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    RhetoricalAnalysisFinal

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    idk mayne

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    RhetoricalAnalysisFinal

    Uploaded by

    kaivlai2009
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    idk mayne

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    idk mayne

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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    1 views2 pages

    RhetoricalAnalysisFinal

    Uploaded by

    kaivlai2009
    idk mayne

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    Kai Lai Period 7

    Rhetorical Analysis of Harvey Milk

    Harvey Milk was a Pioneer of gay rights in California. Milk opposed the stereotypes

    about the LGBTQ communities. Milk was the first elected openly gay official. Milk uses

    emotional examples and comparisons to persuade the audience into supporting gay rights.

    Harvey Milk uses emotional experience to emotionally connect to the audience. Milk

    uses humor to make the speech memorable. In his speech Milk uses multiple jokes to appeal to

    the mostly gay crowd in the rally. Milk makes a joke about a stereotype that many people think

    is true where they say that gay people try and recruit people, which is not true. Milk says, “My

    name is Harvey Milk and I’m here to recruit you” (Milk 1). Milk is talking to a mostly gay

    audience with the rest of the people in the rally being gay right activist, so they know that he is

    being sarcastic with his remarks. When Milk uses the homophobic stereotype as a joke, it makes

    the stereotype less of a serious myth, it makes it seem more of a joke than a demeaning idea.

    Milk also uses pathos to emotionally connect to the audience through sadness. Milk mentions sad

    events and reflects how it devastated him. Milk says, “in San Francisco, three days before Gay

    Pride Day, a person was killed just because he was gay” (Milk 12). Milk is showing his

    sympathy for a man who was like him having the same gender identity and the same beliefs as

    the people who he is talking to. When Milk shows the sympathy, he shows that he as saddened

    by the fact that an ally died for no reasons besides prejudice. Another way Milk connects to the

    audience is through ethos.

    Harvey Milk uses comparisons to convey credibility to the audience. Milk mentions some

    current world events which may concern the people of San Francisco. When Milk mentions
    those noteworthy events, he establishes credibility because it sounds like he knows what he is

    talking about. Milk references Apartheid, a prejudiced system within South America. Milk talks

    about the embassy in a way that shows he has no respect for it he “hopes to ask that the US

    government puts pressure on the closing of the South African consulate.” (Milk 6). He realizes

    that the system in South America has second-class citizens, which is like the treatment that gays

    must endure, where they are not treated like people, kind of like the colored citizens within South

    America. Another way that Milk establishes credibility is mentioning historical events. He

    mentions these events by saying “6 months ago, Anita Bryant in her speaking to God said that

    the drought in California was because of the gay people.” (Milk 3) By showing what he knows

    about these events, it shows he has credibility. He follows up that sentence by talking about how

    it has been raining a lot since he was elected.

    Harvey Milk spoke about his people in a light that could persuade any person that might oppose

    his beliefs. Harvey Milk used his ability to connect with the audience through emotions and

    credibility to convince people to support gay rights.

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