Human rights are immanent to all humans no matter what race, religion, gender, or language. Unfortunately, there are cases where human rights are involuntarily taken away from individuals. There are countries where women cannot have an education or job simply for being women. There are also countries where children cannot have an education because of poverty. Human rights activists are here to speak for those who are being kept away from their rights. Two very important and well-known activists are Hillary Clinton and Malala Yousafzai.
Hillary Clinton, a first lady and present day presidential candidate, has spoken often in public speeches about human rights equality. Malala Yousafzai, a young Pakistani and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, is an activist for female education. Even though Hillary Clinton is an experienced public speaker and has been well-known for years, Malala Yousafzai effectively persuades the audience to support human rights because she provides her own personal experiences, is humble towards others, and creates an emotional appeal.
Malala Yousafzai gives a speech on July 12, 2013 to the United Nations about education. At the beginning of the speech, Malala is humble although see is receiving a lot of attention. She begins to explain, “Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights. ” Although Malala has a day named after her, she wants that day to be about everyone who has been taken away from their rights. When she incorporates others than just herself in the speech it sets her as a deferential person.
Malala also speaks about other human rights activist and goes on to say, “There are hundreds of human rights activist and social workers who are not only speaking for their rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goal of peace, education and equality … thousands of people have been killed by the terrorist and millions have been injured. I am just one of them. I speak not for myself, but for those without a voice can be heard. ” The way she tries to sway the attention towards others persuades people to listen to her, because she is not only speaking about herself.
If Malala was to speak only about herself, people could begin to be uninterested about what she is speaking about. In addition, in this speech when Malala does speak about herself she talks about her personal experiences in the fight for human rights. “On 9 October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends too. They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices. ” Malala’s horrible experience creates pity, which also persuades the audience to support her topic.
Malala uses different phrases to evoke different emotions onto the audience. Besides her experiences she speaks about the suffering of others, for example she says, “In India, innocent and poor children are victims of child labor. Many schools have been destroyed in Nigeria. People in Afghanistan have been affected by the hardest of extremism for decades. ” Furthermore, she speaks about “many parts of the world… Terrorism, war and conflicts stop children to go to their schools. ” The hardships of these people make the reader feel sorrowful.
Throughout this speech Malala provides her personal experience, and humbleness, and provokes emotions onto the reader, which effectively persuades the audience to support human rights. (Yousafzai, Malala). Additionally, Malala Yousafzai gives a Nobel Lecture speech on December 10, 2014. In this speech Malala speaks about receiving a Nobel Peace Prize and goes on to talk about human rights. Although Malala is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for her inspiration, she continues to include others, in the speech, then herself.
There may be people who would like to thank Malala for her braveness to protect human rights but it is Malala who thanks others. She begins to say, “I would like to thank my parents for their unconditional love. Thank you to my father for not clipping my wings and for letting me fly. Thank you to my mother for inspiring me to be patient… And also thank you to all my wonderful teachers, who inspired me”. Malala also includes others in the speech when she says, “This award is not just for me. It is for those forgotten children who want an education.
It is for those frightened children who want peace. It is for those voiceless children who want change. ” Malala reveals humbleness when she dedicates her award to other people who are also affected by the rejection of their rights. During the speech, Malala speaks about her aspiration for education and how “education is one of the blessings of life. ” Furthermore she explains why education became an obstacle in her life because her country “which was a place of tourism and beauty, it suddenly changed into a place of terrorism.
Malala provokes feelings of consideration when she talks about her experiences. She begins to persuade the audience more when she says, “I was just ten when more than 400 schools were destroyed. Women were flogged. People were killed. And our beautiful dreams turned into nightmares. ” The horrific events that Malala has experienced open the eyes to those people who still need a push in order to support human rights. Malala’s way of including others and speaking of her past, creates emotions that persuade the audience to take the topic of human rights seriously. (Yousafzai, Malala)
On the other hand, Hillary Clinton also gives a speech, on September 5 1995, to the United Nations. In this formal address Hillary Clinton speaks about human rights, but more specifically women rights. Throughout her speech, Hillary talks about different problems women, around the world, are facing. Bringing about these problems like ‘the rape of women continues to be used as an instrument of armed conflict… women and children make up large majority of the worlds refugees… and women are excluded from the political process. “, influences the reader to realize how bad this situation is.
Additionally she incorporates the different violations of human rights that are created against women. Hillary Clinton’s way of including these phrases creates emotional appeal to her speech. Also the fact that Hillary is a very well-known public figure makes her creditable. She knows important figures like the Secretary General of the United Nations and participates in different organizations. In the same fashion Hillary Clinton delivers another speech, on March 12, 2010, to the United Nations. In this speech she also encourages the support of women rights.
She talks about how “a 10-year-old girl forced to marry a much older man made headlines” and how “Women care for the world’s sick, but women … are less likely to get treatment when they are sick. ” Again, she includes examples of stories that persuades individuals to be in favor of women rights. Hillary also incorporates important figures that she knows because of her status. She goes on to say, “President Obama and I believe that the subjugation of women is a threat to the national security of the United States. ” and includes Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright into her speech.
During both speeches Hillary Clinton uses cases where women rights are being threatened in order to create an emotional feeling to the audience. Also she integrates important figures to her speech in order to prove her credibility, which in turn persuades the audience to take her opinion seriously. The only thing that makes Hillary Clinton less effective in persuading the audience, than Malala Yousafzai, is the actuality that she hasn’t gone through hardships that other women have.
In her speech in 1995, Hillary talks about how she has “met new mothers in Indonesia… et working parents in Denmark… met women in South Africa... met women in India and Bangladesh” who are fighting for their rights after suffering in different situations from having their rights violated. Furthermore in her speech in 2010, Hillary Clinton mentions the accomplishment of other women. She speaks of how “from Guatemala to Northern Island to Bosnia, women can be powerful peacemaker” Additionally, she mentions how “they are running domestic violence shelters and fighting human trafficking… They are rescuing girls from brothels…
They are healing women injured in childbirth… they are literally leaving their mark in the world. ” Hillary speaks of these women who have done something to protect women rights, but does not mention what she has done. Including her accomplishments and struggles of women rights, would have made Hillary more effective in persuading the audience. (Clinton, Hillary) In conclusion, Malala Yousafzai effectively persuades the audience to support human rights because she provides her own personal experiences, is humble towards others, and creates an emotional appeal in her speeches.
Unlike Hillary Clinton, Malala goes through hardships in her young life that encourages other to help those who also go through the same situations. Malala’s rights were violated since she was not able to go to school after her country was overtaken by terrorism. She was shot on the side of the head because she spoke up for the rights of others and herself. Malala also takes in consideration what others have gone through, after they are taken away from their human rights.
Malala dedicates her Nobel Peace Prize award to those people whose rights are violated. Finally, Malala includes pathos into her speeches by telling her story, and the story of others that live in countries with restrictions to the rights of women. These stories create emotions that persuade the audience to take action in protecting human rights. Although Hillary is a great public speaker, Malala’s way of presenting her speeches adequately influences the audience to take a stand on human rights.