American Cultural Mythologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

American Cultural Mythologies - Essay ExampleFor instance, Truth peruses the New Testament and the story of the let of Jesus Christ through Virgin Mary as a strong proof of the energy and superiority of women when compared to men. Though she did non claim this superiority in such exact words, her general plosive is that women were treated highly even in the scriptures, whereas their status in real society is much diminished. This experiment will argue that what is common between the two computer addresses is their passionate tone, sincerity and compelling necessity and fleck Douglass speech is marked by its detailed analysis and sobriety, Truths is full of wit, humor and insight. Douglass begins his speech by highlighting the virtues of the Founding Fathers and their thrust for independence from the British Crown. He notes that the idea of attempting to establish sovereignty by breaking away from the British com soldieryd was indeed very brave and revolutionary. Having identif ied and praised what is meritable about the short history of the American nation, Douglass then declares how these achievements are scoreset by a eternal negative feature of American society namely black slavery. Douglass tone is one of deliberate and measured rationality and inquiry. He punctuates his speech with numerous historical references that justify his plea of equality for blacks. Truths originality lies in invoking a very salubrious known Biblical event and interpreting it in a novel way. It accounts for its immediate appeal and affect on the interview which comprised of both men and women. The following passing play shows how Truth had adopted Christian Evangelical rhetorical style in her own delivery bet at me Look at my arm I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me And aint I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man when I could get it and bear the lash as well And aint I a woman?I have borne thirteen childre n, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mothers grief, none butJesusheard me And aint I a woman? (Truth, 1851) The contexts in which the two speeches were made help evaluate their merits. Frederick Douglass delivered his speech a decade before the onset of the civilised War a time when blacks did not even have the nominal status of freedom. An overwhelming bulk of the community is slaves and led a harsh and laborious life. For this reason, Douglass declares, the Fourth of July is a day of celebration for you (White Americans) and not us (Black Americans). The condition of the black community in America has not seen any improvement in the eight decades of independence that has preceded the date of his speech. Douglass is quite right in feeling about his community this way. in that location is no reason for rejoicing for his community till they win civil rights on par with that of etiolate Americans. Though Douglass was addressing a predominantly whi te audience, there were no major disruptions during the delivery of his speech. This is in sever attributable to the rhetorical technique he employed. He first wins over the trust and confidence of his audience by talking about their merits and achievements. This way, the audience is accepting and attentive to what he is saying. Then he takes the speaking to a different path, namely that of the plight of black Americans in relation to the freedoms enjoyed by white Americans