In 1997, Secretary of State Madeliene Albright gave the speech to the graduating class

of Mount Holyoke College, which was an all women’s college located in Massachusetts. In this

speech, there are many rhetorical choices and strategies included to convey the message that

women’s rights should still be fought for and that progress is being made all around the world.

Some of the rhetorical choices and strategies the author makes is the tone used to convey the

message of hope and change, and multiple real life examples the author includes in the speech.

When looking at the overall tone of the speech, it’s clear that the author is trying to

convey the message of hope. The fight for women’s rights is not even close to being over.

Multiple times throughout the speech the author encourages the audience and that while there

are still inequalities in the world that exist, there are ways to overcome them. An example of this

is shown in the speech on line 64, “These women have in common a determination to chart their

own path, and by doing so, to alter for the better the course of their country or community. Each

has suffered blows, but each has proceeded with courage. Each has persevered.” The author is

clearly showing that overall the women are told to be silenced and that their voices and opinions

shouldn’t be expressed, but in doing so, change won’t happen. The author is trying to convey

the message that in order to accomplish what’s best for the community or the country, there

must be people who speak up, there must be people who show that determination and drive.

This quote from the speech shows the author’s tone because it instills that hope into the

audience that there must be change and in order for that change to happen we have to hear the

voices of women and address the struggles and challenges they face because they are women.

Earlier in the speech, mentions some of these struggles and challenges women face. In

the speech on line 40 states, “Instead, women everywhere — whether bumping against a glass

ceiling or rising from a dirt floor — are standing up, spreading the word that we are ready to

claim our rightful place as full citizens and full participants in every society on Earth.” This

statement addresses that women are affected by the glass ceiling and that there are challenges

for women to even rise up and be successful in the first place. Later on in that quote the author
mentions that it is time for women to declare their rights and demand that they are treated as

equal citizens. These are all struggles that women still face today and it needs to be addressed.

This reinforces the idea that the author is trying to set the tone of social change, specifically in

the aspects of gender inequality. First, by stating that the problems exist and should be spoken

up about. Later, specifically mentioning those problems and how women should demand their

equality. The audience of the speech also plays a major factor in how the author sets the tone.

Since the author is addressing an all women’s college, it is clear that the author is addressing

these women directly and how it is their responsibility for societal change. Since the audience is

women, by directly addressing these issues, this further adds to the tone of hope because

through the author’s arguments she is trying to make the future of gender inequality hopeful.

Another rhetorical choice that the author uses is the real world examples the author

incorporates into the speech. Since the author is the secretary of state for the United States,

they deal with many issues including gender inequality. The author states many examples of

how they have seen these issues around the world. One example of this is, “And in Burma, I

have met with a remarkable woman named Aung San Suu Kyi, who risks her life every day to

keep alive the hope for democracy in her country.” This not only adds more credibility to the

author but also provides the fact that these issues don’t just impact the United States but

instead is a worldwide issue.