Rhetorical Rev 02 - Assignment for week 2 PDF

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RUNNING HEAD: RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF “I WANT A WIFE”

Rhetorical Analysis of “I Want a Wife”

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RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF “I WANT A WIFE”

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Rhetorical Analysis of “I Want a Wife” Patriarchal societies have a specific system of roles for males and females where the females’ roles are usually focused at serving the males and tending to their needs. In the famous essay, “I Want a Wife”, Judy Brady has satirized this type of role assignment with a funny tone and has explained how women are exploited at the hands of men and no one questions the status quo. She takes help of all the available means of persuasion to expose the gender discrimination and injustice. The speaker of the essay wears a very funny mask when she tells us, “I am A Wife. And, not altogether incidentally, I am a mother.” (Brady, 1971, p. 539) This type of humorous pathos lets her say unpleasant things in such a way that even the people who are criticized through this essay will easily accept whatever is said in this essay. In this way, the speaker is a female who wants to have the privileges equal to the men of that society. This mask helps her analyze the society from a neutral point of view. The essay is intended to reach both the males and females of the society so that the men can be forced to self-evaluate their attitudes and the females can become aware of the injustice they are suffering without realizing it. For this purpose, the author takes help from humor to make it digestible for the men who are being criticized in the essay. The subject of the text is mainly focused on the perks that come with having a wife. It shows all how a married female is not allowed to enjoy the life same as a male does. This essay was written and published during the years when the feminist movements were getting power and more and more people were coming to realize the equal rights for females and males. It was written with the purpose of strengthening these movements as it focused on the

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prevalent patterns of social injustice at that time. This purpose is nicely fulfilled by the essay as it is well equipped with rhetorical tools and exposes the said attitudes very nicely. The essay starts with a small introduction of the speaker followed by an anecdote. This sort of start provides the author with ethos and pathos for the purpose of persuasion. The speaker claims to be a mother and a wife which makes her a credible authority on such a subject. Only a wife and a mother can be aware of the woes of the married females. The anecdote narrates and event about how a male friend of hers was “looking for another wife” after a divorce. (Brady, 1971, p. 539) This type of situation is sure to raise the emotions of married women in general and divorced women in particular. In this way, the author has prepared the readers for the dose she is about to administer. Having achieved these effects, she moves on to the logos part of the essay which comprises the bulk of the essay. She states the different types of activities and responsibilities a wife is supposed to undertake while the husband enjoys complete exemption. She also considers the counterargument of moral grounds and refutes it logically. The counterargument is that a female is asked to abstain from certain activities because of the fact that those activities are morally wrong. She refutes it by saying that men consider it normal to have relationships outside marriage but no such freedom is exercised in the case of women. To conclude the whole discussion, it can be said that the author has made use of rhetorical devices very aptly and has been successful in making her point. The essay is perfectly structured to achieve the desired end as it has a nice balance of the rhetorical triangle. She has presented her argument logically but that is not all. The logic is well supported by an emotional claim to the readers. In this way, a perfect coordination of reason and emotions makes the essay successful in its purpose.

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References 1. Brady, J. (1971). I Want a Wife. In R. Aufses, R. Shea, & L. Scanlon (Authors), The

Language of Composition Reading, Writing, Rhetoric. (2nd ed., pp. 539-541). Boston, New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s....