Rhetorical Analysis Of Let Girls Learn Speech

Let Girls Learn
In her efforts to raise awareness for women’s rights at the Let Girls Learn event in early 2016, Michelle Obama, an American lawyer and the first African American First Lady of the Unites States, strategically writes her speech to display the conditions girls around the world endure to live a life without the simple right to an education. She develops her speech through the use of gratitude as a connection to the public, an appeal to pathos and the final shift in tense to establish hope among the people. Together, these strategies allow Michelle Obama to inform the society that they must unite as one in order to effectively and successfully support the education of girls around the world.
Obama begins by making a personal connection with the public through gratitude for their endless efforts to assist in the program. She states that although she is a prominent leader, she never truly accomplished everything she had, alone. By recognizing Nancy Reagan as a figure that “mentored” and “offered her advice”, Michelle reveals the importance of the people who have stood by her in support of the actions she has made to promote female education. To continue, she thanks not only those who have already helped but also women that will be a part of future efforts to continue awareness of this struggle. In

Then by appealing to pathos, she reminds the world of the horrendous events that occur every day as a result of the inability of girls to speak up for themselves. Finally, she ties in a sense of hope through a shift in tense, as to present that together, everyone can aid in the success of the program in the end. Overall, Michelle Obama’s speech unites the world in supporting the cause for not only a woman’s right to education but also the right to speak up against those who shame them for being a part of the female