Florence Kelley Speech Essay

In a speech by Florence Kelley, she claims that child labor laws are not strict enough. Kelley supports this claim by appealing to the emotions of the reader and making them feel guilty. The author’s purpose is to educate and inform the reader about the injustice of the child labor laws in order to make them feel like they have to fight for her cause. Based on her motivating tone, Kelley is writing to the lawmakers and men who can make a difference.

In her speech, Kelley appeals to the emotions of the reader by making them feel guilty. She repeats the detail of children working all night. In paragraph 3, she says, “Tonight while we sleep, several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills, all the night through . . .” Kelley is using the repetition of phrases like ‘tonight’ and ‘all night’ to emphasize the wrongness of the loose laws regarding child labor. In paragraph 4, she says, “. . . while we sleep little white girls will be working tonight in those states, working eleven hours a night.” She utilizes this guilt-inducing diction to make the reader feel bad that they are home sleeping comfortably while these young girls are working overnight in harsh conditions.

Florence Kelley’s purpose for the is to inform the reader about the injustice of the child labor laws in order to get them to fight for her cause. In paragraph 4 she says, “North and South Carolina and Georgia place no restriction upon the work of children . . .” She informs the reader