Works Cited
"Rhetorical Analysis of "A Whisper of AIDS" Speech!" - LA 101H. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2016.
"Mary Fisher 1992 Republican National Convention Address." Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century by Rank - American Rhetoric. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2016.
Kaunisto, Mark. "Electric/electrical and Classic/classical: Variation between the Suffixes – Ic and ‐ical." English Studies 80.4 (1999): 343-70. Web. 11 May 2016.
Ethos: Credibility and Trust
- "I would never have asked to be HIV positive," (Fisher).
Logos: Just the Facts
Pathos: Emotional Appeal
- "The rate of infection is increasing fastest among women and children. Largely unknown a decade ago, AIDS is the third leading killer of young adult Americans today," (Fisher).
- "Adolescents don't give each other cancer or heart disease because they believe they are in love, but HIV is different; and we have helped it along," (Fisher).
S- Subject
Mary Fisher dictated an end to ignorance, prejudice, and silence surrounding HIV/AIDS during the 1992 Republican National Convention Address.
A- Audience
- "I ask you, here in this great hall, or listening in the quiet of your home," (Fisher).
- "Tonight, I represent an AIDS community," (Fisher).
S- Speaker
- "I want my children..." (Fisher).
O- Occasion
S- Speaker
P- Purpose
- "... event to bring the party together as they nominated George H.W. Bush for reelection as president and Dan Quayle for vice president."
- "I have come tonight to bring our silence to an end..." (Fisher).
- "I want my children to know that their mother was not a victim. She was a messenger," (Fisher).
- "I asked the Republican Party..." (Fisher).
- "I would never have asked to be HIV positive..." (Fisher).
T-Tone
Bitter:
- "[...] people with HIV have not entered some alien state of being. They are human. They have not earned cruelty [...] They don't benefit from being isolated," (Fisher).
O- Occasion
T- Tone
- "1992 Republican National Convention Address"
- "... to lift the shroud of silence..." (Fisher).
Sincere:
- "[...] You are HIV positive, but dare not say it. [...] You grieve alone. [...] It is we who tolerate and practice prejudice, we who have taught you to fear," (Fisher).
T- Tone
Encouraging:
- "To the millions of you who are grieving, who are frightened, who have suffered the ravages of AIDS firsthand: have courage, and you will find support," (Fisher).
Word Choice/Repetition
- "We are at risk..."
- "... shroud of silence..."
- "... whisper the word AIDS..."
- "We have killed each other with our ignorance, our prejudice, and our silence."
- "... but I believe that in all things there is a purpose..."
- "If it is true that HIV turns to AIDS, then my children will turn to orphans."
"A Whisper of Aids"
Conclusion/Takeaway Lesson
One should stand up for what is right even if everyone else is sitting.