A season of silence broken: a rhetorical perspective on reality construction through the analysis of suffrage rhetoric

Abstract

This study asked how the early suffragists attempted to change the male dominated construction of reality that denied women the right to vote. In the process it uncovered some of the ways nineteenth century women used the same language that bound and discriminated against them in order to free them. Through a discussion of the symbolic construction of reality this project found that language shapes people's perceptions, and subsequently, their perception of reality. Using three pieces of suffrage rhetoric as a text, this project uncovered the linguistic choices the suffrage rhetoric made in their attempt to persuade, and change their audience's beliefs and perceptions of reality. Using metaphorical analysis, this project found that the rhetors tied commonly held beliefs to the new beliefs they wanted to share in order to gain acceptance of their perspective.