(Florence Kelley) 2011 Question 2 "Excellent Parallelism"

Beginning even before the 1800's, children of extremely young ages were put at work. Once a child learned how to walk, his next step was to learn how to work. Over the years, certain states have made laws pertaining to child labor issues. Work days were around 12 hours, and without acceptable breaks. Yet, the laws that did pass, only helped to a specific extent. They provided that children before a precise age could only work until the hour deemed appropriate enough to stop. But the precise age was still of a child; still too young for the working conditions to be acceptable. The same thing went for women, They had the same issues as did the adolescents. Yes, women were adults so it wasn't nearly as horrifying as for children. A woman's body has significant differences compared to a man's. An example would be the death of an un-fertilized egg (menstruation). This happens to a woman once a month and lasts a week on average. For her hygiene to remain proper, she has to regularly access the restroom. A case in many factories is that these restroom breaks weren't permitted, and women had to proceed with their employee responsibilities while sitting in their own filth. However, these unpleasant working conditions could be fought for; and were. One woman who fought for child labor laws and improved conditions for working women was Florence Kelley. On July 22, 1905, she gave a speech before the convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia on the topics earlier presented. In this speech, she used rhetorical strategies, such as pathos, ethos, and logos to fully convey her message on child labor to  her audience.

Pathos was used as she states descriptions of working environments of children in ways that could make a listener or reader feel a variety of emotion. "Tonight while we sleep, several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills, all the night through, in the deafening noise of the spindles and looms spinning and weaving cotton and wool, silks and ribbons for us to buy." She begins her description with speaking of what others are doing while these young girls are so dutifully working. Millions are asleep, resting, in the warmth of their beds, in the comforts of their homes; compared to the several thousand little girls working in textile mills alone. And for what purpose are they at work in the hours of the day that most reserve for rest? They are creating items for others to go out and buy.

In a way similar to her using pathos for emotional appeal, Kelley uses ethos as ethical appeal. By the law of New Jersey, children are not to work in unappealing hours before the age of fourteen. However, the day they turn 14, they can now work 12 hour shifts; daily. "A little girl, on her thirteenth birthday, could start away from her home at half past five ... without violating any laws of the Commonwealth." This, Kelley used as an example of what the situation is in Pennsylvania. This little girl carries her midnight luncheon pail at the same time other workers carry their midday luncheon pails. She is ready to work in the mill for 12 hours, from 6 at night to 6 in the morning, with only a miniscule break. This appeals to a person's sense of morals as it gets them to think of whether or not this is an okay thing to be happening.

Lastly, Kelley conveys her message on child labor using logos; logical appeal. Is it logical to have children and women in terrible working conditions? "Until the mothers in the great industrial states are enfranchised, we shall none of us be able to free our consciences from participation in this great evil." With this, women as workers and mothers of children in inappropriate working conditions, they need a say in what's going on at work.