Question

Read the excerpt from "Ain't I a Woman?" by Sojourner Truth.

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?

Which rhetorical techniques does the speaker use in this excerpt? Select three options.

ethos
shift
pathos
parallelism
understatement

Answer 1

Selected: ethos, pathos, parallelism.

- Ethos: The speaker establishes credibility by recounting her own life and labor ("I have ploughed and planted," "I have borne thirteen children"), grounding her argument in personal experience.
- Pathos: Emotional appeal is strong in the image of children sold into slavery and the speaker's suffering ("when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me!").
- Parallelism: Repetition of the structure and refrain "And ain't I a woman?" and similar clause patterns creates rhythm and emphasis.

Not selected: understatement (the passage is emphatic, not understated) and shift (no major rhetorical shift is central here).