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Kailey Dashiell, Allison Cross, Keira Godfrey

Ms. Woelke

Pre AP ELA 9

6 February 2019

Minou Tavárez Mirabal Speech Rhetorical Group Essay

In Minou Tavárez Mirabal’s informative speech, “Violence Against Women and the

Example of the Mirabal Sisters” (6 November 2006), she emphasized the importance of stopping

violence against women and the example the Mirabal sisters set in fighting for freedom and

equality. The speaker first starts by providing historical evidence to prove that violence against

women has changed the political climate of many countries over the years, she then connects the

Mirabal sisters to the movement by explaining what strong and independent women sacrifice to

fight for gender equality, and to conclude she shows the impact the Mirabal sisters have made by

showing all of the people who have joined the fight, and those who agree with the Mirabal sisters

views. Her purpose is to inform and persuade people to join the movement in order to create an

equal and loving world, where we all benefit from each other. She seems to have a concerned

and determined audience in mind because she knows that caring and dedicated people will not

stop until the fight for equality and ending violence against women is achieved.

When Minou Tavárez Mirabal first addresses the audience she introduces her topic of

‘Violence against Women’ as an “Issue” that has never “been more relevant than it is today”

(Tavárez Marabal 1). She states that this is a serious global problem but focuses on the situations

of the Dominican Republic. Tavárez Mirabal then provides information on the Dominican

Republic’s “invisible half of history” that is filled with “faceless women” ( Tavárez Mirabal 1)
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who believed group suicides were the only way to escape the public agenda. This brutality

towards women influenced the agenda that revolved around the building of democratic processes

and the change that established laws that grant women the ability to be involved with politics.

Mirabal claims to want to follow in their footsteps and uncover a past that has been buried under

layers of lies and deception. With her devices in mind she set out to inform others of the

devastating treatment of women with the intention of ending many people's suffering. With her

use of diction and loaded language she asserted her beliefs and concerns in away that helped

build her rapport and genuine call for peace. (Kailey Dashiell)

Tavárez Mirabal moves on to emphasize the need for people to stand up and fight for the

violence to be ended. In paragraph four, she states her hopes and dreams for the future, where

everyone is treated equally and violence against women is eliminated. She then moves on and

uses shocking historical accounts to strengthen her argument. In her emotional and informative

speech, she demonstrates her knowledge of the, “passage of the Law 24-97,” and how it

“penalizes violence against women and domestic or intra-family violence,” (Tavárez Mirabal 2).

This builds rapport with the audience, as she is clearly well educated on Dominican laws and

regulations. By pulling out this piece of evidence, she persuades more people to join the fight,

because they realize how many people have no regard for the rules, and are abusing women

carelessly. She then moves on to talk about her personal life, and the lives of her mom and aunts.

This draws the audience in, because she is sharing a vulnerable part of herself and her family.

Towards the end, she shares her main hopes and goals, and what she wishes to achieve by

fighting for stopping violence against women. In doing so, she utilizes pathos, and adds in a lot

of loaded language. In this part of the speech, Minou Tavárez Mirabal uses emotional and
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hopeful loaded language by talking about the Dominican democracy and how it’s, “firmness,

organizational ability and political acumen guide the group,” (Tavárez Mirabal 4). She strongly

and clearly states what happened in the Dominican Republic, showing once again that she is very

knowledgeable when it comes to politics. And she uses loaded language to persuade the audience

to fight to stop violence against women. She opens up to her supporters and sympathizers for the

cause, in hopes of finding people who can help. (Allibeth Cross)

Minou concludes by saying how everyone needs to work together to end the violence

against women and how the Mirabal sisters are still guiding those people. Minou shows her

desire for a future where everyone can collaborate to eliminate gender inequality and “seek

consensus” with people, in order to “gain access for more women to the spaces where the

decisions that change political life are taken,” (Tavárez Mirabal 4). This is done through loaded

language and trying to keep peace with the audience, while simultaneously rallying them to try

and take action towards equality. The diction in this sentence is one of hope and determination,

which mirrors Minou’s attitude towards the topic of impartiality. Keeping peace with the

audience makes it easier for them to see her point and agree with it, instead of becoming

defensive towards her ideals. She also says how the Mirabals are still leading those who wish for

equality by saying how she once again wants to “raise our voice” to implore how “Minerva lives,

that the Mirabal sisters live, no longer just in the Dominican Republic, but here among you,”

(Tavárez Mirabal 4). This hopeful call to action stirs feelings of pride in the reader by suggesting

that they are a part of something bigger than themselves. This word choice suggests she is trying

to get the reader to join her fight, and help win the war against gender violence. Additionally,

this sentence helps to wrap up the symbolism of the “Butterfly” sisters by essentially passing the
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torch of revolution to the reader, meaning that she is opening up something personal to her to

other people who share her determination. Minou Tavárez Mirabal uses moving and powerful

diction, along with building rapport by keeping peace with the audience and opening up a cause

that is very personal to her. (Keira Godfrey)

In conclusion, Minou Tavárez Mirabal calls out people to join the cause against violence

towards women, and she brings awareness to what the Mirabal sisters sacrificed for this

movement. She does this by using powerful diction and loaded language, surprising facts and

historical accounts, and building rapport with the audience by calling out authority figures and

showing how she is a reliable source of information. First, she introduces her topic and addresses

how violence against women affected the past and the lives of many.​ ​Then she shares her

personal stories and memories of her mother and aunts, in hopes of recruiting people to fight for

a worthy cause. ​ ​Finally she, utilizes strong, emotional diction to show readers why she wants

them to work together, and uses the symbolism of the ¨Butterfly”sisters to give legitimacy to the

cause she wants everyone to fight for. With all this in mind, will anyone fight against the tyranny

of an issue that gender inequality proves to be, or will it continue to crush lives just as Trujillo

once tried to extinguish a butterfly’s spirit?