Dorothea Dix is speaking on behalf of people who had mental illnesses and those who had been mistreated. The emotion she is attempting to convey in her report is one of outrage and compassion, highlighting the inhumane treatment and suffering that individuals with mental illnesses were enduring. Her vivid language emphasizes the cruelty and neglect faced by these individuals, aiming to evoke empathy and a call for reform in the treatment of the mentally ill.
Read this excerpt from Dorothea Dix's report.
Here is a definition to help you as you read.
Lashed = whipped
I proceed, gentlemen, briefly to call your attention to the present state of insane persons confined within this Commonwealth, in cages, closets, cellars, stalls, pens! Chained, naked, beaten with rods, and lashed into obedience.
Whom was Dix speaking on behalf of?
people who had mental illnesses
people who had been mistreated
people who were in prison
What emotion is Dix trying to convey in her report?
1 answer