Mary Wollstonecraft wrote the “Dedicatory Letter” to a Vindication of the rights of a woman because she wants equality and human rights for all woman. She wants to prove that all woman deserve the same knowledge, civil rights and respect as men. Wollstonecraft’s discourse community is being a part of the woman in France and the people that stand up for woman rights. She represents the woman who have no right and self independence. She’s considered to be a part of the women in France because she only has some knowledge and she’s fighting for more. She’s fighting for all the uneducated woman with no power. The Recipient is not in the same DC and that’s why she is trying to get her point across and show that all women should have the same opportunities as men. The recipient is a man.
Quote 1: “If woman isn’t fitted by education to become man’s companion, she will stop the progress of knowledge’, because truth must be common to all; if it isn’t it won’t be able to influence how people in general behave. And how can woman be expected to cooperate if she doesn’t know why she ought to be virtuous? ”
Writing Strategy: ArgumentativeÂ
This strategy stands out to me because Wollstonecraft is using evidence that repeats her point to the recipient. She believes that all women deserve the same rights as men, especially education. If a woman is not educated how is she suppose to teach her child. They do not know anything and can not raise their kid the way the should be. Men want educated kids but their kids are getting raised by their uneducated wives.
Quote 2: “If children are to be brought up to understand the true principle of patriotism, their mother must be a patriot; and the love of mankind, from which an orderly sequence of virtues arises, can be produced only by attending to the moral and civil interest of mankind; but the upbringing and situation of woman at present shuts her out from such investigations.” (Wollstonecraft, page 2)
Writing strategy: Logos
Wollstonecraft uses logos strategy to make a logical connection. Men want their children to grow up to be educated and independent but their wives aren’t. The woman can not fulfill their duties for caring for their own children if they don’t know anything. Their wives need to have these characteristics and knowledge first so they can raise their kids the right way. Once they have the knowledge they will teach the children.
Both quotes you pick are really good examples of how Wollstonecraft uses the values of her listeners against them. For the listener, being a mother is the main role of women so she uses that role and embraces it as central to women to then argue for why their influence on children makes it important for women to be educated.