Siama Manzoor
CAS 100C
Speech 1: Rhetorical Situation

“Declaration of Sentiments”
Elizabeth Cady Stanton

I. Introduction
A. How many females in this room are thankful to be here, earning a formal education? How many males in this room are thankful for the females to be here? This is one small example of what Elizabeth Cady Stanton accomplished beginning with her famous speech, the ‘Declaration of Sentiments.’
B. Elizabeth Cady Stanton delivered the ‘Declaration of Sentiments’ in 1848 at the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, inspiring women’s rights activists and abolitionists to fight for equality among men and women.
C. I’ve researched this speech and convention in order to share them with and educate you, my fellow young adults that value human equality.
D. By evaluating the audience to which Stanton spoke, the reasons for the speech, and the barriers that she overcame, it is likely that we will better comprehend the challenges that she was facing in this moment in history.

Transition: So, who exactly was affected by Stanton’s speech?

II. This speech was delivered directly to those who were in attendance at the convention and indirectly to those who read the local paper in which it was published.
A. The majority of attendees at the first women’s rights convention were civil rights activists and abolitionists. They were already involved in activism and shared a strong value for equality.
B. There were about 300 women in attendance and about 40 men.
C. In addition to the delivery at the convention, the speech was also published in the local newspaper. This expanded the audience to include the rest of the community who may have opposed the convention or those who may have been too scared to attend and take a position on the subject of women’s rights.
D. On a much broader scale, all Americans from that day forth were included in her audience indirectly through the publication of it in educational texts.

Transition: Now, let’s talk about what brought about this speech and why it was important.

III. There were several reasons that it was necessary for someone to take action and speak out for women’s rights.
A. American society in the nineteenth century was infected with male dominance.
B. Women possessed no legal rights to property, custody, divorce claims, formal education, voting, etc.
C. Women were becoming more and more dissatisfied with the housewife role and looking for fulfillment in other areas of life.

Transition: From here we move on to the challenges that Stanton faced in delivering this speech.

IV. Although Stanton’s argument may seem like common sense to us today, there were many limiting factors that she had to face in fighting her fight.
A. First of all, there was little means of advertising for the convention. There was only one small ad in the local paper, restricting awareness.
B. Stanton had a weakened influence over her audience because women in society at that time were not as accepted or respected as speakers as were men.
C. People are naturally resistant to change and this speech called for many different orders of change that were intimidating to most people at that time.
D. Society at this time was dominated by males. Many women were not used to thinking for themselves and it was challenging to convince them to stand up for their rights.

V. Conclusion
A. With all of these aspects of Stanton’s speech covered, assuming that you’ve all listened to what I’ve said, you’re now ready to dive into the content with me in my next speech.
B. The ‘Declaration of Sentiments’ was Stanton’s way of motivating people to fight for women’s rights and initiating a radical movement that changed history.
C. Keeping in mind who Stanton was addressing, why she was speaking, and the challenges she was facing, we are prepared to discuss what she actually said and take a position on the speech, choosing to agree or disagree.
D. Thank you all for listening and I hope you’re all excited to learn more about the ‘Declaration of Sentiments’ and women’s rights.

Bibliography

DuBois E. C., & Smith, R. C. (2007). Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Feminist as Thinker. New York: New York University Press.

Gaughen, S. (2003). Women’s Rights. San Diego: Greenhaven Press.

Herbert, B. (1999, July 4). In America; Stanton and Anthony. The New York Times. Retrieved February 5, 2008, from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02EFD7123DF937A35754C0A96F958260&scp=9&sq=elizabeth+cady+stanton&st=nyt

Hurley, J. A. (2002). Women’s Rights: Great Speeches in History. San Diego: Greenhaven Press.

Wellman, J. (2004). The Road to Seneca Falls. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

Comments:

Hey. First off, cool name. Nate kinda sucks as a name so I'm way annoyed my parents lacked creativity. As for the speech, you did a speech on a speech, which was clever. It flowed well, you had great supporting facts, and the way you ended it with references to your next speech was really suave. Good for you. - Nate Scarbrough

Quan,Zou:Your topic towards the speech was ingenious. All the points support your theme pretty well. It was a nice topic and a nice speech.

Maria Martin: Hey you had a great opening, and you really did a good job with making eye contact across the room- not an easy thing to do. You also really seemed to know your topic well so that really gave you some credibility. You used "um" a few times but so did I so that's really not a big deal; you also had good transitions and volume while speaking-- nice job with your speech.

