Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

Comparison

Instructions:

Step 1: Write a concise summary of the UDHR and write the correct MLA citation for the text.
Step 2: Choose two of the civil rights articles from the Analyzing Argument assignment.
Step 3: Compare and connect the columns to the UDHR by choosing a few elements that are
related to your topic and explain how they fit together. The more notes, the better!
Step 4: Finally, write the correct MLA citation for both columns.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights Summary

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a document that the United Nations
General Assembly created in 1948. The UDHR is a list of idealistic rights that the United
Nations believes that everyone should have. These rights include the right to work, the right
to travel, the right to security, and more.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights MLA Citation

United Nations General Assembly. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. United Nations,
1948, www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights.

Column 1 (Headline & link)

Editorial: On homelessness, recall candidates offer hot air, not real solutions
Los Angeles Times
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-08-23/editorial-on-homelessness-recall-candid
ates-offer-hot-air-not-real-solutions

MLA Citation

"Editorial: On homelessness, recall candidates offer hot air, not real solutions." Los Angeles
Times, Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2021,
www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-08-23/editorial-on-homelessness-recall-candid
ates-offer-hot-air-not-real-solutions.

Comparison Notes
 1. This article is most closely related to Article Three and Article Twenty-Five of the
UDHR, in which the rights of housing, security, life, standard of life, and other similar
topics are discussed.
2. The article and the UDHR have the same fundamental beliefs, these being the need
to give everyone (With a focus on homeless people in the article) mental care,
physical case, and shelter. In this respect, they are highly similar and complement
each other quite well. They both agree that homelessness is a big problem and that
everyone has a basic and human right to housing and medical care and they both
want the ideal of homeless people achieving these needs.
3. The article is highly politicized and is mainly used as a weapon against the opponents
of the author, whereas the UDHR is simple and not argumentative.
4. As a side note, the UDHR is more official and more inspiring than the angry tone of
the article.

Column 2 (Headline & link)

As pandemic persists, counties confront emergency measures to house the homeless

The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/as-pandemic-persists-counties-confront-emergency
-precautions-to-house-the-homeless/2021/08/30/27afc3e8-0791-11ec-a654-900a78538242_st
ory.html

MLA Citation

Tan, Rebecca, and Karina Elwood. "As pandemic persists, counties confront emergency
measures to house the homeless." The Washington Post, The Washington Post,
www.washingtonpost.com/local/as-pandemic-persists-counties-confront-emergency
-precautions-to-house-the-homeless/2021/08/30/27afc3e8-0791-11ec-a654-900a7853
8242_story.html.

Comparison Notes

1. This article most directly represents Articles Two, Twenty-One, and Twenty Five of
the UDHR. Articles Two and Twenty-Five deal with quality of living and security and
Twenty-One concerns the right to equal access to public goods and services. This may
seem like a strange combination of rights, but the article concerns the issue of
homeless people being housed in public gyms and recreation centers, preventing
ordinary citizens from accessing these places now that they are opening after the
pandemic.
2. The issue in this article is homeless people being put in public recreation centers
during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, after the pandemic had begun to calm
down, people were expecting these recreational centers to open up even though
there were homeless people. This displayed a conflict between the people’s interests,
to have equal access to public goods and services, and the interest of the homeless
people, shelter and the basics of life. This is interesting because these rights are both
listed on the UDHR, so it is a matter of which is more important.