26 pages • 52 minutes read
Booker T. WashingtonAtlanta Exposition Speech
Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1895A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
Washington draws on the three modes of persuasion described by Aristotle (384-322 BC): ethos (establishing the credibility of the speaker), pathos (appealing to the listener’s emotions), and logos (appealing to the listener’s reason). Washington establishes his credibility (ethos) by presenting himself as concerned for the whole South rather than just the Black South and by eschewing radical activism in favor of patience and hard work. Such a self-presentation was likely to appear to his audience of mostly white Southern businessmen. He appeals to the emotions of his listeners in his descriptions of the love and devotion that Black people have shown to white people in the South and by alluding to the moral responsibility white people bear for the continued oppression of Black individuals. Finally, Washington’s motif of the buckets—that both Black and white people should “cast down their bucket[s] where they are” (Paragraphs 3 and 5)—demonstrate his appeal to logos (reason): By helping their Black neighbors, white Southerners will also help themselves.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word is applied to an object to which it is does not literally apply. Washington alludes to the well-known metaphor of the “invisible hand” of the free market, by which, according to Adam Smith, self-interested actions lead to social benefits. Markets don’t literally have hands, but the mechanisms of supply, demand, and prices direct human production into useful and efficient channels as a hand might. In Washington’s argument, economic independence for Black people will lead, as if directed by an invisible hand, to equal citizenship.
Motif
Motifs are images, ideas, sounds, or words that help to explain the central idea(s) of a literary work. The dominant motif of Washington’s speech is “your bucket” encapsulated in his repeated imperative, “Cast down your bucket where you are” (Paragraphs 3 and 5). He uses the motif to argue that Black people should stay in the South to work rather than migrating north or abroad and to argue that white employers should hire Black people rather than immigrants. In addition, the motif implies a mutuality between Black and white people—both of whom have buckets to cast down. Only in cooperation can each race reach its full potential.
Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that compares one thing with another of a different kind. Washington’s simile regarding a hand and fingers is among the most significant elements in his speech. Envisioning race relations in a future prosperous South, he asserts, “In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress” (Paragraph 6). While arguing for the removal of racial barriers in the economic sphere, Washington is willing (perhaps eager) to accept segregation in the social sphere. This proposal remains controversial today. Some see it as a bold declaration of Black self-sufficiency and the richness of Black culture, while others see it as a concession to segregation and white prejudice.
