Madeleine Albright Commencement Speech Analysis

In 1997 the graduating class of Mount Holyoke College witnessed a commencement speech by Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State at the time. Her speech tells lessons of history in order to inspire her audience and help guide their futures. By using historical allusions, personal information, to convey ethos and repetition, Albright is effectively able to convey her message.

Albright’s first method is the use of historical allusions to give the audience context to her speech. Albright mentions the increasing global peace efforts with the end of the Bosnian War and the reduction of nuclear weapons. Suddenly the audience is given examples of the world changing for the better, which gives a source of inspiration. Albright continues by stating that “we have built a growing economy”. In simplest terms, she wants to give the audience a sense of opportunity for themselves with historical allusions, so they can make a positive impact on the world.

Albright then proceeds to use ethos to give herself credibility. Albright explains her experiences in different nations, and describes what she saw. She does this to let the reader know that she has first hand experience and is informed on the issue. To explain, she uses the women she’s met in countries like Burundi, Burma and Guatemala to explain first hand what she saw in them and how they apply to her speech. This gives the audience the impression that she has a personal connection with issues surrounding women, which therefore gives her credibility. Albright finishes her speech with repetition. She uses a Robert

Kennedy quote about “courage” and “perseverance” because it applies directly with her speech. She pulls out the line “have courage still - and preserve” and repeats it through her final few paragraphs. This use of repetition drills the message of courage and perseverance into the audience's head which gives the audience a memorable point of reference when thinking back on the message of Albright’s speech. Furthermore the use of repetition helps wrap up and clarify the main idea of her speech as well as helps the audience leave the speech with feelings of inspiration and motivation.

In her speech to Mount Holyoke’s class of 1997, Madeleine Albright hopes to inspire and give courage to her audience. As a woman who’s been through struggles and has broken boundaries in her field, she wants her audience to leave with the same motivation she used to fuel her career. By using allusions, ethos and repetition, Albright effectively delivers her message of courage and perseverance.