debate for many years. As Sturken says in her text, there is discourse on AIDS of hysteria and blame, but AIDS also produces a discourse of defiance and criticism (Sturken 147). Using Sturken’s article AIDS and The Politics of Representation and the film Living Proof: HIV and the Pursuit of Happiness I will discuss the two different discourses and views of AIDS. These simultaneous discourses on AIDS, result from the variation of ways people in our society are affected by the disease. There is a clear divide in discourses between people who have and people who do not have HIV/AIDS and these become evident when we look at how they perceive the disease. For example, through a medical representation, people who do not have AIDS may blame the gay community for its epidemic. However, AIDS patients may defend themselves and critique the medical representation, using popular culture such as films and activists groups such as ACT UP to educate the public on an alternative representation of AIDS. Together the public produces two separate discourses occurring simultaneously.

Mary Fisher uses a topical organizational pattern throughout the speech, and I believe that she used this pattern so she could talk about the main points: ignorance, prejudice, and silence people view HIV/AIDS with, and the need for more of an awareness of the disease. I was able to pick up the main points by listening throughout the entire speech for topics. Mary Fisher’s introduction can be divided into the different parts of the introduction: attention getter can be found in her opening statement as well as revealing the topic, she establishes her credibility in the statement about not wanting to be HIV positive, and finally she previews her body when she says that HIV/AIDS does not care who you are. Much like the introduction the conclusion can be divided into its part as well, and these parts include letting the audience know the ending of the speech is coming, done when she says, “To all within the sound of my voice,” she ends her speech with a summarization,

By stating facts, gaining sympathy, and giving her audience a speaker they can trust, Fisher gave one of the most memorable and effective speeches in history. At the end of her speech, she called for her audience to take action. She provided words of inspiration and developed a care for victims of AIDS and HIV in the listener’s hearts. She begins her speech with her saying, “I would never have asked to be HIV-positive” (Fisher). However, since she is HIV-positive, Fisher decides to accept it and look at it as an opportunity to make a change. Fisher’s speech would have been not nearly as powerful if she didn’t have HIV herself. Mary Fisher believes that AIDS shouldn’t be a whisper. She wants to get it out there as a topic of discussion instead of everyone acting uncomfortable when it’s brought up. Fisher’s main purpose is to raise awareness, but not only of AIDS and HIV. She wants to raise awareness and change the way people with AIDS and HIV are treated. She goes about doing so by publically speaking wherever she can and hoping that it sinks in. She hopes that eventually, AIDS and HIV can be studied well enough and understood globally. Most importantly, Mary Fisher hopes for a

Many people know that this disease can be cause of death but are not informed about how AIDS is transmitted, which may cause them to fear AIDS and those who are infected. For example, people may not know that it is not possible for AIDS to be spread out through the air by having a conversation with AIDS patients. Therefore, it causes some people to fear being near someone who has contracted AIDS. AS a result of this fear, many of those infected have been isolated at their homes, fired from their jobs, threatened, and excluded from school because others were afraid of being infected. Because of this discrimination, it may be difficult for some of those infected to live a normal life.