Does the speaker has the credentials to present the speech?

Your first major writing assignment is to analyze a speech (either Truth or Lincoln’s) and determine whether the author has proven his or her thesis and how effectively she/he has used logos, pathos, and ethos to persuade the audience.
This paper is not a summary of the speech, and it is not a response to the author’s argument. Whether or not you agree with the author is irrelevant to your analysis.
Instructions:
1. Start by carefully reading the speech, underlining key points, and noting any questions or comments you have about it. Be sure you fully understand the content and the various terms used as well as the positions of the various people quoted in the speech and their relationship to the topic.
2. Begin your analysis by identifying the author and his/her credentials, the thesis and purpose of the speech, etc. Then examine the persuasion techniques used. Look first at logos. What is the basic logic of the speaker’s argument? What evidence is provided? Are credible statistics used? Is the testimony credible, why or why not? Is anything missing or not provided? Then look at pathos. What kind of emotional appeals and stylistic devices are being used? Do they make you sympathetic to the issue? Then look at ethos. Does the speaker has the credentials to present the speech?
3. Now begin to develop your essay’s basic approach. Begin by writing the thesis of your paper. Your thesis should state if you think the argument is effective, and the blueprint should give your evaluation of the author’s use of logos, pathos, and ethos. You should list examples from the essay that illustrate the author’s use of persuasion techniques.
4. Finally, write your analysis. This should be a coherent essay that follows the writing process and structure you have learned. It should not sound as if you are simply repeating answers on a checklist. Be sure your voice is heard. Your introductory paragraph should have a creative opening that introduces the speech and puts it into a context. Finish the intro with your thesis: What is the speaker’s purpose, and how does he or she achieve that purpose? What rhetorical devices do they rely on (logos, pathos, ethos, repetition, etc). Use your body paragraphs to discuss and give examples that support your evaluation of the speech. Write a conclusion that goes beyond simply repeating your thesis: Do you think the speech is effective. If yes, why? If not, why?
Format:
The paper should be 2-3 pages long. The format should follow MLA guidelines.
Audience: You should assume that the audience is educated but knows relatively little about the speech and the event at which it was given.
Standards:
The quality of your analysis along with the essay structure and the quality of your writing will be the major factors in your paper’s grade. Be sure to check for spelling, grammar, and punctuation after you write your draft. The entire essay should be written in third person, with no “you,” “your,” “I,” or “my,” or “we.”
The Speech: “Ain’t I a Woman?” by Sojourner Truth
Delivered at the 1851 Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio
Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that ‘twixt the Negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what’s all this here talking about?
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?
Then they talk about this thing in the head; what’s this they call it? [member of audience whispers, “intellect”] That’s it, honey. What’s that got to do with women’s rights or Negroes’ rights? If my cup won’t hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can’t have as much rights as men, ‘cause Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it. The men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain’t got nothing more to say.