Aung San Suu Kyi Speech Analysis

The source is a speech given by Aung San Suu Kyi from Burma in August 1988. Aung San Suu Kyi is a Burmese opposition politician and also the leader of the National League of Democracy in Burma. Ms. Suu Kyi’s speech was held at the Shwedagon Pagoda and it was the first and only speech she had written and planned out beforehand. A few days before her speech at the mass rally in Shwedagon Pagoda, she visited the Rangoon General Hospital to announce her purpose of delivering the speech: to address the need for political reforms, justice in the political system and ultimately democracy for Burma. The government at that time was run by a single organization called the Burma Socialist Programme Party and it came to power in March 1974. The government …show more content…
Suu Kyi used in her speech. Firstly, she constantly reassured the audience that she was speaking honestly. Before sharing her thoughts, she would use phrases like, “Therefore I shall speak my mind” and “Let me speak frankly.” (“Women in World History.”) This was probably done to gain the audience’s trust especially after expressing that she was aware that the Burmese people had some doubts about her. Apart from that, she was very passionate in her delivery as she spoke with a persuasive tone in order to convince and express to the audience the urgency of the issue. She used phrases like, “may I appeal to the students” and, “may I emphasize again that we have not yet achieved at our cherished goal.” (“Women in World History.”) She also applied the use of reiteration. For example, she kept emphasizing the need for a multi-party democratic system as seen from the source, “What I am trying to do is to help the people achieve the democratic system of government” and this was reiterated in subsequent paragraphs, “that is what the people really want at this time, the answer is multi-party democracy.” (“Women in World History.”) This makes her stand succinct and easily remembered by the