In the dedicatory letter of Mary Wollstonecraft, the author is writing the letter in order to convey her thoughts to the recipient that french women should be treated equal to men, especially in terms of education. In the letter, a glimpse of French society at the time was given. Through the writer’s thoughts, it becomes abundantly clear that some women at the time question why they are taught to behave in a certain way, and why they must behave that way. Wollstonecraft tries to get the recipient to acknowledge that the rights of women are not the same as a man’s rights. What she wants from the recipient is some form of investigation in France in order to get something done about the injustice.
The discourse group that Wollstonecraft seems to identify with is feminism in France. This is evident by the fact that Wollstonecraft is trying to advocate for women’s rights that won’t only benefit her, but other women in France at the time.
Wollstonecraft uses a plethora of writing strategies to get her point across:
Quote 1
“I address you as a legislator: When men fight for their freedom, fight to be allowed to judge for themselves concerning their own happiness, isn’t it inconsistent and unjust to hold women down?”
The writing strategy used in this quote was “Logos”. Wollstonecraft used logos in order to make the objective comparison that women should be able to judge for themselves their own happiness just like how a man can.
I found this persuasive because it gets you thinking about her point in an objective manner.
Quote 2
“I have produced what seemed to me to be irrefutable arguments, drawn from matters of fact, to prove my often repeated assertion that women cannot by force be confined to domestic concerns.”
The writing strategy used here is “reiteration”. The writer states her points over again, this time in a more direct manner, in order to make it clear why she is writing.
I found this strategy effective because not only does she clarify her point in the letter, but it also adds more emphasis. Clarifying her point makes Wollstonecraft comes off as serious.
The second quote you pick is a good example of Wollstonecraft stopping to remind her reader what she has been arguing before moving on to more points. This is always a good strategy when we are trying to persuade a reader because it refocuses them by summarizing your point and interprets what you have been saying–just in case they somehow missed it.