Sojourner Truth
Holly Cagle
1st period
English 2
4/12/13
Background
 Sojourner Truth gave her speech because she wanted
to teach people that no matter what color you are, you
are still the same as others.
 Truth was born into slavery in 1797 and freed in 1827.
 She was at a convention and she wanted to prove to
men that woman should have the same rights as men.
 Her real name is Isabella Baumfree.
Video of The Inaugural Speech
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XilHJc9IZvE
Video of Me Giving the Speech
 “Then that little man in black there, he says women
can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't
a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where
did your Christ come from? From God and a woman!
Man had nothing to do with Him.”
SOAPSTone- Subject
 Subject: Sojourner spoke her mind. At a women’s
convention in Ohio, men stood up and argued that
women should not have the same rights as men.
Truth’s argument was that women should have the
same rights as men.
 “If the first woman God ever made was strong enough
to turn the world upside down all alone, these women
together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it
right side up again!”- Truth is saying that women
should be given a right as powerful as we are.
SOAPSTone- Occasion
 Occasion: Truth’s speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?” was
spoken in December 1851. It was given at a Woman’s
Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.
SOAPSTone- Audience
 Audience: Specifically to men who thought that
women shouldn’t have the rights as them, women who
wanted rights, blacks, and everyone at the Women’s
Rights Convention.
 “I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the
women at the North, all talking about rights, the white
men will be in a fix pretty soon.”- Truth is wanting
blacks and women to hear this specifically.
SOAPSTone- Purpose
 Purpose: “Ain’t I a Woman?” is for women to have the
same rights as men.
 “Then that little man in black there, he says women
can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't
a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where
did your Christ come from? From God and a woman!
Man had nothing to do with Him.”- She is explaining
that men is not as powerful as they think.
SOAPSTone- Speaker
 Speaker: Sojourner Truth was the speaker, but also
women was behind her as well.
 “And now they is asking to do it, the men better let
them.”- Not only Truth is the speaker, but also women
who wants rights.
SOAPSTone-Tone
 Tone: Powerful, eager, and demanding.
 “Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-
puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a
woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed
and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man
could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as
much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it and bear the lash as well!”- Truth’s tone is powerful
and demanding of how she’s showing that she’s a
woman.
Major Premise/Theme/Main Idea
 “Then that little man in black there, he says women
can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't
a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where
did your Christ come from? From God and a woman!
Man had nothing to do with Him.”
 Truth is trying to tell everyone that women should
have the same rights as the men.
Ethos
 Ethos: Truth’s strong presence, as she was six feet tall,
with a demanding voice.
Pathos
 Pathos: “I have borne thirteen children, and seen most
all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my
mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me!”
-Truth is using this to get the audience emotional
about her speech.
Logos
 Logos: “If the first woman God ever made was strong
enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these
women together ought to be able to turn it back , and
get it right side up again!”
-Truth is saying that if women made the world the
way it is, then why cant women help fix it.
-She makes it logical that women has
the power just like men.
Repetition
 “That man over there says that women need to be helped
into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best
place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or
over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a
woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and
planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head
me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as
much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as
well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children,
and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out
with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't
I a woman?” –Truth use the statement “ain’t I a woman” in
her speech.
Phrasing/Meaning
 “I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the
women at the North, all talking about rights, the white
men will be in a fix pretty soon”
-Truth is saying that all over the states, north or
south, there will be a change in rights.
 “If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a
quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my
little half measure full?”
-Truth is saying that you have more than me, but
you still will give me less than what I have.
Powerful Lines
 “If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart,
wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half
measure full?”
 “Then that little man in black there, he says women can't
have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman!
Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ
come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to
do with Him.”
 “If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to
turn the world upside down all alone, these women
together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right
side up again!”
Literary Devices Used
 “If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a
quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my
little half measure full?”
-If you have more than me already, why would you
keep taken away?
 “If the first woman God ever made was strong enough
to turn the world upside down all alone, these women
together ought to be able to turn it back.”
- If women got the world this bad today, why can’t
we have the power to change it since we did it?
To follow…
 This speech that Truth delivered, is now recognized as
one of the most famous women’s rights speeches in
American history.
 She continued to speak our for rights of African
Americans and women throughout the Civil War.
Questions?