Reading: “American Literature, 1830-1865: Introduction,” Bedford pp. 708-25; “American Contexts: ‘I Will Be Heard’: The Rhetoric of Antebellum Reform” (excerpts from The Cherokee Memorials; Walker; Garrison; Brownson; Beecher; Seneca Falls Woman’s Convention, “Declaration of Sentiments”; Sojourner Truth, “Speech to a Women’s Rights Convention”) pp. 727-58.
Question: Select any one. of the short readings from the Bedford anthology and analyze your chosen author’s use of rhetorical techniques in making an argument. Which 19th century rhetorical techniques still work for you as a contemporary reader in the 21st century, and why? Does anything work less well for you, and why?