Kaylee Dorsey
William Deen
English lll
March 15th, 2017
Sarah Kay’s “If I Should Have A Daughter” speech was said to her future daughter preparing and exciting her for the world and self-discovery. Sarah Kay exclaimed her speech in the form of spoken word poetry to tell a story expressing her old and new experiences in an emotional and powerful way. Sarah’s variety of rhetorical devices throughout her speech engage the audience. Kay uses rhetorical strategy to connect with as many mothers and fathers as possible within her audience. Through Spoken Poetry and this speech specifically, Kay became a living, breathing example of rhetoric.
The speech begins with Kay using a metaphor to compare herself to “point B” so that no matter what…show more content… Her speech seems effortless, but well thought. “So the first time she realizes that Wonder Woman isn't coming, I'll make sure she knows she doesn't have to wear the cape all by herself, because no matter how wide you stretch your fingers, your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal” (Kay) is my favorite part of the speech. She uses adynaton to magnify just how much pain her future daughter will want to heal, but just how small her hands are compared to it. Throughout her speech she uses aposiopesis to create a dramatic and emotional tone to pull the audience in even more. She also uses humor to do this while explaining life to her daughter, she says, “But I know she will anyway, so instead I'll always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rain boots nearby, because there is no heartbreak that chocolate can't fix. Okay, there's a few that chocolate can't fix” (Kay). This was humorous, but truthful in that she knows that her future daughter, just like she did, will go through heartbreak as a part of
