Mary ann shadd cary rhetorical analysis

     Mary Ann Shadd Cary, an African American newspaper publisher, wrote “Why Establish This Paper?” that appeared in the second issue of the Provincial Freeman. After reading an excerpt from it, one is able to identify and analyze the techniques Cary used in the process of writing the paper.

The author uses these techniques to ultimately appeal to her readers on many different levels. 

     The first technique that is used within her piece is personification. Within the first paragraph, it states: “As the great country grows, we grow with it; as it improves and progresses, we are carried forward on the bosom of its onward tide.” You can observe the personification in that statement because it gives a human trait, the bosom, to a non-living object, the country.

This technique enhances the paper because by associating non-living objects with human qualities, it allows people to relate to the idea or statement being proposed.