Collections Grade 11 Guiding Questions
Collection 4
“Declaration of Sentiments” by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Read the public document “Declaration of Sentiments” by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Then,
reread the lines indicated with each question below. Answer each question, citing text
evidence.
1. Lines 1–16: What is the purpose of this document? What can you infer about the
document’s audience? What comparison does Stanton imply by using the language of the
“Declaration of Independence”?
To declare that the United States is an independent country and to convince people that it
must and should be independent. The document’s purpose is to convince readers that women
should have rights equal to those enjoyed by men. The audience is the U. S. government and
the public. She compares women to the colonists and men to the British king.
2. Lines 32–40: What points does Stanton make in these lines that build a portrait of women
as oppressed citizens?
They can’t vote, they have no voice in forming laws, and they have fewer rights than any man.
3. Lines 32–49: Describe Stanton’s use of parallelism in these lines. How does this add
persuasive effect? How does the repetition of the word right reinforce meaning?
Stanton’s sentence structure uses he as its subject, followed by the helping verb has. It
emphasizes the subject, he, as perpetrator of the abuse and lends equal importance to each
of these injustices. It alludes to the rights the founders of the country fought for and
established.
4. Lines 81–86: What specific theme from the “Declaration of Independence” does Stanton
echo in these lines? What overall theme from the “Declaration of Independence” is echoed
in the “Declaration of Sentiments”?
In the Declaration of Independence, one of Jefferson’s themes was that a government that
makes laws without the consent of the people, or that makes unjust laws, is not legitimate
and does not deserve the loyalty of its people. Stanton echoes this theme by pointing out that
women have no say in the laws of the U.S. and that these laws are unjust to them.
The theme that individuals have rights that must be respected.
