KS3 · English

Reading a women's rights speech

Say 'women face problems' and people shrug. Say 'At this very moment' and they sit up. Watch one speaker do it.

Women's Rights are Human Rights · 1995

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In 1995, Hillary Clinton, an American politician and advocate for women's rights, spoke to the United Nations (an international organisation aimed at increasing cooperation and peace between nations) about the struggles facing women around the world. On this line, 0 is the moment she is speaking and every other number is years before it. Drag each phrase to the point it reaches back to.

25 yrs — 'Over the past 25 years'2½ yrs — 'Over the past two and a half years'Now — 'At this very moment'

Predict, then check

Commit to an answer before you look. Guessing is allowed.

She names Indonesia, Denmark, South Africa, India, Bangladesh, Belarus and Ukraine. Those countries are in different continents. Why list them like that?

Same job, two targets

Time: 'At this very moment'vsPlace: 'this gathering' and 'here'

Both phrases pull the speech into the present. One does it for time, the other for place.

Focus

What it brings the speech up to

Time: 'At this very moment'

The present time

Place: 'this gathering' and 'here'

The present place

The insight

Same trick, different target: one narrows the speech in time, the other narrows it in place.

What it does to the listener

Time: 'At this very moment'

Makes the experience relatable and adds a sense of urgency

Place: 'this gathering' and 'here'

Makes the United Nations meeting feel really important

How it fits with the other references

Time: 'At this very moment'

The last stop of the time references, which move towards now

Place: 'this gathering' and 'here'

The landing point of the place references, which start with countries across the world

English · Statistics in a speech

How big is her number?

In the extract, Hillary Clinton says women are more than half of the world's population. What share of the world's poor does she say are women?

Your estimate

50%

In the extract, Hillary Clinton says women are more than half of the world's population. What share of the world's poor does she say are women? Estimate between 0% and 100%.

0%100%

Watch out: These are her claims. Write 'she says', not 'it is a fact'.

Reading the ending

Reason it through

Why might the extract end with a reference to the ballot box?

Link 1 of 3

First link · your turn

Start with the speaker. What is Hillary Clinton's job?

Locked — reveal the link above first

Your turn

Build the analysis yourself

Phrases you can quote: 'Over the past 25 years' · 'Over the past two and a half years' · 'At this very moment' · 'this gathering' · 'here'

How does the speaker create a sense of urgency in this extract? Use the phrases as evidence. [4 marks]

Your answer

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The mark scheme

Quotes a time reference and says what it does, for example 'At this very moment' brings the speech up to the present time and adds a sense of urgency. (1 mark)
Quotes a place reference and says what it does, for example 'this gathering' or 'here' brings the speech to the present place and makes the United Nations meeting feel really important. (1 mark)
Links time and place together: they show the scale of the problem and the need to take action today. (1 mark)
Makes an inference about what the speaker wants the listener to feel or think, and backs it with a quoted phrase or detail from the extract. (1 mark)

Model answer

The speaker moves the listener towards the present. 'Over the past 25 years' and 'Over the past two and a half years' show how long and how recently she has been working on these issues, and then 'At this very moment' brings the speech up to the present time and adds a sense of urgency. She does the same for place: 'this gathering' and 'here' make the United Nations meeting feel really important. Together, the time and place references show the scale of the problem and the need to take action today. Because she lists countries in different continents, I can infer that she wants us to see the problems facing women as universal.

Four moves: quote a time reference and say what it does; quote a place reference and say what it does; join them to show scale and the need to act today; and make an inference backed by evidence. Keep each quotation short and spend your words on the effect.

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

How Hillary Clinton makes you feel the problem is urgent

What you need to know

Hillary Clinton, an American politician and advocate for women's rights, gave a speech to the United Nations in 1995.
The United Nations is an international organisation aimed at increasing cooperation and peace between nations.
'Over the past 25 years' emphasises the many years she has been advocating for women's rights.
Another time reference, 'Over the past two and a half years', shows she was still working on these issues recently.
Have a goYour classmate says: 'Two and a half years is tiny next to 25 years, so that phrase is just filler.' What does the phrase actually show?
That she was still working on these issues recently.
It isn't filler: beside the 25-year phrase it shows the work was still going on recently, not only long ago.
'At this very moment' brings the speech up to the present time, makes the experience relatable and adds a sense of urgency.
Have a goFinish it: first she looks 25 years back, then two and a half years back. 'At this very moment' pulls the listener all the way to the ______.
Present.
It brings the speech up to the present time, which is what adds the sense of urgency.
A list of countries in different continents emphasises that the problems facing women are universal.
Saying 'this gathering' and 'here' brings the speech to the present place, like 'at this very moment' does for time.
Together, her time and place references show the scale of the problem and the need to take action today.
Statistics illustrate the inequality women face, but they are her claims, so write 'she says' rather than 'it's a fact'.
Have a goYou're writing about one of her statistics. Which opening is safer: 'It's a fact that…' or 'She says that…'? Pick one.
'She says that…'
The statistics are her claims, so you report them as hers rather than as independent facts.
In this extract, the closing reference to the ballot box is read as showing the importance of women having political power.

The big picture

In her 1995 speech to the United Nations, 'Women's Rights are Human Rights', Hillary Clinton uses time references, place references and statistics to show the scale of the problems women face and why they need action today.

Key points

1The time references travel from years of advocacy to the present moment, and that narrowing builds urgency.

2The two earlier time references, read together, show how hard change can be.

3The place references (the list of countries, 'this gathering' and 'here') show the problem is universal and bring the speech to the present place.

4Time and place references are chosen, not background: together they signal the scale of the problem and the need to act today.

5Her statistics are claims she makes to illustrate inequality, so report them as hers.

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Worked example

Problem

Write one analysis sentence about the single word 'here' in the speech.

⚠ Watch out

Treating time and place references as background detail. In this speech they are chosen: they show the scale of the problem and build urgency.

🧠

Memory hook

Zoom lens: 25 years back, then two and a half, then 'At this very moment' — and across the world down to 'here'. The closer the camera gets, the more urgent it feels.

✓

Check yourself

Without looking back: what does each of the three time references add, and what do 'this gathering' and 'here' do for place?

Flashcards

(13)

Who is Hillary Clinton?

An American politician and advocate for women's rights.

What is the United Nations?

An international organisation aimed at increasing cooperation and peace between nations.

What is the speech called, and what is it about?

'Women's Rights are Human Rights', a 1995 speech to the United Nations about the struggles facing women around the world.

What does 'Over the past 25 years' emphasise?

The many years Hillary Clinton has been advocating for women's rights.

What does 'Over the past two and a half years' show?

That she was still working on these issues recently.

What do the 25-year and two-and-a-half-year references show when you read them together?

How hard change can be.

Name three things 'At this very moment' does.

It brings the speech up to the present time, makes the experience relatable and adds a sense of urgency.

What two kinds of place reference does she use?

A list of countries, and the words 'this gathering' and 'here' for the United Nations meeting.

Why does the list of countries cover different continents?

It emphasises that the problems facing women are universal.

What do 'this gathering' and 'here' do for place?

The same job 'at this very moment' does for time: they bring the speech to the present place and make the meeting feel really important.

What do her time and place references show together?

The scale of the problem and the need to take action today, which establishes a sense of urgency.

What are her three statistics, and how should you report them?

Women are more than half the world's population, 70% of the world's poor and two thirds of those not taught to read and write. Report them as her claims, used to illustrate inequality.

How does this lesson read the closing reference to the ballot box?

As showing the importance of women having political power, a likely interpretation of this extract because she is a politician.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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How big is her number?

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