Margaret Sanger's 'The Children’s Era': Advocating Birth Control with Figurative Language | Study notes English Language

Callie Poole

Professor Green

ENGL 377

12 March 2009

Lesson of the Gardener

Raising children is like tending to a garden. Children must be given the proper

nutrients, protected from the evils of the world just as a budding plant must be protected

from weeds, and they must be nurtured so that they can grow to their full potential like a

plant. In the speech “The Children’s Era” given by Margaret Sanger, she strategically

uses the literary devices of figurative language, such as her analogy above, and

cataloguing to successfully convince the reader that the use of birth control could

eliminate a lot of problems in society.

“The Children’s Era” was delivered in 1925 and was promoting the use of birth

control. Sanger states, “When we point out the one immediate practical way toward order

and beauty in society, the only way to lay the foundations of a society composed of

happy children, happy women, and happy men, they call this idea indecent and immoral.”

Sanger tries to make her audience understand that too many children are born to parents

who are ill prepared for them and/ or don’t want them, thus setting these children up for

failure from the beginning. Sanger points out that many of these children will end up in

“the ever- growing institutions for the unfit” or “behind the bars of jails and prisons”

because they will be raised by parents who don’t care enough about them to give them a

proper upbringing or cannot afford to give them a proper upbringing.

Sanger heavily relies on the use of figurative language to make her speech a

success. “The Children’s Era” was delivered in 1925 when much of the population still

worked in the farming industry. Early in Sanger’s speech she gives an analogy about

gardening to represent the time and effort that goes into raising and caring for a child.

Sanger states, “Before you can cultivate a garden, you must know something about

gardening. …we must first of all learn the lesson of the gardener.” In the gardening

analogy Sanger is using ethos combined with figurative language to get her point across.

Sanger demonstrates her knowledge of gardening which is relatable to her audience, and

then cleverly makes them realize how the two seemingly unconnected tasks are indeed

similar. Sanger uses ethos in this example to establish common ground with her audience

and in turn make them more willing to consider her point.

Sanger then goes on to describe people as “a sort of silly reception committee…at

the Grand Central Station of life.” Once again, Sanger has used figurative language in an

attempt to not only hold her audience’s attention, but to establish common ground with

them. Sanger’s audience would have been familiar with the Grand Central Station and the

“charitable effort[s]” such as “milk stations, maternity centers, and settlement houses”

that she refers to in her speech.

Sanger also uses a combination of pathos and figurative language to appeal to her

audience. People are already naturally sympathetic to the misfortunes of innocent

children, and she used this emotional appeal to her advantage. Sanger refers to the

children as “nameless refugees arriving out of the Nowhere” and says that many are

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Callie Poole Professor Green ENGL 377 12 March 2009 Lesson of the Gardener Raising children is like tending to a garden. Children must be given the proper nutrients, protected from the evils of the world just as a budding plant must be protected from weeds, and they must be nurtured so that they can grow to their full potential like a plant. In the speech “The Children’s Era” given by Margaret Sanger, she strategically uses the literary devices of figurative language, such as her analogy above, and cataloguing to successfully convince the reader that the use of birth control could eliminate a lot of problems in society. “The Children’s Era” was delivered in 1925 and was promoting the use of birth control. Sanger states, “When we point out the one immediate practical way toward order and beauty in society, the only way to lay the foundations of a society composed of happy children, happy women, and happy men, they call this idea indecent and immoral.” Sanger tries to make her audience understand that too many children are born to parents who are ill prepared for them and/ or don’t want them, thus setting these children up for failure from the beginning. Sanger points out that many of these children will end up in “the ever- growing institutions for the unfit” or “behind the bars of jails and prisons” because they will be raised by parents who don’t care enough about them to give them a proper upbringing or cannot afford to give them a proper upbringing. Sanger heavily relies on the use of figurative language to make her speech a success. “The Children’s Era” was delivered in 1925 when much of the population still worked in the farming industry. Early in Sanger’s speech she gives an analogy about gardening to represent the time and effort that goes into raising and caring for a child. Sanger states, “Before you can cultivate a garden, you must know something about gardening. …we must first of all learn the lesson of the gardener.” In the gardening analogy Sanger is using ethos combined with figurative language to get her point across. Sanger demonstrates her knowledge of gardening which is relatable to her audience, and then cleverly makes them realize how the two seemingly unconnected tasks are indeed similar. Sanger uses ethos in this example to establish common ground with her audience and in turn make them more willing to consider her point. Sanger then goes on to describe people as “a sort of silly reception committee…at the Grand Central Station of life.” Once again, Sanger has used figurative language in an attempt to not only hold her audience’s attention, but to establish common ground with them. Sanger’s audience would have been familiar with the Grand Central Station and the “charitable effort[s]” such as “milk stations, maternity centers, and settlement houses” that she refers to in her speech. Sanger also uses a combination of pathos and figurative language to appeal to her audience. People are already naturally sympathetic to the misfortunes of innocent children, and she used this emotional appeal to her advantage. Sanger refers to the children as “nameless refugees arriving out of the Nowhere” and says that many are

“unwelcome, unwanted, unprepared for, etc.” Any person hearing children referred to as “nameless refuges” who are “unwanted” will feel sorry for them. In this speech Sanger wants her audience to understand that if these unwanted children were not brought into this world in the first place, then there would be no “unwanted” or “unwelcome” children in the world. Sanger’s figurative and vivid language in this example is very successful in encouraging the audience to understand and accept her point. Along with the use of figurative language, cataloguing is also present in Sanger’s speech. When Sanger talks about the Grand Central Station of Life and how adults are like the “reception committee” trying unsuccessfully to help all of the “unwanted” children, she lists the “emergency measures” taken: “settlement houses, playgrounds, orphanages, welfare leagues, etc.” By cataloguing measures that are taken to help these children, she is proving to the audience that people really have put in a great amount of effort to help these “unwanted” children, but that it’s too great of a problem to be resolved with their efforts alone. In this instance, Sanger is using logos to appeal to the rational side of her audience and show them that even though they may be opposed to birth control, without its help “unwanted” children will continue to come into this world and hinder society through resources and possibly through a life of crime. Sanger is successful in her use of pathos combined with cataloguing throughout the speech. In the same section just discussed, she lists words to describe what the children are: “unwelcome, unwanted, unprepared for, etc.” All of these negative words placed in a list serve to make the audience see just how sad the lives of these children are and that maybe it could have been prevented through the use of birth control. Another instance of her use of cataloguing combined with pathos is when she is speaking about how a mother who does not want to have a baby and is in an “enforced maternity,” may “chemically poison” the blood which “may produce a defective baby.” Sanger states that a baby with chemically poisoned blood may be “a child foredoomed to idiocy, or feeble- mindedness, crime, or failure.” This list of depressing outcomes serves to “tug at the heart strings” of Sanger’s audience and make them think that unwanted babies could be detrimental to society and strike fear in their hearts. Sanger successfully uses figurative language and cataloguing to appeal to the pathos, ethos, and logos of her audience. Sanger’s figurative language serves to hold her audience’s attention and helps to establish commonality between them and her. Sanger’s vivid language also helps to boost the emotional impact that she has on her audience. Sanger’s use of cataloguing reinforces her points through repetition and through numerous examples. Through the use of these two literary tools, she is able to prove to her audience that her point is indeed valid and that this problem needs to be addressed before it even has the chance to occur.

Margaret Sanger's 'The Children’s Era': Advocating Birth Control with Figurative Language , Study notes of English Language

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Download Margaret Sanger's 'The Children’s Era': Advocating Birth Control with Figurative Language and more Study notes English Language in PDF only on Docsity!