Booker T. Washington

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30 years after Emancipation Proclamation
Invitation from powerful Southern leaders
Exposition promotes economy of region
Must appeal to audience’s self interest
Need for respectful tone
Embrace values of hard work

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Cooperative relationship with whites
Gradual approach to change
First step for African Americans - workforce
“Cast down your bucket where you are”
Types of work

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Positive at the time
White southerners not threatened
All could get behind message of self reliance
Later…and much later
 W.E.B. DuBois and Civil Rights era thinkers critical of ideas in speech

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History has been kind to Washington
Shrewd
Knew how to approach rich and powerful

 Logos: Factual opening, $ benefits to South
 Ethos: Reasonable and knowledgeable, ready to work on mutual goals
 Pathos: Figurative language, biblical allusions and quotes, connotative language

 “No race can prosper till it learns there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem”
 Importance of practical education
 Emphasis by CONTRAST

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Parallelism : “cast down”, “casting down”
Synecdoche (part for whole): head, heart, hand
Periodic Sentence (builds toward main clause):
“As we have proved our loyalty to you…”
Analogy: “we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress”
Emphasize the approach he advocates