Genre
Autobiography / Memoir, Legal History
Setting and Context
New York City & Washington D.C., covering Ruth Bader Ginsburg's early life and career
Narrator and Point of View
Ginsburg narrates her own story through writings, speeches and legal arguments, from her own point of view.
Tone and Mood
Inspirational, challenging, wry, trail-blazing
Protagonist and Antagonist
Ginsburg is the protagonist, and for the most part the male dominant society was her antagonist
Major Conflict
Many of the conflicts in the book are taken from actual legal cases - for example, United States v The State of Virginia. Others were more personal conflicts, such as a conflict between herself and Sandra Day O'Connor
Climax
Ginsburg's speech at her acceptance of her position on the Supreme Court is the climax of both the book and her career.
Foreshadowing
Ginsburg's early realization that women do not have equal rights in society foreshadows her determination to try to do something about this.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
The book alludes to the many key figures in the American judicial system of the twentieth century, including Sandra Day O'Connor and Antonin Scalia.
Imagery
N/A
Paradox
Ginsburg was considered to have become more liberal as her career progressed but this was actually a paradox since it was the court itself, and not the judge, that had become more left-leaning.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between Ginsburg's life experiences as a woman and her determination to create a society in which women have equal rights and where they are treated equally.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The Supreme Court is often used to encompass all of the individual judges that sit on it.
Personification
N/A
