Revision of Florence Kelley's writing Word count 602 On July 22nd, 1905, Florence Kelley delivered her speech in Philadelphia striving for improved child labor laws. Using rhetoric appeals such as ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade the audience, Kelley attempted to kick-start a movement in support of her goals, But, specifically what were her goals? Through the use of diction, syntax, and imagery, Kelley conveyed her argument against child labor by arguing for the pure sanctity and fragility of a child's life and the immense burden that working places on their frail shoulders. Through diction, Kelley strove to make use of logos and pathos in order to effectively illustrate the almost moral righteousness of her cause. Near line 30, Kelley references "little white girls" slaving away at work, for up to 11 hours and potentially more. This issued not only to convey her messages to women, who likely supported her already, but to potential men in the audience as well. It is also used to appeal to women of the South who may not have been as active in this campaign. The effectiveness and purpose of the line is revealed by one, seemingly minute detail, the girls used in appeal are white. This is a careful choice by Kelley in order to inspire a sadness over the fates of these children without tempting racial tensions of the racist at the time South. Furthermore, Kelley angles to convey her message to the South through her repetition of the "enlightened" statehood of Alabama, which placed an hour limit on how long children under 16 years of age could work. There were other states that could have been used as the example of light, but Alabama was deliberately chosen to avoid alienating Southerners and to show them the pathway to the lig...
