U4 Speech to Ohio Women's Conference Skill

Define

Comparing and contrasting are processes we use all the time to distinguish between two or more things. We use them so often,
we hardly think about it—choosing what to wear, what to buy, or where to go. When you compare things, you’re noting how
they’re similar. When you contrast things, you’re noting how they’re different. When you read, comparing and contrasting can
help you analyze and understand all sorts of things, from what two characters have in common to how differently two texts
treat the same theme or topic.

Identification and Application:

●When you compare and contrast one author’s presentation of events with that of another, first look for similar
information in both texts.

●Next, look for conflicting information in the two texts, and identify where the texts disagree on matters of fact or
interpretation. Make a list or create a Venn diagram to illustrate what aspects of each text are similar and different.

Model

In 1851, when Sojourner Truth gave her famous speech at the Ohio Women’s Conference, there were no microphones, cameras, or other recording
devices to deliver her exact words to the public. It was the role of reporters to evaluate and interpret the speech and describe what they heard. Two
different accounts of Truth’s speech were published in newspapers more than 10 years apart. Each account paraphrased Truth’s words and related
the same overall pro-rights message for women as well as African Americans.

Frances Dana Gage’s account that was published in the Anti-Slavery Standard in 1863 has more casual language and may be read aloud more easily
as a speech. Read this excerpt from Frances Dana Gage’s account of Sojourner Truth’s speech:

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere.
Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I
have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a
man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery,
and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?

To compare Gage’s account with Marius Robinson’s account from Anti-Slavery Bugle, published in 1851, let’s locate the section that addresses the
same part of the speech :

I want to say a few words about this matter. I am for a woman’s rights. I have as much muscle as any man, and can do as much work as any man.
I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed, and can any man do more than that? I have heard much about the sexes being
equal. I can carry as much as any man, and eat as much too, if I can get it. I am as strong as any man that is now.

Model

Both versions of the speech do agree on Sojourner Truth’s basic overall message. Robinson’s account states it in a simple sentence: I am
for a woman’s rights. Both accounts are also about the same idea—Truth considers herself as strong and capable as any man. But notice
that Gage records Truth saying, “I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me!” Robinson takes the
same sentence and changes it to read “I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed, and can any man do more than
that?” Robinson takes Truth’s vernacular speech, or the language native to the people of a certain place, and changes it so it is more
easily understood. She makes it easier for a larger audience to understand exactly what Sojourner Truth is saying, but some of the flavor
and passion of Truth’s words have been lost.

To further contrast these accounts of the same speech, let’s consider another way these two sections of the speech differ. In Frances
Dana Gage’s account, Sojourner Truth refutes a man’s suggestion that women should be helped into carriages and lifted over ditches by
saying “Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles ...And ain’t I a woman?” The second version does not include these
examples from Sojourner’s own experience. Again, this makes Robinson’s account less personal and more formal.

Your Turn

Read and compare the excerpts from the two accounts of Sojourner Truth: Speech to the Ohio Women’s Conference to
answer the follow-up questions.

From account by Frances Dana Gage, Anti-Slavery Standard:

Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [Member of audience

whispers, "intellect."] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes'

rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure
full?

From account by Marius Robinson, Anti-Slavery Bugle:

As for intellect, all I can say is, if a woman have a pint, and a man a quart—why can't she

have her little pint full? You need not be afraid to give us our rights for fear we will take too much—for we can't take more than
our pint'll hold.

Multiple Choice

How are the paragraphs the same and different?

• They both make the same comparisons, but the second paragraph is more formal.

• They are both about the same topic, but the first account is more formal.

• They both make an analogy, but the first one is only about African American people’s rights.

• They are both about intellect, but the first one uses an analogy.

Multiple Choice

Which excerpt from the passage demonstrates how the first account has a different effect than the second account?

• …women’s rights or negroes’ rights?”

• “That’s it, honey.”

• “You need not be afraid to give us our rights…”

• “Member of the audience whispers…”