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Lesson 4 of 14

Hillary Clinton's passionate speech about women's rights

I can understand and explain how Hillary Clinton uses time and place in her speech, ‘Women’s Rights are Human Rights’.

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Lesson 4 of 14
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Hillary Clinton's passionate speech about women's rights

I can understand and explain how Hillary Clinton uses time and place in her speech, ‘Women’s Rights are Human Rights’.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Hillary Clinton is an American politician and advocate for women’s rights.
  2. The United Nations is an international organisation aimed at increasing cooperation and peace between nations.
  3. Hillary Clinton’s speech is about the struggles facing women around the world.
  4. She uses time and place references to show the scale of the problem and to establish a sense of urgency.

Keywords

  • Persistently - continuing firmly or obstinately in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition

  • Inequality - difference in size, degree, circumstance

  • Deprivation - a damaging lack of the basic necessities of life

  • Apartheid - South Africa’s former system of segregation on grounds of race

  • Undervalued - not appreciated for its actual worth

Common misconception

That you need to be personally affected by something to make a speech about it.

Draw attention to Hillary Clinton as an advocate.

Students could watch parts of Hillary Clinton's speech.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need a copy of Hillary Clinton’s speech to the United Nations, delivered in September 1995. It's available in the additional materials.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following is the best definition of a speech?

a long epic poem designed to be read aloud to an audience
Correct answer: a spoken expression of ideas, opinions or emotions delivered to an audience
a formal gathering of individuals who meet to debate various topics
a form of communication using body language or gestures

Q2.
Which of the following is an antonym for passionate?

Correct answer: indifferent
eager
enthusiastic
determined

Q3.
What word beginning with A describes the people listening to a speech?

Correct Answer: audience

Q4.
Which of the following is the best definition of "global issues"?

challenges facing a country
benefits experienced by all people
Correct answer: issues that affect people arond the world
issues that are only relevant to rich nations

Q5.
Which of the following is the best definition of a summary?

a detailed and often lengthy explanation of an important topic
Correct answer: a brief and concise account of the main points of a larger text
an opinion about a piece of writing
a story presented in the correct chronology

Q6.
Which three things are the most important components of a speech?

Correct answer: a clear message
Correct answer: confident delivery
the length
Correct answer: understanding your audience
punctuation

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the words on the left with their synonyms on the right.

Correct Answer:persistently,relentlessly

relentlessly

Correct Answer:deprivation,lack

lack

Correct Answer:inequality,imbalance

imbalance

Correct Answer:undervalued ,downplayed

downplayed

Q2.
For how long does Hillary Clinton say she has been working for women's rights?

15 years
20 years
Correct answer: 25 years
30 years

Q3.
Which of the following is the best definition of "statistics"?

legal and political documents
maps and other geographical information
Correct answer: numerical data
historical documents

Q4.
How does Hillary Clinton use references to time in her speech?

to remind people we are living in dangerous times
Correct answer: to illustrate how long she has been working on women's rights
to remind her listeners that there is not much time left to put things right
to ensure that everyone understands the past

Q5.
Why does Hillary Clinton mention several countries in her speech?

to show that she is well travelled
Correct answer: to show that women's rights are a global issue
to show that she is thinking about the United Nations
to show that can think outside the needs of her own country

Q6.
By referring to "this gathering" and "here," Clinton establishes a sense of...

style
presence
disaster
value
Correct answer: urgency

Lesson appears in

UnitEnglish / Taking a stand

English

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