Joe Belack: Your speed was good. The transitions could use some work. You kept the eye contact at a nice level and your attention getter was solid. A few words seemed to make you lose pace but overall good job!

Scot Brown: Your speech did a real good job of setting up the context of the artifact. But the conclusion seemed a bit weak, so you might want to work on ending strong.

Liz Peters: Hey Siama! I really liked you speech. You had a great attention getter that caught everyone’s attention. This speech could have been directed more towards the females, but when you asked the males if they were thankful for the females you invited them too. For your next speech watch your use of the index cards because you sometimes we caught reading off of them. I'm interested to see how you interpret the content for your next speech. Good job!

Comments for 2nd speech:

Whitney Trompeter: Your speech was very interesting. I didn't know that Stanton approved of the role of women as mothers and wives, I thought she was more radical than that. I also liked the slide where there was a drawing of Stanton with the quote, it was very effective. I wouldn't have used a white background though because it was kind of glaring. You also could have tried to use more eye contact. Really good speech though!

Siama Manzoor
CAS 100C
Speech 2: Content Analysis

“Declaration of Sentiments”
Elizabeth Cady Stanton

I. Introduction
A. As I’m sure you’ve all been anxiously waiting, I’m here today to continue our discussion about Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments. (Slide) I’d like to start with a quote lifted directly from the speech that I feel sums up the general message of the Declaration of Sentiments which I found published in Women’s Rights, Great Speeches in History.
B. Assuming you all recall the rhetorical situation discussed last time, I hope that you’re all mentally prepared for and emotionally invested in discussing the content and how Stanton conveyed her message so successfully to her audience in Seneca Falls, New York in July of 1848.
C. I have read through Stanton’s speech thoroughly in preparation for this discussion and I chose three different aspects of the content in which to analyze.
D. I decided that the most effective aspects in creating Stanton’s argument were Stanton’s ethos, the allusion to the Declaration of Independence, which I’m sure many of you already caught on to, and Stanton’s clever use of imagery.

Transition: So, some of you may be wondering, why did people take Stanton so seriously? What made her ethos strong?

II. Ethos
A. Well, first and foremost, this was a personal fight for Stanton. She was genuinely passionate about her cause, and it showed.
1. Born into the family of an “imposing, dominant, and vivacious” mother that controlled the household, as described in The Road to Seneca Falls, Stanton grew up with an innate belief in powerful women.
2. Stanton was brought up with strict rules and in later life recalled associating authority with fear as a child. This fear later stemmed her rebellion against women’s place in the world.
B. Stanton had already established herself as a civil rights activist when she delivered the Declaration of Sentiments to gain the support of the Seneca Falls community.
1. As I mentioned in my first speech, she was associated with famous abolitionists such as Frederick Douglas and Lucretia Mott, as stated in Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Feminist as a Thinker. Association with these names gave her extra awareness and support.
2. This strong background in civil rights activism showed that Stanton truly cared about the well-being of people and believed strongly in human rights.
C. (Slide) Stanton played on her ability to relate with the women and the universal position that they shared.
1. She said “The right is ours. Have it, we must. Use it, we will.” In this quote, Stanton emphasizes a sense of unity, which instills in women a sense assurance that they are not alone and that together they can achieve what is rightfully theirs.
2. By speaking to the women of Seneca Falls as their equal and including them in her demands for action, she connected with them and inspired them to take a stand.

Transition: Now, (Slide) I’m sure you all recognize this quote, but probably because of the Declaration of Independence, rather than that of Sentiments.

III. Allusion
A. One of the most famous quotes from the Declaration of Independence is this, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
1. Stanton manipulated this quote to be that which you saw on the slide. She replaced ‘men’ with ‘men and women.’
2. This powerful example is only a small example of how the Declaration of Sentiments alludes to the Declaration of Independence.
B. As stated in The Road to Seneca Falls, “The Declaration of Independence became both a connection to the past and an avenue to the future.”
1. By modeling her speech after the Declaration of Independence, Stanton instilled a sense of familiarity and comfort in her audience and associated her message with one of the greatest revolutions this country has known.
2. This opened people’s minds to change and paved the way for the road leading to women’s suffrage.
C. According to Women’s Rights, Contemporary Issues, the declaration demanded that women have equal rights as men in law, education, employment, and voting, in the same manner that our forefathers demanded independence.

Transition: And now we shall discuss the more interesting stylistic device, in my opinion, imagery! I’ve chosen three that stood out to me.

