Eleanor Roosevelt's Speech

In her speech, the former first lady of the United States and humn rights activist, Eleanor Roosevelt, argues that all human beings deserve and should have universal and equal human rights. Roosevelt’s purpose was to persuade people of the need for basic human rights and address the United Nations about human rights and their importance in the world. She adopts an abrasive and factual tone for the French citizens, the United Nations delegates, World War 2 victims, and all victims around the world. Roosevelt supports this claim by first asserting the need to preserve basic human rights, then advocating the need for secure freedoms in the present and future, and finally establishing a solution to keep our human rights preserved and universal.

Throughout her speech, Roosevelt repeats, “free” and “freedom” several times. Roosevelt uses this repetition to reveal how simple our human rights are, but how much they dramatically impact each and every one living in our world. She places this repetition throughout her speech to reveal how memorable and long-lasting our freedoms are and why we all deserve to have equal and universal rights, which relates to the theme by showing how we as a society need to work on preserving our rights. Roosevelt repeats the word “issues” several times throughout paragraphs one, two, and four. She uses this repetition to reveal to the audience that there is an issue that needs to be addressed involving basic human rights. Roosevelt uses this repetition throughout her speech to reveal the lasting impact our human rights actually are in this world and without them, our world would be chaos, which relates to the theme of Roosevelt’s speech by showing the absolute importance of preserving our human rights. Clearly, by using repetition, Roosevelt established the theme of needing to preserve basic human rights and uphold our dignity, freedom, and justice for

In the fifth paragraph, Roosevelt states, “ . . . [freedom is a tool] with which we create a way of life,” that results in “ . . . a way of life in which we can enjoy freedom.” Roosevelt uses these forms of imagery to create the image of preserving a new life that includes equal and universal rights, as well as, creating an image that shows the audience the importance of inclusive freedoms and democracy, and without it, it would cause chaos. This follows in the second example of imagery Roosevelt uses in her speech, which signifies why preserving our basic freedoms will help produce a way of life that is equal and everyone can enjoy. In the last paragraph of Roosevelt’s speech, she states “The development of the ideal of freedom,” that results in “ . . . [the] translation into the everyday life . . . ” The first phrase explains the significance of the development of rights throughout generations and how at the end that development forms the continuation of preserving everyones human rights. The second phrase explains the significance of how the development of our ideal freedoms translates into our everyday life, whether it’s the present or future. Additionally, Roosevelt uses specific words throughout her speech to emphasize the true importance of basic human rights, which leads to why we so badly need to preserve