Question

Read this excerpt from “Ain’t I a Woman?” by Sojourner Truth. In which sentences does she make an emotional appeal to the audience by talking about her personal hardships?




Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't 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 ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?

Answer 1

The sentences starting from, "Nobody ever helps me into carriages" through "none but Jesus heard me!" does Sojourner Truth make an emotional appeal to the audience.

Answer 2

Answer:

The sentences from Ain't I a Woman, by Sojourner Truth in which she appeals to the audience by talking about her personal hardships are:

"Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't 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 ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?"

Explanation:

In those lines the author appeals to the audience by talking about her personal issues being a woman. This literary device is very common in literature and especially in argumentative works in which the speaker tries to persuade the audience by appealing to his/her personal experience. In this particular case, Sojourner Truth is talking about how men say "women need to be helped", and by telling her personal experiences being a woman, she demonstrates that that statement is totally wrong. She compares her life with society’s idea of what a woman should do or how a woman should live till the point she asks herself “Ain’t I a Woman?” as an irony to demonstrate that what men say is absurd.