Before the evening of August 19, 1992, Mary Fisher was known as successful television producer and an assistant to president at the time, Gerald R. Ford. Fisher gave the speech “Whisper of AIDS” during the 1992 Republican National Convention Address on August 19th in Houston, Texas. As being HIV positive herself, she became a spokesperson for the disease. HIV, which stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is a deadly disease that is capable of spreading rapidly among humans through bodily fluids. This virus weakens the necessary cells needed to fight infection within the immune system (“HIV/AIDS 101” par. 1). In her speech, she addresses that being aware of the disease is the key to finding a cure. During this state of time, those affected were being discriminated and rejected from society. The purpose of this speech was to get the attention of the audience and persuade them to inform awareness to others about this horrific disease. Mary Fisher’s “Whisper of AIDS” speech successfully demonstrates the qualities of ethos, logos and pathos appeals to …show more content…
Mary Fisher added importance to the topic of AIDS by being HIV positive herself, and proving to the audience that anyone is capable of contracting it. Within her speech, she equally uses the three rhetorical appeals ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade her audience. Considering the audience was a republican party that was aiming to improve the nations next generations, the speech was effective in pursuing awareness. Mary Fisher brings those that have contracted HIV courage in believing that because they have contracted the disease, does not mean their life is a ticking time bomb. She hopes to this day that her speech, “Whisper of AIDS,” advises those around the world to bring awareness in order to end the spread of this horrifying
Even after the disease and its modes of transmission had been correctly identified, fear and ignorance remained widespread. In the mid 1980s, “AIDS hysteria” became a well known term in the media and public life. For example, a magazine published details about how extensive AIDS/HIV related discrimination became. “Anxiety over AIDS in some parts of the U.S. is verging on hysteria,” the authors wrote; they later published this disturbing example:
Mary Fisher's speech on HIV and Aids was executed extremely well in almost every way possible. Out of all the aspects of Mary's speech, I felt her establishment of common ground is what made her speech so great. Pearson, Nelson, Titsworth, and Hosek (2016) says “common ground occurs when you and your audience share an understanding of the world”(p.246). Mary did a great job of sharing her understanding and views of HIV and Aids, which is helping to establish common ground with the audience. Also, Mary disclosed things about her personal life that made her establishment of common ground even greater with the audience. All in all, Mary’s use of common ground did great things for her during this speech about HIV
What I found astonishing is the fact that constantly had to reiterate the significance of the disease, and it makes me wonder what made the majority of individuals so oblivious to AIDS. Also, Gould pointed out the limited knowledge among individuals regarding AIDS and that was largely responsible for the “mysteriousness” of the disease. Gould continues to say that ignorance served just as big a role as the lack of knowledge for the disease. I feel that this true because the lack of knowledge and ignorance went hand and hand with each other as many individuals thought it could only happen to people with darker pigmentation, and different sexual orientation. In addition, with these ideals being forged into each person’s mind, it led to most individuals ignoring the issue completely, which in turn made each person less and less aware of the severity AIDS. This allowed the disease to contaminate much larger portions of the population because AIDS could spread in many ways, and the majority of individuals were not aware of it. Piggybacking this statement, I feel that AIDS was so deadly of a disease and that it increased so dramatically due to this ignorance and
Judith Walzer Leavitt's Typhoid Mary details the life of Mary Mallon, one of the first known carriers of the typhoid disease. Leavitt constructs her book by outlining the various perspectives that went into the decisions made concerning Mary Mallon's life. These perspectives help explain why she was cast aside for most of her life and is still a household catchphrase today. Leavitt paints a picture of the relationship between science and society and particularly shows how Mallon was an unfortunate example of how science can be uneven when it is applied to public policy. This paper will focus on the subjectivity of science and its' interaction with social factors which allowed health officials to “lock[ing] up one person in the face of thousands”, and why that one person was “Typhoid Mary” Mary Mallon (Leavitt p. #).
Now here's a controversial one - the portrayal of homosexuals and the ravages of AIDS in the movies. How exactly does a machine like Hollywood, not exactly known for its subtlety, cover subjects like these? Does it make a gritty, realistic adult portrayal of the issues at hand? Or does it make a soft-hearted and ultimately dishonest plea for acceptance? Take a guess.
On August 20th, 1992 Mary Fisher addressed the Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas in what is now one of the most famous speeches given in recent American history. Fisher, the daughter of a wealthy Republican, spoke on the importance being aware of the increasing danger of HIV/AIDS. Speaking from experience, Fisher is able talk about the danger of ignorance from the disease. She deploys metaphors and allusions pertaining to the Holocaust, as well as hypothetical experiences, to address a complacent, if not oppositional, Republican crowd. Fisher attempts to convince her political listeners of the very real danger that comes with ignoring HIV/AIDS. Fisher deploys a combination of the three appeals of logos, ethos and pathos to strengthen her speech as a persuasive argument. She expands upon her discussion by using metaphor throughout as an effective
Why does Jane Addams think women should have the right to vote? Please summarize her argument in your own words.
