It occurs to her that she should record this flash of insight in her journal otherwise she is sure to forget, for she is someone who is always learning and forgetting and
obliged to learn again—but the act of recording requires that she remove her gloves,
rummage through her bag for her pen and for the notebook itself. This is more than
she is capable of doing.
--Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries

What is the purpose of the dashes in the first sentence? How do they
help to create meaning?

In the case of the paragraph you supplied it is explaining why it is so important that she records her flash of insight on paper.

Explanation:  

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)