Nancy Colon
Mrs. Markgraf
AP Language and Composition
15 November 2014
Mary Fisher’s A Whisper of AIDS AIDS. No one dared to say it’s name. No one dared to acknowledge it’s existence. It was 1992: the disease had only been recognized eleven years before, had only been renamed eight years prior, and had only been addressed by the public four years sooner. It was never to be talked about; whether one was infected or not, it was never to be spoken about. Theories began it spread to help pacify the nation’s fears; these theories downplayed the seriousness of AIDS. Many believed they were not at risk because they were not homosexual or homeless. Due to strong religious beliefs, society felt the need to reject the dirty homosexuals; instead of offering…show more content… Mary Fisher decided to come forward and discuss her relationship with the disease. Unlike many others who have contracted AIDS and have been forced into silence, Fisher took matter into her own hands; she discussed the importance of speaking up to save your life, instead of risking death in order to accommodate the convenience of others. She appeals to the religious concerns of her audience in order to open their eyes to the urgency of the matter at hand. Fisher acknowledged the idea known by all: God made us as we are. She declares, “Each of them is exactly what God made: a person” (Fisher). She alludes to the religious concerns of her audience and explained that the victims were ordinary people just like those around them at that exact moment. By “each of them,” Fisher was referring to the many who have been affected by this disease, one way or another. None of them are inferior just because they were vulnerable to this disease; everyone is vulnerable. Her simple syntax also justifies the innocence of AIDS victims. “A person.” If a victim were stripped away of everything that defined them, there would not be any distinction between one from another; they would still be the mother who raised you or the friend you cherished or the teacher who educated you, they had just fallen victim to an inevitable disease. Fisher exposed the seriousness of AIDS and its effects on the nations- present and future- through various syntactical structures and persuasive appeals in order to prompt the audience to spread