https://padlet.com/jennifersellman/4aygjhowsx8g0nsm Write out the claim that Fisher uses for her speech and provide two specific examples of her evidence (quote the text) en-us 2022-01-26 17:15:14 UTC 2022-01-26 18:10:27 UTC hello@padlet.com lauwendatelcide https://padlet.com/jennifersellman/4aygjhowsx8g0nsm/wish/2014106640 Mary M. Fisher claims that the government needs to take initiative towards the research and prevention of AIDS and people need to realize that AIDS is not exclusive to anyone. One piece of evidence for this claim includes Fisher saying "But despite science and research, White House meetings, and congressional hearings, despite good intentions and bold initiatives, campaign slogans and hopeful promises, it is--despite it all-- the epidemic which is winning tonight." This can be seen as a personal observation given that she's expressing her view on the matter of how prevalent the condition is and it makes her credible due to her having the virus. Another piece of evidence is her saying, "We may take refuge in our stereotypes, but we cannot hide there long, because HIV asks only one thing of those it attacks: Are you human?" This is an illustration of how the virus does not discriminate utilizing personification to depict the threat of HIV.]]> 2022-01-26 17:30:48 UTC https://padlet.com/jennifersellman/4aygjhowsx8g0nsm/wish/2014106640 https://padlet.com/jennifersellman/4aygjhowsx8g0nsm/wish/2014109584 Fisher's main claim in the speech was that everyone was at risk for HIV/AIDS. She uses her personal experience as an HIV-positive person to make this claim to the audience. As Fisher is a white, upper-class, married woman, she is not seen as someone who is typically seen as "at risk" for HIV. She gives a testimonial of how scary this diagnosis is for her, saying "Tonight, HIV marches resolutely toward AIDS in more than a million American homes, littering its pathway with the bodies of the young. Young men. Young women. Young parents. Young children. One of the families is mine. If it is true that HIV inevitably turns to AIDS, then my children will inevitably turn to orphans." Later, Fisher uses statistics and facts to argue that this is a problem that needs to be addressed now, saying "AIDS is the third leading killer of young-adult Americans today-but it won't be third for long. Because, unlike other diseases, this one travels. Adolescents don't give each other cancer or heart disease because they believe they are in love. But HIV is different, and we have helped it along. We have killed each other-with our ignorance, our prejudice, and our silence."]]> 2022-01-26 17:32:06 UTC https://padlet.com/jennifersellman/4aygjhowsx8g0nsm/wish/2014109584 https://padlet.com/jennifersellman/4aygjhowsx8g0nsm/wish/2014111287 In her speech, A Whisper of Aids, Mary Fisher claims that the stigma surrounding the AIDS epidemic needs to be destroyed because it affects everyone, it is spreading and killing Americans at an alarming rate, and by removing the stigma, it can be properly addressed. "Though I am white and a mother, I am one with a black infant struggling with tubes in a Philadelphia hospital. Though I am female and contracted this disease in marriage and enjoy the warm support of my family, I am one with the lonely gay man sheltering a flickering candle from the cold wind of his family's rejection." Here, Fisher uses logical reasoning to demonstrate that AIDS affects everyone by emphasizing how different she is from the stereotypical HIV/AIDS patient. During this time, it was commonly thought that AIDS only affected gay men and drug addicts, so it was ignored by many of the Republicans in power. However, here she shows that she is a white, married, christian, mother who still contracted the virus even in marriage. "The rate of infection is increasing fastest among women and children. Largely unknown a decade ago, AIDS is the third leading killer of young adult Americans today. But it won't be third for long, because unlike other diseases, this one travels." In this quote, Fisher demonstrates using statistics as to how HIV/AIDS is not something that can be ignored. She shows that it is the third-leading cause of death in young Americans, and that it spreads fastest among women and children. These two facts combine lead to the logical conclusion that HIV/AIDS will soon not just become the leading cause of death in gay communities, but in all of America. It must be addressed in order to prevent this from happening. "We may take refuge in our stereotypes, but we cannot hide there long, because HIV asks only one thing of those it attacks: Are you human? And this is the right question. Are you human? Because people with HIV have not entered some alien state of being. They are human. They have not earned cruelty, and they do not deserve meanness. They don't benefit from being isolated or treated as outcasts." Here, Fisher evokes emotion and explains that stigma around aids only serves to hurt the country as a whole. She defends those who have contracted HIV/AIDS by reaffirming that
they are indeed human, and that they will benefit from the support of their families and the American people. ]]> 2022-01-26 17:32:48 UTC https://padlet.com/jennifersellman/4aygjhowsx8g0nsm/wish/2014111287 https://padlet.com/jennifersellman/4aygjhowsx8g0nsm/wish/2014113538 Fisher's claim is that American people need to stop ignoring HIV and AIDs and erase the stigmas associated them. Everyone can be impacted regardless of sex, sexuality, and race. To support her claim, she uses an analogy. She says, "Though I am white and a mother, I am one with the black infant struggling with tubes in a Philadelphia hospital. Though I am female and contracted this disease in marriage and enjoy the warm support of my family, I am one with the lonely gay man sheltering in a flickering candle from the cold wind of his family's rejection." By comparing herself to the stereotypical sufferers of AIDS, she uses herself as an example as someone who still got HIV despite not being someone viewed to be at risk. Another piece of evidence she uses is statistics. "Two hundred thousand Americans are dead or dying. A million more are infected. Worldwide, forty million, sixty million, or a hundred million infections will be counted in the coming few years." Fisher used this statistical evidence to show how prevalent the number of those dying from AIDS is. These statistics add to the urgency of taking action and not ignoring the issue in her claim. She also showed that AIDS is prevalent amongst those that aren't stereotyped for having it, an interesting comparison.]]> 2022-01-26 17:33:47 UTC https://padlet.com/jennifersellman/4aygjhowsx8g0nsm/wish/2014113538 miraugwuadu https://padlet.com/jennifersellman/4aygjhowsx8g0nsm/wish/2014131397 In her speech “A Whisper of AIDS,” Mary M. Fisher claims everyone is affected by the AIDS epidemic, and the lack of acknowledgment of the virus is devastating America. By illustrating that the virus does not discriminate based on race, age, gender, or sexual orientation, Fisher characterizes AIDS as a virus that should be treated as such rather than a “political creature.” In addition, she shares her personal observation when she says, “We have killed each other with our ignorance, our prejudice, and our silence,” which emphasizes how the lack of action against AIDS has caused the epidemic to grow out of hand.]]> 2022-01-26 17:41:28 UTC https://padlet.com/jennifersellman/4aygjhowsx8g0nsm/wish/2014131397