ASUNCION, DAVE M.

(2022-20916)

JABSON, CHARLES JERIC S. (2022-20914)

BS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

SPEECH 30 THX-3 

SPEECH CRITIQUE

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: I Am Someone’s Daughter Too

         The powerful speech delivered by Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez can be regarded as

something that reflects the Aristotelian qualities of rhetorical style. According to Lutzke &

Henggeler (2009), Aristotle taught that the ability of the speaker to persuade is based on how

well the speaker appeal to the audience in three (3) different areas such as ethos, pathos, and

logos. Ethos refers to human character and goodness, Pathos refers to names and causes of

various emotions, and Logos refers to arguments and logical reasoning (Herrick J., 2018).

It is evident even at first glance that the speaker emanates a vigorous, influential, and

authoritative character. We didn’t get shocked when we knew that she is an American politician

and activist; she has been serving as U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional

district since 2019, as a member of the Democratic Party (Catt Center). She is well-spoken and

delivers every word with conviction. Credibility is not a question when it comes to analyzing her

speech; she has ethos given her position and blatant knowledge of the topic that she’s saying.

Moreover, we sensed that there is a significant logic that she mentioned in her speech, and how

she builds up touching stories is just superb. These gestures prove that her speech is also

comprised of logos and pathos.

            

The speech can be considered forensic. Forensic rhetoric examines past events and issues

and is primarily concerned with establishing any issues. According to the book by James Herrick

entitled "The History and Theory of Rhetoric Sixth Edition," forensic rhetoric reconstructs the

past. Thus, to be an effective forensic speaker, you must be skilled in convincing a jury that the

available evidence supports a particular hypothesis. 

In the video, it discusses the abuse experienced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, where

a male representative named Ted Yoho accosted her while walking in front of the capitol by

pointing a finger in her face while calling her 'disgusting,' ‘crazy,’ ‘dangerous,’ and described her

in front of the press as a ‘fucking bitch.’ Rep. Cortez defended the cause in congress by

providing evidence that making this behavior not acceptable and can be considered a form of

harassment. She also made a point that dehumanizing language is not new and what we are

seeing in our everyday lives is that incidents like what she had experienced are a pattern of an

attitude towards women and dehumanization of others. Therefore, she speaks not only for herself

but for the victims of verbal abuse as well. She believes that this should not be tolerated, and that

congress must take action on this kind of poor behavior. To sum it up, the video shows the

characteristics of forensic oratory. The speaker was able to analyze the case and defend it as it is

not bearable by providing concrete evidence. 

Without knowing the speaker’s background, we already have the notion that she is some

sort of a high-ranking official or someone powerful, influential, cerebral, and stellar. Her

physical appearance, how she professionally dressed, and articulated her words with certitude

made us have that idea.  When she uttered these exact words, “These are the words that

representative Yoho levied against a congresswoman, the congresswoman that not only
represents New York 14th congressional district but every congresswoman and every woman in

this country because all of us have had to deal with this in some form, some way, some shape at

some point in our lives.” That’s when our claim is proven, and we started to perceive her as

someone credible and knowledgeable. The biggest factor why we considered her an authentic

woman is because we sensed her goodwill and not solely due to her position in the government.

The fact that she related her struggle to every congresswoman and woman in their country made

us think that the speaker is not only fighting for herself but also for every woman who

experiences discrimination in their country. It’s amazing how that statement that she said in the

first part of the speech made a lot of difference to us because we already assume that the speaker

has benevolence, compassion, and a big heart. Therefore, it just means that she is telling the truth

with intelligence and virtue. What she expressed in the initial part of her speech is aligned with

what Aristotle believed concerning ethos. Aristotle noted that ethos should develop based on

speech content and not on the prior reputation of the speaker with the audience. He elaborated

that to develop ethos, the speaker must display phronesis (intelligence, good sense), arete

(virtue), and eunoia (goodwill) (Herrick J., 2018).

“But what I do have [an] issue with is using women, our wives, and daughters as shield[s]

and excuses for poor behavior. I am someone’s daughter too. My father, thankfully, is not alive

to see how Mr. Yoho treated her daughter. My mother got to see Mr. Yoho’s disrespect on the

floor of this house towards me on television.” We must admit that we felt sorry for her when we

heard these words coming from her mouth. We eventually have the conscientization that women

still experience discrimination at the hands of men and that patriarchy is still rampant nowadays.

The emotions that we got from her words made us extremely sympathize with her. I would also

like to commend how she used impactful adjectives, verbs, and phrases such as “lack of
impunity”, “dehumanizing”, “hatred”, etc. What she expressed in the middle part of her speech is

perfectly aligned with Aristotle’s belief concerning pathos. For Aristotle, pathos refers to

“putting the audience in the right frame of mind” as emotion can affect someone’s judgment

(Herrick J., 2018).

“Having a daughter does not make a man decent. Having a wife does not make a decent

man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man.” This statement is so

powerful and enlightening as it tickled my brain and question how a man can become decent.

Her speech is logical from the start since she’s been telling facts concerning discrimination

towards women and her own experiences were incorporated in her speech. Her arguments and

reasoning were well thought out; it is coherent and made sense; everything she said is logical.

What she expressed in the latter part of her speech is matched with Aristotle’s belief concerning

logos. Aristotle argued that logos is the logic of the speech, and he was more concerned with the

ways people reason about public issues (Herrick J., 2018) 

 References

Lutzke and Henggeler (2009). The Rhetorical Triangle: Understanding and Using Logos, Ethos,

and Pathos. Retrieved from

https://www.lsu.edu/hss/english/files/university_writing_files/item35402.pdf

Catt Center. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Retrieved from

https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/directory/alexandria-ocasio-cortez/