The Voice of a Feminist: Rhetorical Analysis of “Claiming an Education”
“All I have, is a voice.” –W.H. Auden. These are five words that could leave a thoughtful philosopher speechless. But perhaps found within the lack of “finding a better word” moments, are when revolution seeds are planted in the hearts and tongues of the passionate. And if this is a truth, then Adrienne Rich was absolutely no exception. The radical feminist and poet opened her speech, “Claiming an Education” to the girls of Douglass College, in the most straightforward way as possible. In skimming the text, only the reader can imagine what was really communicated in the zeal and urgency behind her rehearsed words that day in 1977. Therefore, in light of under complication, it would only be right to focus on the three basic themes: the use of the weight of words, shown with “indivisible” to prove the relevant effectiveness, the relationship between orator to audience, and all together, what Rich’s underlying tone communicates.
In “Claiming and Education” the orator, Adrienne Rich, with a foretelling voice, speaks to the women attending an all girls college, about the role they played to themselves and to their teachers, as students. Discussing the internal aspects, she explores the concept of not simply receiving an education, but rather claiming one, in the midst of obvious contradiction. Rich hopes for the idea that one day, the educational system will teach that ideas formulated from western, white men will be seen as important, but also limiting to all that education has to offer. She ends on the note of not easing up on the mindset that spins off an unpopular idea that women should be assertive in her ambitions. She explains that educators must match the amount of dedication that each female student has to exceed all that she thought she could be, as an individual in society, and in