Author: Author and activist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is known for her many works of literature and for inspiring men and women around the world to become feminists and to fight for gender equality. Adichie has spent almost her entire life fighting for her own equality and trying to move away from the gender standards which were very present in her everyday life as a Nigerian woman. Within this text specifically, she speaks about significant events in which she experienced gender inequality, which mainly was used in very subtle forms, how she has learned from those experiences, and how she plans those standards.

Rhetorical Situation/Exigence: In her speech, Adichie speaks about her own experience with gender inequality and how prominent it is in our everyday lives. As per the title of the speech, she attempts to convince her audience why we should all be feminists and why the fight for gender inequality is fundamental for the overall development of our society. Chimamanda Adichie is responding to the problem with gender inequality and how it impacts women all over the world.

Audience: Adichie’s target audience would be both women and men who believe there is an issue within society and its approach to gender equality. As she speaks, she does not try to force feminism upon those who don’t want to be informed about it. But she speaks as though her audience contains people who are already knowledgable about the subject and are willing to attempt to change the situation for the better. Adichie speaks about her experiences as if her audience can already relate and connect with them. Thus, convincing the listener that her audience has prior knowledge on the subject.

Purpose: The purpose of this text is simply to convince the audience why becoming a feminist is so important. Within her speech, she is trying to explain the impact of gender inequality on society by using her own personal experiences. Adichie wants to make the effects of gender inequality known in order to make life easier for future generations. She states how she would want others to raise their children to be themselves and have their own identity rather than being forces to conform to the gender standards with their cultures or within the world in general.

Genre: The genre of this speech would be considered a persuasive speech. Adichie uses her own experiences and the perspectives of someone on the other side of the argument in order to persuade the audience. She attempts to persuade the audience to become feminists and support the movement for gender equality.

Stance: Chimamanda Adichie makes it very evident how supportive she is about the women’s movement and how she too is a feminist. She explains what feminism is and how all of the experiences she faced throughout her life and how they motivated her to try to bring about the change she wanted to see in the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg3umXU_qWc

Name: Faith Morales

Intended Major: Architecture

Preferred Pronouns: She/Her

Upon reading the course syllabus and Composition as a Write of Passage, I now understood how important this course will be. As an architecture student, I was able to identify with Godwin Erekaife in that I did not realize the purpose of taking this course and how it would benefit my professional life. Yet, I now know how crucial Freshman Composition would be for the development of my career. I am excited to broaden my writing skills for the sake of communicating with others.

During my high school years, I constantly doubted myself and my ability to write. I found it difficult to develop the story I was trying to tell. When I would write papers for school, assignments would be challenging because the ideas I had were difficult for me to portray on paper. To this day, I still struggle with organizing my thoughts onto paper and I am most afraid my obstacle would be shown throughout the duration of the course.

While reading Composition as a Write of Passage, one of the key points she mentioned she learned from her Freshman Composition course was the ability to recognize your audience when writing. As my knowledge of writing grew, I was able to adapt to my circumstances and efficiently write for my audience. Adapting has become my strength when writing and I believe it could be an extremely important factor for anybody’s work.

I am excited to learn more and improve my skills as a writer. As a future architect, I know communication will be key during my career. My ability to communicate with various clients and being able to acknowledge their choice of language will be crucial for the success of my business. I understand a good writer is capable of recognizing their objective and including various aspects to make their work as exceptional as possible. I am excited to learn and expand my knowledge of writing in order to benefit myself and my future.