IV. Imagery
A. “As to their costume, the gentlemen need feel no fear of our imitating that... we still admire the graceful folds of ours, and consider our costume far more artistic than theirs… Many of the nobler sex seem to agree with us in this opinion, for the bishops, priests, judges, barristers, and lordmayers of the first nation on the globe… wear the loose flowing robes, thus imposing that the male attire is neither dignified nor imposing,” from Women’s Rights, Great Speeches in History.
1. The first message that hits you in this quote is that Stanton did not see fault with everything about women’s place in society, only those things which were flawed and unfair.
2. She paints a pleasant image of women’s dress, addressing their grace, and indirectly, her approval of certain womanly roles, such as that of mother and wife.
3. Also in this quote, she insults men’s attire and makes it seem foolish while she compares women’s to that of the more superior men of the world. This creates an image of fashionably superior women should have power over (or equal to) uptight, foolish men.
B. “Now is the time for the women of this country , if they would save our free institutions, to defend the right, to buckle on the armor that can best resist the keenest weapons of the enemy—contempt and ridicule.”
1. This statement expresses women’s defenses against contempt and ridicule as armor which gives the visual of women being strong and fighting, which is exactly what Stanton wants- for women to fight for themselves and their rights.
2. By creating a literal image of preparing to defend with ‘buckle on the armor,’ Stanton clearly conveys her point that women need to defend against the ‘weapons of the enemy.’
C. (Slide – this is my favorite!) “Care and protection—such as the wolf gives the lamb…”
1. Here, Stanton is speaking of the excuses that men fed to women for their lack of rights. Men claimed that women were too delicate for the “struggle of the tempests of public life.”
2. Stanton vividly portrays the vindictive intentions of men deviously stripping women of their rights while claiming to protect by creating an image of a vicious wolf attacking a small, helpless lamb.
D. These are only a few of many examples of imagery that Stanton used.

Transition/Thesis: Now that you have all analyzed this speech a little farther with me, I am hopeful that you all have learned at a little more about the beginnings of the women’s rights movement through the Declaration of Sentiments, its style in particular.

V. Conclusion
A. To review my main points: Stanton’s qualifications for speaking came from her early roots and her genuine passion for human rights, the allusion to the Declaration of Independence was a major factor in the success of this speech, and Stanton’s incredible use of imagery all add a sense of urgency to Stanton’s message.
B. As urgent and necessary as Stanton’s speech was, a recent New York Times article entitled “Duel of Historical Guilts” by Maureen Dowd claims that this urgency that has carried on since the 19th century is dying out and will not be enough to support the female presidential candidate.
C. However, no matter how much the waves of feminism fluctuate, the impact that Stanton’s speech has had on our country and the world as a whole will forever remain.
D. Thank you for your time. Do you have any questions for me?

Bibliography
Dowd, M. (2008, March 5). Duel of Historical Guilts. The New York Times. Retrieved March 5, 2008, from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/opinion/05dowd.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=feminism&st=nyt

DuBois E. C., & Smith, R. C. (2007). Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Feminist as Thinker. New York: New York University Press.

Gaughen, S. (2003). Women’s Rights. San Diego: Greenhaven Press.

Hurley, J. A. (2002). Women’s Rights: Great Speeches in History. San Diego: Greenhaven Press.

Logoi. Pictures of the wolf. Retrieved March 4 2008, from
http://www.logoi.com/pastimages/wolf.html

Mennolink. Artisans of Social Change Poster Series. March 4 2008, from
http://peace.mennolink.org/artisansposters.html

National Constitution Center. (2008). The Seneca Falls Convention. Retrieved March 4 2008, from
http://www.constitutioncenter.org/timeline/html/cw04_11985.html

Wellman, J. (2004). The Road to Seneca Falls. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

Comments:

Carolyn Graham: Hey Siama! Overall, nice speech. You had a good voice and confidence throughout your speech. You could have used more eye contact, but you had effective quotes as your visual aids and they were a nice way to transition between points. You also had a nice description of the imagery she used in her speech. Well done!

Maria Martin: You really managed to make your topic interesting to the listeners- nice job with that. I also liked the visuals you used; they were effective, interesting, and not too distracting. You tended to use fillers at times, but your volume control and speech organization were really good. I also liked how you mentioned that Elizabeth Cady Stanton took words from the Declaration of Independence and manipulated them- it really painted a picture as to what she was like. Nice job with your speech!

Enrique: I liked your speech, and felt that the main points were delivered smoothly! Also, the power points had terrific information, but try not to read verbatim from the slide. Your vocabulary was excellent, and audience specific. Great Job!

Scot Brown: Work on fillers, and I would suggest more practice in general, for more smooth and even delivery.

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