Critical Analysis Of Speeches

Critical Analysis Of Speeches

Through the deconstruction of speeches their value and textual integrity relevant to society can be analysed. Two notable orators who have delivered speeches of relevant importance according to their historical and social context are political activist Aung San Suu Kyi and Prime Minister Paul Keating. It is evident within both speeches that rhetorical devices have been manipulated to achieve their purpose and context; their reception as speeches of their time as well as in our contemporary society will be explored. The two speeches to be analysed are the opening of the Beijing world conference on women by Suu Kyi and the funeral service of the Unknown Soldier by Paul Keating.
Aung San Suu Kyi was a Burmese pro-democracy activist born on 19th June, 1945. She was well recognised as a Nobel Prize winner for peace in 1992 and for her persistence despite the constant suppression by the military government. She had also previously won an election for PM of Burma in 1990; however she was already detained under house arrest by military junta before the election. The Beijing world conference was held on 31st August, 1995. It was a commission of the UN which began since 1975, focusing on the advancement of women in which they gathered every five years to assess the status of women from an international perspective. Suu Kyi had presented her speech as an opening to this forum via video as she had just been released from a six year period of house arrest. This keynote address aimed to argue for female equality in which she discusses the valuing and empowerment of females by inclusively focusing on the commonalities of the audience. Hence, there is a strong feminist leitmotif as the majority of her audience were women.
Suu Kyi opens with a juxtaposing phrase stating that her role in the conference is a ‘wonderful but daunting task’. The use of these contrasting terms expresses her enthusiasm in addressing such a ‘daunting’ issue faced by women; these issues regard...