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Criticism of Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer was a prominent leader during the civil rights movement and an American "voting activist" ("Fannie" 1). Hamer worked as a field hand and a timekeeper on a plantation in the 1940s, but it was her attendance at several African American organizations' conferences in the 1950s that inspired an increased interest in civil rights and voting activism. As a victim of racism, Hamer was sterilized "without knowledge or consent" in 1961 by a white doctor as part of Mississippi's plan to "reduce the number of poor blacks in the state" ("Fannie" 1). After overcoming such challenges, Hamer testified before the Credentials Committee at the 1964 Democratic National Convention on August, 22, where she gave details of her virtual torture at the hands of abusive white police officers in Indianola where she tried to register to become a "first-class citizen" (Hamer 1).

According to Patricia Bizzell (153), Aristotle argued that rhetoric is the "faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion." The purpose of Fannie Lou Hamer's testimony is to persuade leaders of the Democratic Party to advance social justice for African Americans by removing institutional obstacles to their civil rights. This analysis will provide a rhetorical criticism of Fannie Lou Hamer's testimony in light of this goal. The conclusion will address whether or not Hamer's rhetoric was successful in achieving her goals.

Speeches are a form of persuasive communication. In "Rhetoric," Aristotle maintains there are three effective methods of persuasion or appeals: 1) appeals to logos (reason): 2) appeals to pathos (emotion); and 3) appeals to ethos (character of the speaker) ("Synopsis" 1). Fannie Lou Hamer successfully uses all of these elements of sound rhetoric in the Aristotelian framework. She primarily appeals to emotion throughout the testimony by revealing the horrific abuse visited upon her at the dir...

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Criticism of Fannie Lou Hamer. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 03:10, March 19, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/2000467.html