Martin Luther King was one of the greatest leaders that fought for the rights of African Americans across the country. MLK was an amazing speaker and writer. He wrote a speech called the “I Have A Dream” speech. He presented this to the African Americans across the country pushing them to help with the fight against segregation. Also, King was arrested for protesting racial segregation. Some clergymen called his behavior “unwise” and “untimely” so he took his time to create a letter explaining his choice of actions. King used Logical appeal (logos) and Emotional appeal (pathos) to capture the attention of his audience, along with making his main points clear. Although King uses both logos and pathos, pathos have more of an effect on his listeners. …show more content…
In his “I Have A Dream” speech King introduces the idea that comes from The Declaration of Independence. “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the constitution and the...This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white me, would be granted the ‘unalienable Rights’ of ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness’”(King, 261-262)This supports Kings reasoning behind why all men should be treated equal. In King's “Letter From the Birmingham Jail” he explains the difference between just and unjust laws. In addition to this, he talks about why people break one type of law but not the other. “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law...an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust” (King, 276). King uses these logos to support his main points, but they do not exactly catch his audience's
He also wrote “Letter From Birmingham Jail” while being incarcerated. This letter was in response to his critics which were eight white clergymen. In both of these pieces of work from 1963 King uses pathos (emotional appeal)and logos (logical appeal) to show the harsh reality of the African American lives. In Dr.King's speech “I have a dream” he uses logos to show logical evidence to appeal to his audience In this quote you can see Dr.King’s use of logic “This note was a promise that all
Here are some important Logos and Pathos from both speech and letter that King used to bring people together or create change. The word Logos means logic and can be used when someone use something in a very logical meaning. King used Logos very often his speech “I Have a Dream” He used more
This quote is an example of logos, because it compares the African American people’s experience to cashing a bad check, which is a logical comparison. In addition,"We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote”(King page 263 paragraph 13). This is another example of logos, because he uses facts to appeal to the reader and to convince them to join the Civil Right Movement. His usage of logos in these quotes are written to rally the reader and let them know of their
Martin Luther King Jr. used many powerful strategies and tactics such as imagery of the future, descriptive details of the present, historical figures and the use of logos, pathos and ethos. Throughout the entire piece, King used logos, or logic. He uses this tactic with the knowledge of explanations being more effective than emotions. When compared to an extremist, he took the idea as logical and used choices of words to show his passion, which also appealed as pathos.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta and also received his a Ph. D. in technology from Boston University. King resigned from his pastor position at a church in Alabama and moved back to Atlanta to lead the activities of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. From 1960 to Kings last days of life him and his father would pastor together at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter titled “Letter From Birmingham Jail” in April 1963 as a response to a “published statement by eight fellow clergymen from Alabama was composed under somewhat constricting
In the Letter from Birmingham City Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. uses these three persuasive elements (Ethos, Logos, Pathos) to reach the goal of argumentative writing, which is to persuade the audience that your ideas are valid, or more valid than someone else 's. The first appeal that uses ethos in the greeting of the letter, which reads 'My Dear Fellow Clergymen. ' This illustrates that Dr. King is letting the reader understand him in his role of a religious leader. This is known to be a position in which the individual is seen as generally good, upright, truthful and trustworthy. The point is that Dr. King was ethos to remind the reader about his role as a religious leader, rather than another role that would have been equally valid.
Dr. King reached his audience well using Pathos and Ethos, but a large lack of Logos makes the audience believe that the speech was not founded in fact. Obama used a lot of Logos but many of the facts
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the letter from a Birmingham jail responding to his white clergymen. Martin was accused as being an outsider and he wrote the letter to defend himself. The clergymen were the ones who criticized what he did and got him put into jail. Dr. King wrote this letter towards religious leaders that had the power to change segregation laws but wouldn 't do it. He writes this because of the harsh treatment that African Americans received based on their skin tone being different.
King’s presentation of Logos is amazing, he shows his fellow clergymen two opposite sides to the community, one that is pure satisfaction and the other that is full of hate. King is telling his audience that he could have stayed neutral in the situation and allowed the Black Nationalist groups to take charge, but he didn’t. Logos isn’t just present in King’s letter, it is expected since King is writing a letter justifying his
I believe that paragraphs 9 and 12 from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” are the strongest paragraphs in this letter of his. These paragraph is so profound and truly explain why segregation is unjust in two short paragraphs. They don’t go into a lot of detail on why segregation is unjust, because they don’t need to. They’re argument is strong enough with how short they are. Since these paragraphs give an easy to understand and short reasoning as to why segregation is unjust, explains what makes a law just or unjust, and show that just laws can be unjust when applied to situations such as segregation, I believe they are the strongest paragraphs in this letter.
used both logos and pathos in his speech and in his letter. He used pathos to appeal to the people 's emotions and logos to appeal to logic,to evidence and to support reasoning. He used pathos to show how unfair and unjust it was and how cruel they are treated. King used logos to show how long it has been that they have silently took this unjust treatment and how it is ruining society and tarnishing the people. In conclusion, King showed how using both pathos and logos can inspire change and shows that sometimes the pen is mightier than the
Civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr, in his Letter from Birmingham City Jail, argues against criticism from eight Alabama clergymen, and addresses their concerns. He defends his position, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), against accusations of disturbing the peace in Birmingham, as well as explaining his values and opinions. Throughout the letter, King adopts a strong logical and credible tone, and reinforces his position through the use of strong emotional justifications, in order to appeal to the clergymen and defend his public image. Martin Luther King opens up his Letter from Birmingham City Jail by appealing to the clergymen's emotions, and assuring his peaceful response, which he describes in "patient and
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. led a peaceful movement in Birmingham, Alabama. The purpose of the demonstration was to bring awareness and end to racial disparity in Birmingham. Later that night, King and his followers were detained by city authorities. While in custody, King wrote the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” This letter voiced out his disappointment in the criticisms, and oppositions that the general public and clergy peers obtained.
King expresses his thoughts using logical appeal (logos), as well as emotional appeal (pathos) to support his case and persuade others to support it as well. King’s usage of logos and pathos assisted him greatly in speeches and letters, the effect being the nation we know today. When a large minority of citizens could not apprehend King’s viewpoint, he turned to a logical appeal in order to help others
When addressing the difference between just and unjust laws for the clergymen Martin Luther King Jr. stated, A just law is man-made code that squares with the mora law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of Saint Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law.