Madeleine Albright Rhetorical Analysis

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In 1997, United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright gave the commencement speech to the graduating class of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. In paragraphs 1-5, Albright uses past historical examples to tell the young women they should seize the moment and not get complacent. Albright uses the Berlin Wall and the creation of NATO, saying ” The Berlin Wall is now a memory. We could be satisfied with that. Instead, we are enlarging and adapting NATO and striving to create a future for Europe in which every democracy - including Russia - is our partner and every partner is a builder of peace.” Albright uses historical examples to help the graduating class understand that their life is theirs to live and that they should seize every …show more content…
One particular story that Albright shared was a story about these women who “live in Burundi who have been taking the lead in efforts to avoid the fate of neighboring Rwanda.” Albright shares these past experiences to motivate the girls to take initiative no matter how serious the situation is, helping them realize that they should seize any opportunity to help their community. In paragraphs 13-16, Albright continues to talk about the women who are making changes in their communities by using an appeal to determination by mentioning how all the women who are making changes in their communities have one common trait, that trait being determination. Albright uses this appeal of determination to tell the girls that they also need determination to persevere through adversity so that they can seize opportunities and make changes in their environments. Albright then uses a quote by Robert Kennedy “If there’s nobody in your way, it’s because you’re not going anywhere” Albright uses this quote to show that adversity is normal and should be expected but that the graduating class is going to need the determination to push through said