Rhetorical Devices in Declaration of Sentiments

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos in Stanton’s Rhetoric: A powerful, passionate suffragist, Stanton understood the importance of appealing to her audience’s sense of ethos, pathos, and logos. In order to establish her credibility and appeal to her audience’s ethos, Stanton alludes to one of the nation’s greatest documents, The Declaration of Independence. Her audience would easily recognize this allusion, and comprehend Stanton’s parallel between monarchical oppression and patriarchal oppression. To appeal to her audience’s sense of pathos, Stanton employs stirring diction about women’s oppression under patriarchal laws. Finally, to appeal to her audience’s sense of logos, Stanton mimics one of the most powerful rhetorical moves in the Declaration of Independence. She sets up her argument and lays out her “facts” in a series of condemnatory grievances. By mimicking the Declaration of Independence’s structure and language, Stanton inherits the Founders’ powerful rhetoric. However, Stanton also subverts their original message and modifies their rhetoric to add another dimension of complexity to her declaration.

Rhetorical Devices Examples in Declaration of Sentiments:

Text of Stanton's Declaration

"women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights,..." See in text (Text of Stanton's Declaration)

In a final appeal to pathos, Stanton employs impassioned diction to draw attention to the systematic oppression of women and the effects of the aforementioned grievances. Without the basic rights to vote, to financially support oneself, and to make decisions regarding their marriage, women are “aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived”—an emotionally charged phrase Stanton employs to arouse sympathy in her audience and readers.

Tess, Owl Eyes Staff

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"Prudence..." See in text (Text of Stanton's Declaration)

Used in both declarations, the noun “prudence” means caution or the quality of having good sense in practical affairs. In both documents, the word is used to claim that governments should not be changed for inconsequential reasons; instead they should be changed only when faced with “a long train of abuses and usurpations.” Through diction, Jefferson was able to demonstrate that Revolution was viable. Stanton does the same, claiming that it is prudent and reasonable for women to resist oppression any further.

Tess, Owl Eyes Staff

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"impel them to such a course. ..." See in text (Text of Stanton's Declaration)

In the opening paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson delineates the purpose of his document. Here, Stanton reproduces the same structure but establishes her differing purpose: to lay out women’s grievances and provide a call to action. By placing her thesis early on in the document, as the Founding Fathers did in theirs, Stanton creates a structure that allows her to easily list her grievances in a logical manner.

Tess, Owl Eyes Staff

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