Rhetorical Analysis of the Reformist Jane Adams - Research Paper Example

 Rhetorical Analysis Of The Reformist Jane Addams Name Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 – May 21, 1935) Reformer Biography Jane Addams and Ellen Gates her friend, co- founded Hull House in 1889 that was located in Chicago; the Hull House gave social and educational services to a large number of immigrant dwellers of the city in the crowded apartment buildings (Patricia 2013). Jane also published the book ‘Twenty Years at Hull House’ in 1910 that described the experiences in Chicago plus those on ethical aspects of life as it continued to develop; the contents of the book summoned some of the major elements of the “social gospel” a philosophy that tried to relate Christian morality with most society aspect and the general economy. In 1912, Addams was also among the lead supporters of Theodore Roosevelt on the Bull Moose (Progressive) party ticket; she also co- founded the Woman’s International League for Peace and Freedom which was a key facilitator of her winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. Cedarville Illinois was the birth place of Jane, she had eight siblings and was the second-last born of the family; their father was a successful political leader (local), serving sixteen years in the senate, fought as an officer in the Civil War and was a close friend of Abraham Lincoln; they used to call each other ‘My Dear Double’. Jane had an inherited spinal blemish that contributed to her physical instability through out her life though it was often remedied by surgery. Jane graduated from the Rockford Female Seminary class of Seventeen in 1881, be given a bachelor’s degrees the following year after the school was accredited to Rockford College for Women; later on she started studying medicine her health condition interfered as she was being hospitalized now and then. Jane travelled to Europewhere she continued with her studies for slightly less than two years after which she spent two more years writing and reading as she laid her objectives for the future; while there Jane and her friend Ellen Starr took a visit to Toynbee Hall, a settlement house in London’s East End which assisted greatly influenced a similar idea she had of starting a similar place for the underprivileged in Chicago. Ideas Jane is known to have come up with a variety of quotes with the most common being ‘Action indeed is the sole medium of expression for ethics’; others include; ‘Nothing could be worse than the fear that one had given up too soon, and left one unexpended effort that might have saved the world’, ‘The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life’, ‘Unless our conception of patriotism is progressive, it cannot hope to embody the real affection and the real interest of the nation’, ‘In his own way each man must struggle, lest the normal law become a far-off abstraction utterly separated from his active life’, and ‘Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we often might win, by fearing to attempt’ (Johnson 2013). Significantly, on top of Jane being a renowned reformist she has had a lot of attention from ample associations and people that campaign for the same; matter of fact, Google honored her as a social activist and a co-founder of Hull House, with a doodle on their homepage mainly for being among the most influential reformers of the progressive era and being the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 (Naomi 2013). Rhetorical Strategy Jane Addams wrote books and articles for magazines and newspaper as she continued on with her career, on factors such as women’s suffrage, child labor (passion for children and their education), world peace and poverty; she fought against political corruption supporting equality of gender and race which she did as a co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (Shmoop 2013). During her campaign, Addams became friends with Theodore Roosevelt and he used to take visits to the Hull House, often relating and interacting with the boy scouts and, the Hull House Boy’s Club Band and players. In 1912, when Roosevelt ran for the third term he decreed the urge for women suffrage, the outlawing of child labor and setting up of an eight-hour work day, all of which Jane was in support of hence making her support him in the election against Woodrow Wilson and President William Taft; she was actually the first woman to ever second the nomination of a contender (TRI 2013). She used a significant part of that year campaigning for Roosevelt through speeches, increasing responsiveness of these matters and hence gaining support for modification. Afterwards, Jane had a lot of concern on war, promoting global peace and pacifism; she was strongly against the First World War forming a Women’s peace party that held conferences i.e. in 1915 – Washington D.C. with thousands of women attending all of them promoting continuous mediation between countries. Addams was chosen the leader of Women’s international League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), a group they formed while at a peace conference in The Hague from women all over the world. The movement believed in Pacifism and, that, as women, they were in a better position of bringing peace to the world with Addams writing letters, organizing conferences, testifying before the US House of Representatives and even travelling to other nations seeking for support. Hull house gave considerable assistance during the Great Depression, which made a significant impact on her reputation; this was also the last thing she did before being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 (Larry 2002). Reactions from Different Audience and Overall Critique of Effectiveness, Morality or other Standard Even though Jane accomplished a lot i.e. being a reformer who was recognized internationally and most people supporting her in the campaign, however, there are a number of individuals that disliked her way of doing things claiming that she believed so strongly in peace that they saw her nonstandard once the world war started; this essentially led to her being expelled from the Daughters of the American Revolution (Nicole 2002). She also donated books to her old school library, Rockford College which resulted to her being made a trustee; nevertheless, she was disapproved after the first meeting by the other members under the notion that “no religious instruction was given at Hull House”. Concomitantly, Kasler, a German sociology specialist confirmed that indeed Addams was a factual sociologist through evaluating her using the criteria used to determine whether a person is a true sociologist i.e. they should occupy a chair of sociology or teach it, hold membership in the German Sociological Society (changed in this case to the American Sociological Society), co-authorship in sociological articles or textbooks, self-definition as "sociologists", and definition by others as a sociologist (NPO 2013); apparently, she had all these. References Naomi, S. (2013). Jane Addams of Hull House: Scholastic Reading Club. Retrieved on 19th September 2013, from http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4948 Nobel Prizes Organization (NPO)., (2013). Jane Addams Biographical: The Nobel Peace Prizes, 1931. Retrieved on 19th September 2013, from http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1931/addams-bio.html Larry, R. R., (August 12, 2002). Jane Addams 1860-1935: Bolender Initiatives. Retrieved on 19th September 2013, from http://www.bolenderinitiatives.com/sociology/jane-addams-1860-1935 Shmoop University (2013), Jane Addams: Muckrakers and Reformers. Retrieved on 19th September 2013, from http://www.shmoop.com/muckrakers-reformers/jane-addams.html Patricia, D. (2013). Jane Addams, Social Reformer and Founder of Hull House: 20th Century History. Retrieved on 19th September from http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/a/Jane-Addams.htm Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural (TRI)., (August 28, 2013). Laura Jane Addams: US Department of the Interior. Retrieved on 19th September 2013, from http://www.nps.gov/thri/jane-addams.htm Johnson, J. L. (2013). Jane Addams Quotes: Women History. Retrieved on 19th September 2013, from http://womenshistory.about.com/od/quotes/a/jane_addams.htm Nicole, B (2002). Jane Addams 1860-1935: Women’s Intellectual Contributions to the study of Mind and Society. 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