As the other educator states, Sojourner Truth never actually wrote her own published speeches. Instead, her public performances were written down and later published by someone who witnessed her speech.

To really analyze Truth’s rhetorical style, I will focus on her most famous speech, “Ain’t I A Woman?”

First, Truth was a traveling Christian preacher later in life, which is why she changed her birth name from Isabella Baumfree. As such, Truth uses conversational diction and even popular slang in her speech. This appeals to the audience, because it makes the listener feel as though he or she is involved in a conversation with Truth.

She also uses repetition of the rhetorical question “Ain’t I a woman?” After providing an example of what men say women should do, she asks this question to underscore the inequitable treatment she receives as a black woman. This makes her opposition seem hypocritical.

She also uses logical reasoning to dismantle the religious arguments used against women’s rights. She explains how Christ might have lived as a man, as priests say, but that he was born from a woman. Truth uses this as evidence that men had nothing to do with Christ’s existence.

Her use of repetition, conversational diction, and logic made Truth a powerful public speaker.

Sojourner Truth never actually wrote any of her speeches.  Having lived most of her life in slavery, Sojourner Truth was illiterate.  She did receive some education from a Quaker family who took her in after  New York, her home at the time, abolished slavery in the state. 

Most of our versions of Sojourner Truth's speeches that we have recorded today were originally transcribed or copied down by someone who was in attendance and heard her speak.  For example, her famous "Ain't I a Woman Speech?" was transcribed by Frances Dana Gage, who was the coordinator at the Women's Rights Convention. 

Regardless of who wrote down her speeches, Sojourner's style was honest and rhetorically powerful.  Her "Ain't I a Woman?" speech uses parallel phrasing, repetition, and cadence to drive her point home.  She was a brilliant, natural speaker and an incredibly intelligent women despite the hardship of her humble beginnings.