HIV is a serious issue that is commonly pushed off and considered an irrelevant topic. In “AIDS, Inc.” by Helen Epstein, the topics of lifestyle brands and government funded organizations were discussed, and provided readers with an understanding of the depths of the disease. The excerpt discusses programs (i.e. loveLife) that had the potential and opportunity to save and inform many lives, but failed to do so, which continues to be a problem today. Our government is capable of helping and educating those who are infected, and anyone who could become infected. Instead of acting like having the disease is something to be ashamed of, governments should fund clinics that provide free HIV testing and free protection to all genders, create a structured
Paul Monette in his autobiography, “Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir” wants to make the younger generation aware of all the mistakes, suffering and deaths his generation went through fighting with AIDS, as he is convinced that it might help the new generation survive. He wrote his life story in 1988, soon after he was diagnosed with HIV and two years after his partner and close friend Roger Horwitz died of AIDS.
Randy Shilts set out to make monumental changes in the world’s perspective of AIDS. He planned to enlighten, motivate, and educate the population on this tragic disease that has already claimed so many lives. He believed that virtually all the misconceptions about AIDS would be corrected and the public would insist that more be done to stop the epidemic. "I had hoped to effect some fundamental changes. I really believed I could alter the performance of the institutions that had allowed AIDS to sweep through America unchecked" (220). Shilts’s immense expectations positioned him for his inevitable sense of failure. He did not accomplished all that he had planned. AIDS was still spreading and people were still dying. "The bitter irony is, my role as an AIDS celebrity just gives me a more elevated promontory from which to watch the world make the same mistakes in the handling of the AIDS epidemic that I hoped my work would help to change"(220).
The goal of Hillary’s speech is to persuade her audience that her ideas are valid, by using ethos, pathos, and logos. Hillary is the First Lady and Senator, she shows credibility as an influential activist for woman rights. “Over the past 25 years, I have worked persistently on issues relating to women, children, and families. Over the past two and a half years, I’ve had the opportunity to learn more about the challenges facing women in my country and around the world” (Clinton 2).
She did not survive the Reagan Administration. I am here because my son and I may not survive four more years of leaders who say they care, but do nothing.” In this appeal Mrs. Glaser is appealing to her audience’s emotions, especially the emotions one feels when talking about their family like love and empathy. She mentions that her daughter has died because of this disease and that her son and herself are dying as well to show that this is a disease that can affect anyone and that it is crucial to work on cures or vaccinations to prevent others from suffering the way her family has. No mother or father wants to watch their children suffer and die because of a disease, so Mrs. Glaser uses her experience to appeal to those emotions.
"Demanding that life near AIDS is an inextricably other reality denies our ability to recreate a sustaining culture and social structures, even as we are daily required to devote such time to the details of the AIDS crisis." -Cindy Patton
The movie, And the Band Played On, portrays a current issue the U.S. health care system face: the effects of societal perceptions of people who should receive health care support. Those perceived as undeserving are disregarded. Homosexual men were the first to be affected by AIDS in the US, and because of this, the stigma of homosexuality prevented developing health care policy to control the epidemic. Homosexuality was, and to a lesser extent now, not widely accepted. Marginalizing gay individuals was seen in the movie at the beginning, when media coverage on AIDs would not include “homosexual” within the news title (Pillsbury, Sanford, & Spottiswoode, 1993). This represents how media has to be marketed; the broader public will not be interested if a new disease only affects an undesirable population. Another example of this negligence is seen when Phillip Burton is asked to introduce a bill on AIDS. He agrees, but does not hesitate to retort, “They couldn’t get a dime out of this administration with the name gay on it” (Pillsbury, Sanford, & Spottiswoode, 1993). Finally, in order to change the perception, at the CDC conference with blood agencies, they renamed gay related immune deficiency (GRID) to AIDS, and the film cuts to news segments finally covering
In retrospect, Fisher’s speech, especially its ethos, would not been as effective if she wasn’t a married mother of two who became HIV-positive by her husband. Her call to the American people to have “the strength to act wisely when we are most afraid leaves no question to what must be done in breaking the silence regarding AIDS, and the action that must be taken to prevent further devastation (3). She successfully uses Aristotle’s Rhetorical appeals to transcend the public’s barriers against the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the people afflicted with the disease.