Back in 1963 times were different then what they are now, people were not created equal. When Martin Luther King gave his speech you could not spot a white person that associated with a black person, the world was divided and the blacks sought equality. As King said in his speech, “the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land”. To emphasize, for the blacks their home did not feel like home it felt like they were in jail being treated as the whites slaves. Throughout hundreds of years the blacks still had to deal with segregation, and it was time to put up a fight and try to make a change, so Martin Luther King did exactly that even if it meant risking his life to try to make life better for the others. In King’s speech pathos, logos, and ethos are used throughout it to convey emotion, logic, and the credibility of someone’s character. First of all, pathos was used the most in King’s speech, his words convey so much emotion to try to get the listeners and readers to …show more content…
As said in King’s speech “The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone”. In this quote King is stating that they have many white people who are fighting their fight with them and standing up against the injustice. “It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality” ( King 2). King is using logos here to explain why he is giving this speech and why things need to
And in winning our freedom we will appeal to your heart and conscience so that we will you in the process.” (Document H). In this quote King is stating that by not fighting back and killing them with kindness they will get the white community on their side and they will feel sympathy for them, but as X states in his speech at The Organization of Afro-American Unity Homecoming Rally in Harlem “I’m for peace,but the only way you’re going to preserve peace is be prepared for war.” (Document I) X is stating that to have peace you must be ready to protect yourself from anything and everything because your enemy won’t stop till you are unable to fight so you have to be ready to do the same thing even if you aren’t going to attack you at least have to be able to defend yourself.
In both of these texts, King uses pathos, emotional appeal, and logos, logical appeal, in different ways throughout his works in order to persuade his audience.
One such example of King’s speech is “let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hate. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity”(King page 262) which is a great show of charged language and shows King’s dislike in non-pacifist protest. King also uses logos in his speech to use facts to add upon his idea that African Americans will not stop in seeking their Freedom until it arrives “We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For whites only” ”(King page 263).However in the terms of the speech King’s usage of adipose was more needed and used better because of the audience and occasion, this is because charged language is more commonly used in speeches because of its ability to intrigue the audience. Also the occasion also called for adipos due to the need of African American motivation to end segregation and take 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.
In 1963 Dr.King went to Washington DC to talk in front of thousands in front of the Lincoln Memorial about protesting against discrimination and to fight for freedom and equality being his most famous speech. The following are quotes from his I have a Dream speech. “Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice” This quote was meant to inspire people to believe in change and for a brighter future. “One day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with the little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers” The idea of kids standing together one day no matter of skin color inspired people to take a stance against segregation making everyone seen as equal.
We live in a world with currently many conflicts from the racial disparity in high incarceration rates to gun violence and the war over gun rights. In his letter, King describes that Black Americans have no identity and that the oppressed cannot remain oppressed forever. King implies that they cannot be told to “wait for justice” because if they simply
Logos in this quote evokes that Black Americans are being denied the vote. The audience can understand the point King made about democracy. The rhetorical device of logos helps the audience believe his accurate sources and join him in his
1. Ethos, Logos, and Pathos are important aspects in Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. The meaning behind Ethos is to appeal to ethics, which means convincing readers of the author’s credibility, meanwhile Pathos is an appeal to emotion, and is used in literature to convince readers of an argument by getting their emotions involved. Last but not least, Logos is the appeal to logic and is used to persuade readers using a force of reason. These terms are important in MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail because the foundation of the letter is built upon ideas of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.
Pathos is a charged language, in which someone uses a lot of emotion in words and towards the audience. In King’s speech, he uses a lot of emotion and passion in his words towards his audience at the footsteps of the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington D.C.. As of King Jr 's “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, he uses a lot of Logos (another persuasive technique) in
Martin Luther King Jr. was an important figure in gaining civil rights throughout the 1960’s and he’s very deserving of that title as seen in both his “I Have a Dream” speech and his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” letter. In both of these writings Dr. King uses logos - logical persuasion - and pathos - emotional appeal - to change the opinions of people who were for segregation and against civil rights. Although King was arrested for a nonviolent protest, he still found a way to justify his actions with the use of logos and pathos. MLK uses both ways to gain the attention and agreement of the audience but, he uses pathos not just more, but in a more relatable way in order to appeal to his audience.
Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential leaders of his time and played a crucial role in the African-American Civil Rights movement. Luther was a charismatic leader who took a firm stand against the oppressive and racist regime of the United States (US), devoting much of his life towards uniting the segregated African-American community of the US. His efforts to consolidate and harmonise the US into one country for all is reflected in many of his writings and speeches spanning his career. As a leader of his people, King took the stand to take radical measures to overcome the false promises of the sovereign government that had been addressing the issues of racial segregation through unimplemented transparent laws that did nothing to change the grim realities of the society. Hence, King’s works always had the recurring theme of the unity and strength of combined willpower.
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
In these texts, King effectively persuades his audiences using pathos and logos. In Martin Luther King Jr. – “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he captures both pathos and logos. Dr. King
He places the strong authority of the declaration on his side to show how the American people are in contradiction to their own “sacred obligation” and the Negros have gotten a “bad check.” A metaphor representing the unfulfilled promise of human rights for the African Americans. King skillfully evokes an emotional response from all races with the use of religion: “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.” By doing this he finds a common ground that brings black and whites closer with a common belief in God they share, as well as the mention of
I have a dream speech Analysis Martin Luther king Jr once said,“ I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration of freedom in the history of our nation.” He addressed these words on August of 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial after marching through the streets of Washington. He addressed segregation injustice and racial discrimination against African Americans that took place during his era, in his “I have a dream speech.” He recognized that american was founded on freedom, democracy where each individual has a voice and matters. Only few weeks back protesters were getting arrested for fighting for equality.