The majority of people understand the basics of HIV and AIDS; however, few understand how much bigger the issue was only 25 years ago. Activist, Elizabeth Glaser, spoke about the issue of AIDS treatment at the Democratic National Convention in 1992.
If you’re interested, you can find the speech here.
To summarize Glaser’s speech, the past generations of leaders pushed back and procrastinated the problem of limited treatment for or protection from HIV. A large percentage struggled to afford healthcare, better yet insurance to help pay for the medicine needed to fight STDs. In fact, according to the speaker, her treatments cost $40,000 per year. In addition to protecting adults who contracted the disease, Glaser urges the world to recognize the dangers newborns face when exposed to HIV or AIDS during birth.
From a rhetorical analysis of the speech itself, Elizabeth Glaser earned the hearts of every person in the crowd. She tugged at their patriotic hearts by repeating the phrase “I believe in an America, but […]” close to five separate times. This repetition reminds the audience that America is everyone’s (but so are its problems). Glaser points out that too many people hear about the subject and think “it’s not my problem”, but she drives home the idea that it is because it is a problem affecting the entire country.
On a more specific note, Elizabeth Glaser took full advantage of Kairos in her speech. The greeks define Kairos as the right time, opportunity, occasion, or season (specifically for rhetors or rhetoricians), while others define Kairos as the right time to deliver a message to an audience with the hopes of persuading or compelling them to action.
To explain, a couple supporting arguments from Glaser’s speech appeal to the emotions of the audience. Although one can argue her direct timing (closely following her daughter’s death due to AIDS and her son’s worsening condition) contributes to her argument, her indirect timing could add a different level of connecting the audience with the use of a commonplace. The commonplace referred to being the death of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer from the infamous band Queen.
Freddie Mercury, a superstar in the 1970’s and ’80s, passed away in late November of 1991 due to HIV-related bronchopneumonia. Because so many people loved and admired Mercury, Glaser seized the moment, if you will. She found the kairos, or the perfect time, setting, and audience to give her address about treatment for HIV and AIDS.
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– Michael Magnotti
Part-time writer, Michael Magnotti, thrives on leading passionate people to see the world in different ways. Although Michael writes about very different topics, he uses them all as an easy-to-read guide for seeing what you didn’t know was there!
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Sources:
“HIV and AIDS.” Womenshealth.gov, Office on Women’s Health, 25 Mar. 2019, www.womenshealth.gov/hiv-and-aids.
“Freddie Mercury Short Biography” Biography Online, Biography Online, www.biographyonline.net/music/freddie-mercury.html.
The organization of you analysis is very well done. Your points/explanations are easy to follow with shorter paragraphs and well-worded sentences. Additionally, your dissection of Glaser speech effectively displays how she utilizes rhetorical terms such as kairos and repetition.
I appreciate the fact that you approached the kairos of Glaser’s speech from both her personal as well as a public perspective. I honestly didn’t even register the fact that a speech can be given at a time of kairos in the speaker’s personal life, therefore making their overall delivery and emotion behind the speech that much more legitimate. Very compelling and informative analysis.