Critical Reading and Reflecting Assignment: First and Second Wave Feminism

1. Who is the primary audience for each of the three documents?

The primary audience for The Declaration of Sentiments is the audience members in the first
conference to address Women’s rights. The primary audience in The United States of America vs. Susan
B. Anthony is Judge Ward Hunt and the court in 1873. The primary audience for The Right to One’s Body
is of the Woman and the New Race (1920).
2. For one of the documents, explain and illustrate how the nature of the primary audience shaped the
form and language the author(s) used?
In The United States of America vs. Susan B. Anthony, Susan B. Anthony was very particular in her
phrasing. She addressed the court with prepared and careful language. Judge Ward Hunt continued to
comment on her vernacular saying he would not permit the court to sit and listen to a three-hour
prepared argument. She made sure to bring up specific points that were undeniable because of her
environment and audience.
3. What is the thesis or main point in each of the three documents?
The main point of The Declaration of Sentiments was that women have not been given the same
rights as men and women are called to refuse allegiance because of this. The main point in The United
States of America vs. Susan B. Anthony is that she stood up for herself in court and never paid her fine
for voting. The main point of The Right to One’s Body is the birth control should be available to women
and women should have control over their own body.
4. What is the strongest evidence/reasoning used in the three documents? Why is it strong?
The strongest evidence in The Declaration of Sentiments is when the facts are listed declaring
how men have not allowed women to do many things. Some of these facts include man not permitting
women to have a voice in law, women being men’s property once married and denying women
education rights.
The strongest evidence in The United States of America vs. Susan B. Anthony is when Miss
Anthony says that their denial of her citizen’s right to vote is the denial of her right of representation.
She goes on to list many parts of the government system that affect her as a woman, yet she has no say.
She is being taxed yet she has no say in what the taxes go to. She can be tried as an offender of the law,
yet she has no say or vote towards the laws themselves.
The strongest evidence in The Right to One’s Body is when Margaret Sanger says, “The basic
freedom of the world is woman’s freedom.” I believe this to be the strongest evidence because it really
hits the problem directly in saying that without women there is no world. Men and women are both
necessary to procreate and make a free race.
5. What struck you as particularly powerful or illustrative turns of phrase in all three documents? Why
were they powerful or illustrative?
In the first document, I found the turning point to be in the first paragraph. “We hold these
truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain inalienable rights...” I find it funny that when I was younger, I was taught that ‘men’
mean everyone. I always thought it was weird that ‘men’ meant men and women. It seemed unfair to
me, but I accepted that that was just how the world was. Reading this and looking back in 1848 when
women were starting to fight for our rights, it’s interesting how long it has taken. Hopefully my children
won’t be taught with the same ignorance.
In the second document, I took one paragraph to be especially powerful from Miss Anthony. She
begins saying, “When I was brought before your honor for trial, I hoped for a broad and liberal
interpretation of the Constitution and its recent amendments, that should declare... equality of rights
the national guarantee to all persons born or naturalized in the United States.” This statement astounds
me because I would be very scared to say something like this to a Judge in court. It must have taken a lot
of courage and rigor to say these things.
In the third document, I took the description of Margaret Sanger to be most powerful. The exert
that was edited from her biography on biography.com was surprising to me. I like that the author chose
to put in the part about her reputation being soiled but that she was still an important leader in
women’s rights.
6. Analyze the primary rhetorical appeal (Ethos, Logos, Pathos, or Kairos) of one of the documents.
Explain, and illustrate with quotes from the text. (One or two strong paragraphs)
The Declaration of Sentiments
Ethos: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were both American activists. They put together the
first conference on women’s rights.
Logos: The list of facts that they used to prove their point that mankind has had a vicious hold over
women for the large part of history.
Pathos: When divorce was brought up it made me react emotionally. Referencing how women lost their
children to their husbands most of the time was hard to read. I have had divorce within my family, and I
cannot begin to comprehend how much harder it would have been to be completely separated from one
parent.

7. Reflect on the suite of documents for this assignment. That is, examine your own thinking as you
consider them all together. Did they challenge your assumptions or expand your understanding? Has
your thinking been stretched by encountering these texts? How do the texts connect to other things
you’ve read, to the broader world, or to your own situation? How would you describe the documents’
impact in a way that would excite other people to experience them as well? How do they relate to our
contemporary situation? Write about any or all of those things (or about other cognitive reactions you
had)—and for Goodness sake don’t be afraid to be vulnerable or to elaborate!
This assignment really made me think about how women are treated differently than men. Being
a woman myself, I honestly try to ignore it. There are so many things I care about in the world that I
haven’t ever spent much time analyzing women’s rights. It makes me depressed to think about how
throughout my lifetime, I will probably always get paid less than a man doing the same job. I haven’t had
great examples by men throughout my life on how I should be treated and so I’ve come to expect less.