Paige Smylie

Final Essay

1/26/18

How has Human rights significantly impacted America today? Human Rights are

principles or can be considered as norms, that describe certain standards of human Behavior.

They are regularly protected as legal laws in municipal and international law. In the “Address to

the United Nations youth assembly” written by Malala Yousafzai, the claim was for her to speak

for those who couldn’t and basically provide a voice for them and to stand up for the rights of

many people who aren’t capable of doing so. Also in Eleanor Roosevelt’s “ Adoption of the

declaration of human rights” The claim was to convince all countries to adopt the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights because this document protects the rights for all people​.​ Then, In

“A letter from Birmingham Jail” written by Martin Luther King Jr The claim was to follow laws that

are fair and to not follow the laws that are unfair. Which shows that all three articles identify the

common purpose that they were all fighting for human rights.

In the “Address to the United Nations youth assembly” by Malala Yousafzai, the purpose

was to speak for those who don’t have a voice and for those who won’t speak up. The rhetoric

devices that Malala uses in this speech is repetition because the same words are used in this

speech over and over again to really emphasize her feelings on human rights. For example in

the passage it states in paragraph 2, “ Thank you to god for whom we all are equal and thank

you to every person who has prayed for my fast recovery and new life….Thank you to all of

them. Thank you to the children whose innocent words encouraged me. Thank you to my elders

whose prayers strengthened me” This repetition shows how she is thankful for everyone and
greatful, not only for god but for everyone and this repetition also refines the argument of Malala

needing her human rights. Furthermore in the text it states, “ ​I raise up my voice -- not so that I

can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.” ​This is an example of pathos because

it appeals to the audience’s sense of emotion by the speaker, and showing that Malala did not

speak for what she believe in just for publicity, but she spoke out so that everyone else's voice

can be heard too and so that everyone around the world can be happy.

In Eleanor Roosevelt’s “ On the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”,

the central claim of the text is to convince all countries to adopt the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights because this document protects the rights for all people​. ​Throughout the text the

author uses many form of rhetoric to emphasize the purpose of the passage. One example of

this is when she uses word choice because in the text it states, “ As set out in the Soviet

amendment, this provision clearly states “group”, and not “individual, rights”.” This word choice

emphasizes the speaker’s purpose by using the word “ Group” that shows everybody deserves

human rights, just like everybody else in the world. Eleanor also uses logos in the passage to

emphasize her opinion on human rights because it states in the text, “ My government has

made it clear in the course of the development of the Declaration that it does not consider that

the economic and social and cultural rights stated in the Declaration imply an obligation on

governments to ensure the enjoyment of these rights by direct governmental action” This shows

logos because it appeals to the audience's sense of logic by persuading the audience that the

government will ensure the enjoyment of these laws by actually doing something about it.

In “ A letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr, the claim of the text is to

follow laws that are fair and to not follow the laws that are unfair. Throughout the text Martin
Luther King uses forms of rhetoric to advance the claim. One example of when he uses ethos is

when he states, “ have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian leadership

conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta,

Georgia. ” This is an example of ethos because it appeals to the audience’s sense of credibility

by showing that King can be trusted because he is a leader of a religious group in every

Southern state. Furthermore king uses allusion that advances his purpose when he says, “

Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise

from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and

objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension

in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic

heights of understanding and brotherhood. “ This specific example of allusion advances king;s

purpose because king is comparing the socrates to himself because he fought for equal rights

without violence and socrates fought for power.

In conclusion, Malala Yousafzai’s claim was for her to speak for those who couldn’t and

basically provide a voice for them and to stand up for the rights of many people who aren’t

capable of doing so. Eleanor Roosevelt’s claim was to convince all countries to adopt the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights because this document protects the rights for all people​.

Then, Martin Luther King’s claim was to follow laws that are fair and to not follow the laws that

are unfair. However these activist stood up for human rights but today in the world unfair laws

are still going on today, For example the travel ban that bans ​All travellers who have nationality

of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. They are not permitted to enter the US

for 90 days, or be issued an immigrant or non-immigrant visa which breaks the laws of equal

and fair rights.