Author bio: Aung San Suu Kyi was the leader of the National League for Democracy. Given that the government at that time was not a democracy, this creates a bias in her writing in order to influence the people more. She advocated for democratic and human rights in her speech. Her father was the prime minister of Burma which gives her a political filled background which helps her to form strong opinions based on her ideas. In 1988 she was placed under house arrest for making speeches similar to these ones. Aung San Suu Kyi is a reliable author because she was determined to create a democracy in Myanmar though resisting temptation to leave house arrest by fleeing the country, putting herself in conflict with the government, and winning a Nobel peace prize in 1991.
Date/context: This speech was delivered in 1988. Before this speech was given, Kyi had already experienced the sight of masses of students protesting and the killing of those same protestors by the government at that time, a government that violated human rights frequently. By giving this speech, Kyi had begun her campaign to defeat the government and bring in a new, democratic government. This speech and many others created a sense of nationalism in Myanmar. In 1990, two years later, the National League for Democracy took the majority rule in the government.
Summary: This speech is aimed at convincing people that a multi party democratic system of government is better. To start it gains the students trust and reminds them of their sacrifice by reminding them of the students that have died fighting for the cause. In the speech, Kyi then introduces herself to the audience to gain their trust further. She gives the audience the background of her life. During her background portion, she shows the severity of the issues in the country by saying that she wanted to stay away from politics, but the issues concerned the whole nation and they are taking place in a second independence struggle. The speech then goes on to say that without unity, the movement for a democracy will not succeed. Next, she states her opinions on several ideas concerning the military. She says that she does not want the military to be split apart. She emphasizes that the students hold the power for change becuase they have the strength and numbers to create change and they should continue to protest against the government. However, she says that there does not have to be a total reconstruction but rather a system that allows multiple parties to run and fair elections to be held. She ends her argument by saying that the current government is crumbling and it is time for a change.
Key quotation: "May the entire people be united and disciplined. May our people always do what is in complete accord with rightful principles. May the people be free from all harm. To conclude I would like to reiterate our emphatic demands and protests, namely that we have no desire at all for a referendum, that the one-party system should be dismantled, that a multi-party system of government should be established, and we call for free and fair elections to be arranged as quickly as possible. These are our demands."
Overall it is a very good PDP. The Author Bio provides a decent baseline understanding of the individual. The summary of the article is well done containing a brief analysis and abstract of the long document. And the key quotation was well chosen and very strongly reflects the nature of the document. However there are a few points that could be improved upon. The first is that a better understanding of the country’s position and what needed to change. Second, More information on why the author became under house arrest would add to the bio. Third, some more specific details form the speech would improve upon the summary. But again, overall a very good PDP.
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