The speech I chose to analyze is "A Wisper of AIDS" by Mary Fisher. The speech is focused mainly around persuading people to take action and speak up against AIDS. I Found the speech to be very effective in getting the message across. In this speech Fisher used the appeals of ethos, logos, and pathos to shape her very effective response to the situation at hand.
Mary Fisher established ethos from the moment she began speaking. She represented the demographic that people considered to be excused from AIDS, above falling victim to its devastating effects. This is not surprising in the present day because according to Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "...the face of AIDS has changed from being primarily a disease of white men, to a disease of people of all colors and both genders" (Oprah). At the time, in 1992, Fisher shocked people as a wealthy, upper-middle class white women that was HIV-positive. She used herself to show people that even if they thought they were untouchable, they were just as vulnerable as she was. Fisher was not only "safe" from HIV (Fisher, 1992). She went on to account for every additional factor that would stereotypically exempt her from contracting the virus when she said, "because I was not hemophiliac, I was not at risk. Because I was not gay, I was not at risk. Because I did not inject drugs, I was not at risk." The bottom line was, she was "off limits" to its effects, but she got it anyway (Fisher, 1992). This demonstrated to the audience that they were as much at risk as the next person, because AIDS does not discriminate. She identified with the audience's humanity several times, even repetitively asking them, "are you human? Because people with HIV have not entered some alien state of being. They are human." She evoked their sense of responsibility on behalf of their shared humanity with people affected by AIDS. She reminded them that, as humans, we should take care of one another. She even went further to really resonate with more of the audience when she compared people not supporting the HIV positive community to those during the Holocaust who did not stand up for the prosecuted Jewish population. She made them aware that if they did not embrace their duties to assist their fellow man, there was no guarantee that someone would be there when they themselves needed assistance.
While her own position and representation of the issue produced ethos, the frightening statistics surrounding the HIV virus created the essential component of logos necessary to convince the audience of the urgency of her speech. She logically presented her statistics, alarming listeners with projected numbers of HIV victims. She stated that, "worldwide, forty million, sixty million, or a hundred million infections will be counted in the coming years." Even the most skeptical audience would not dispute such statistics, trusting based on her strong ethos that she gathered them from very strong sources. She clearly knew that she was up against a tough crowd and prepared herself with information.
Although her use of logos made people comprehend the issue on an intellectual level, the emotional nature of this subject produced a very natural pathos. Fisher used emotional imagery, stating that on its path from HIV to AIDS, the epidemic was "littering its pathway with the bodies of the young." She used the image of a broken family struggling to stay positive as they dealt with their sick children, stating that her own mother "refused to be broken." After relating to her own circumstances, she pulled the audience back in with the statement, "if you do not see this killer stalking your children, look again." It is the natural duty of a parent to protect their children, so by saying that this disease would make it impossible to do so if they did not act, she instilled purpose in the audience. She captivated them by showing them they had a common goal, to protect their children. Fisher was most effective toward the end of the speech when she said premature goodbyes to her children to exhibit the urgent nature of her situation. She said, "I will not hurry to leave you, my children, but when I go, I pray that you will not suffer shame on my account." Not only was this statement devastating, but it also addressed that she felt shame due to her condition; shame that she prayed would not be a feeling her beloved children would carry with them. Every parent in the room could then relate to her, because leaving children behind is every parent's worst fear, and leaving them behind with the burden of shame makes it that much more painful.
Besides being calculated, Fisher was clear. She deliberately called for "courage," defining the word as "the strength to act wisely when we are most afraid." In communicating this powerful message, Fisher opened the eyes of her closed-minded audience using the rhetorical devices of ethos, logos, and pathos. She not only made them understand and empathize with her situation, but she empowered them to act against AIDs. Fisher's speech "made an immediate impression on the press because of the contrast it offered with the notably antigay and religiously conservative tone of the rest of the convention" (McGee). So, despite the odds against her, she carefully harnessed the rhetorical situation to her advantage, inspiring the audience to stand up for a safer future for their children.
References
"American Rhetoric: Mary Fisher -- 1992 Republican National Convention Address ("A Whisper of Aids")." American Rhetoric: The Power of Oratory in the United States. 20 Feb. 2012.
McGee, Jennifer J. "A Pilgrim's Progress: Metaphor in the Rhetoric of Mary Fisher, AIDs Activist." Women's Studies in Communication 26 (2003).
"Shocking HIV/AIDS Statistics - Oprah.com." Oprah.com. The Oprah Winfrey Show, 15 Jan. 2006. 22 Feb. 2012.