Mentor Text: (2) AOC gives powerful speech against misogyny after being called a 'f***ing b****' by GOP lawmaker - YouTube
Reason for choosing this text: Before we begin, I would like to clarify that my intention in showing this speech is not to glorify this specific speaker, but I find her speech relevant to our real-world campaigns and the message we want to communicate and who needs to hear it.
For context: The event that sparked this speech was Representative Ted Yoho calling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a 'fucking bitch' on the Capitol steps after AOC made remarks tying poverty and unemployment to the recent spike in crime in New York City. Then Yoho addressed the situation in front of Congress calling the exchange a “misunderstanding” and refused to apologize for having “passion” and for loving God, his family, and his country and saying that he too has a wife and a daughter. So, AOC felt the need to speak up about the poor excuse and the precedent set.
This can teach us about composition, specifically the message we want to communicate, because AOC's message was that "his actions demonstrate to the world how powerful men can be verbally aggressive towards women." That using women, wives, and daughters is not an excuse for poor behavior and she clearly states that her intended audience is her nieces, the girls she goes home to, and victims of verbal assault, that she will not allow them to see that excuse and see congress accept it as an apology and silence as a form of acceptance. That her message is important because Yoho was giving permission for other men to use such abusive language against other women, wives, and daughters and her intention is to say that it's not acceptable. She does this by recounting her personal experience, explaining why her speaking up is important, who her audience is, and uses the analogy of her also being a daughter to stress how using wives and daughters is a poor excuse for that language.
The strategies that we can copy are her organization, how she clearly discussed her purpose and its importance and the use of an analogy between her being a daughter and representative Yoho having a daughter and tying that into personal experience.
Lastly, this genre is future leaning because the central purpose is tackling misogyny and highlighting the importance of not staying silent so that verbal abuse and poor excuses are not accepted.
To practice this strategy, I would like everyone to write for a few minutes to refine your central purpose and really dive into why it's important that your audience hear your message.
Example: My central message is recognizing the added difficulties that low-income first-generation students face such as financial barriers that make college seem unreachable, ineffective family engagement, resources and support, and the fear of being incapable of performing academically. This is an important message directed towards other first gen students with the intention of recognizing those added barriers and celebrating their achievements with the hope of increasing college enrollment rates and dropout prevention.
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