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Ap Lang Rhetorical Essay
Ap Lang Rhetorical Essay
Kevin Parikh
AP English Language
Mr. Yerkes
23 February 2017
In 1963, a time when African Americans were still struggling for civil rights, James
Baldwin delivered a speech titled Talk to Teachers in which he talked about the paradox of
education where people become aware of the injustices and oppression committed by the
very same system that educated them in the first place. His purpose in writing this was to
convey to teachers that they can empower their students by letting them know of the
oppression taking place. He conveys his purpose throughout his speech by using changing
tones to show how he is feeling, pathos to appeal to the audiences emotion, and repetition of
key phrases.
Baldwin opens his speech with a rather authoritative tone, telling teachers that It is
adopts this authoritative tone to remind his main audience, teachers, on their duty in their
profession. Here in the beginning is also where he mentions one of his key points, the
paradox of education in which people become aware of oppression taking place by the very
same system that educated them. He even appeals to the emotions of the audience by saying
Baldwin then moves to using a combination of repetition and pathos to convey his
intent to the audience. He uses the phrase I would repeatedly followed by what he would do
teach. He does this not only to show the audience his compassion but to also give them
Parikh 2
ideas. He also employs pathos in this section by mentioning the appalling stereotypes of
African Americans portrayed in television, comic books, and movies. His use of pathos is
effective because someone who might have believed the stereotypes they saw on television
would be forced to rethink their views. His tone in this section is gentle and serious. He uses
this tone as to not scold his audience but rather to explain to them the oppression taking place
In the last section of his speech, Baldwin continues the use of many of the devices he
has utilized throughout his paper. A particular good use of pathos is when he uses the
example of people who judge Fidel Castro purely off that fact that he was a Communist. He
explains how if you focus on only aspect of a person, all the other parts of them will get
drowned out. He uses this example hoping that people can keep the same open mindset
when interacting with African Americans. He also shifts to a slightly more positive tone by
soon after switches back to a rather bleak tone by stating that the same energy could lead to
In conclusion, Baldwin attempts to help teachers interact with their African American
students better. He employs the use of shifting tones, repeated phrases, and appeal to