Rebekah Riepe Chambers ENGRW 9 December 2015 Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. dared to dream, and as a result, he brought about a movement that changed lives across America. His speeches enlightened and inspired people to the point of action. As a skilled rhetorician was able to establish credibility with his audiences by integrating familiar works into his speeches. He knew how to create well written speeches while still speaking from his heart and delivering his message with passion. From his time as a minister, he was able to use his training to evoke emotion from all and prick the consciences of those who opposed his mission. Despite all of the violence King never wavered, and by his use of language he was able to incite …show more content…
When he was born he was referred to as M.L. by his family for several years, until he had his name legally changed to Martin several years later Jackson 36). As he grew up he was heavily influenced by his family’s ties to the Baptist community. His grandfather lead the congregation of Kings childhood church, Ebenezer Baptist Church, until Martin Luther King Sr. later took over. Under the leadership of King Sr. the church grew from around six hundred members to several thousand in just under ten years Jackson 37). Part of his success in growing the church was due to the importance he placed in his sermons of the importance of not only meeting people's spiritual needs, but their physical needs as well. This influenced King from an early age because he was able to learn the practical applications of the gospel, and how to use it to bring people together. In 1444 King began his higher education at Morehouse college at age fifteen. “According to his own accounts, he entered college as a religious skeptic, more interested in a career in law than in pursuing a life of ministry” Jackson 39). The process of his conversion was rigorous as he struggled to live by faith and not purely by his sense, but after years of study and he decided to follow Jesus. Throughout his four years at Morehouse he was influenced by his religion professor George Kelsey and the college president Benjamin Mays. The two provided King with a solid example of what it looks like to have a socially active ministry in the community in order to bring about equality for black men. Originally King didn’t want to be a preacher because he didn't want to conform to the practices of a stereotypical minister and preach solely about spiritual matters, no matter how important they may be. Rather he wanted to make advances in the fight for equality. Due of the examples of Mays, Kelsey, and his
As a devoted man of god, King was a peaceable person, he wanted to end segregation and other acts of racism in a nonviolent way. His plan of action had four steps, injustice, negotiation, self -purification and direct action. For each step he
He emphasizes the fact that he helps all the organizations in his church community and that they did not do the same in Birmingham where they needed it the most. King gives many specific accounts from the Bible to help tell his argument and to tell the Clergymen
King needs to give the clergymen and all his readers a reason to listen to him and show them that he is believable. To do this King tells his audience that he is the “president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every Southern state with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. [They] have eighty-five affiliate organizations all across the South, one being the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights” (King). This statement shows the audience that he has first-hand experience through the organizations he is involved with and tells the audience through this experience he sees and hear of the unjust treatment to the black citizens in the South first hand which gives the audience a reason to listen to what King has to say. Second, King effectively uses pathos from Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle and the appeal to emotions fallacy within his letter in order to further help convince his audience that his actions of peaceful demonstrations are justified in his fight for civil rights.
Why would King risk the dangers of speaking his mind on issues that could cause harm to him and his loved ones? Why would King risk going to jail by simply just stating his opinion? King’s father was a Baptist minister who always educated the importance of faith. King would take this faith to Morehouse College and Boston University where he would earn a doctorate in systematic theology. Before the famous speech, King was involved in many anti-segregation movements, such as the Montgomery Boycott, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the March on Washington.
Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." Martin Luther King Jr., had an immense amount of faith. Martin was born January 15th, 1929 to Alberta King, who was a teacher to her three children, and Martin Luther King Sr., who was the minister of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. King was a smart kid growing up and aspired to be a doctor. He skipped the grades of 9 and 12 and eventually graduated from Morehouse College.
Given his family background, King was able to go all the way in education to attain a PhD. Thereafter, he became an active member of the civil rights movement just like his
He did not come a rich family, but was educated and because of his education and his knowledge in politics he was able to get really far in his career. He graduated from the University of Alabama with a bachelorettes degree. He then joined the army and became a staff sergeant. It was not until 1952 when he became a circuit judge and was seen as very liberal although despite the fact that he may have changed the way he views certain aspects to get popular. King is also considered credible because his grandfather and his father were both pastors, then later King became a co-pastor with his father.
King made it prevalent that he did not receive the support he thought white preachers would give him. He was not met with equal support because the white preachers saw him as everything but equal to them. “I have been so greatly disappointed with the white Church and its leadership.” (Letter from a Birmingham Jail). There was already a mindset that was placed in the Whites about the inferior race.
on the other hand wanted to handle things the Christian way. King believed that violence was not the answer. He wanted to be clear to the people that nonviolence is not a method of cowardice but being nonviolent was a resister that was just as opposed to the evil that he is standing against as the violent resister that he resists without violence. King believed that that his method was nonaggressive but still strong and powerful spiritually. King wanted to gain and become friends with the white community and their opponents instead of humiliating the white community and defeating them.
Martin Luther King, Jr. original name as Michael King Jr. He was born in January 15, 1929 in Atlanta Georgia. He died April 4, 1968 he was only 39 years old. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist Minister and a Social Activist who led the Civil Right Movement in the United States from the Mid- 1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, TN at the Lorraine Motel which is a Museum now.
The way that King spoke to the clergymen of the town spoke volumes about the strength of his resolve because, even though he wasn’t getting the support that he needed, King didn’t respond in a violent manner. One clear instance of this is at the very beginning of his letter when he states “my dear fellow clergymen”, showing how he has no ill will towards them and that he still wants their support (King 563). Even though King still wanted support from the local churches and treated them with the respect that they deserved he wanted supporters that were certain to help, so he chastised them in order to assure that their support would be definitive. This is shown when King talks about the inactivity of the local churches against the problems in their communities and that they should be more active (564). As King talks to his audience he gets them involved in the conversation and conveys the feeling of
At twenty-five years of age, Martin Luther King became a pastor for the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, located in Montgomery Alabama (Fuller, 314). His faith in God and Jesus only grew stronger as he witnessed the injustices shown towards African Americans. He often quoted passages from the Bible in his sermons and even in his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail. In this letter, he explains that he is a "love extremist" (King, 297). He viewed religion as a method of bringing out the best in people.
Later in life, I realized that Mr. King did a lot of African-Americans, he had many other important influential messages. His message was about the racial equality and the economic equality. Everyone in the states really deserved a good amount of money so they can support themselves and their families. His last speech was in support of the bus driver 's strike which is located in Memphis, Tennessee. While Mr. King was in Memphis for that trip in 1968, a man shot him on a balcony outside of his motel room.
This shows how Dr. King is very smart and was able to put together the movement and protests. In King’s senior year of college he decided he wanted to have a career as a pastor. After leaving college King graduated as valedictorian and earned his sociology degree in 1951. His college president Benjamin E. Mays influenced his spiritual education, which king used as a force in social change (Biography, 2018). Using religion as a force was a smart idea because pastors are excellent speakers and they are trustworthy.
He grew up with a deeply rooted determination to obtain equal rights for all American citizens. He led many protests and gave extremely motivating speeches that eventually made him the most known Civil Rights leader. “Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as the head of a movement for justice and equality that branched out from Montgomery and swept through the south” (ramsees7). This established the success in his accomplishments within the marches