Martin Luther King, Jr. is perhaps the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement. He is famous for writing his “I Have A Dream” speech and his “Letter From Birmingham Jail.” Dr. King is known as a very high-minded speaker who avoids violence when making his argument. His work can be defined as a nonviolent protest. His “I Have A Dream” speech and “Letter From Birmingham Jail” are loaded with language that does not have a negative, violent-sounding undertone, but rather a passionate one. Both of these arguments by King use two main types of persuasive appeal, logical and emotional appeal. Logical appeal, or logos, uses a clear line of reasoning supported by evidence, such as data, expert testimony, and facts. Emotional appeal, or pathos, uses charged or loaded language and other devices to stir emotions. “I Have A Dream” and “Letter From Birmingham Jail” are brimming with logos and pathos. …show more content…
King uses logos and pathos consistently in both of his arguments because he is trying to get his point across in the most sincere, nonviolent way that he possibly can. Both arguments cover the same topic, civil rights, everyone has the same rights regardless of race or skin color. Logos in “I Have A Dream” and in “Letter From Birmingham Jail” are similar because they involve data and facts, “Five score years ago, a great American...signed the Emancipation Proclamation.” (King 261.) “Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.” (King 272.) Pathos in both arguments are similar because they both consistently use similes, “Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.” (King 262.) “They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.” (King
He wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and wrote his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. He was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the biggest visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement. This man was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In both of his writings, he used pathos and logos to appeal to the audience and fit the occasion.
Martin Luther King Jr. inexplicably opened the eyes of Americans across the nation with his role in the movement and his use of resonating imagery, excellent emotional appeal, powerful voice, and evocation of logic in his “I Have a Dream” speech. With such an enthralling rhetoric he gained a vast amount of support and exponentially increased the pride in standing up for what’s righteous and just. Exemplifying the throes of being a colored person, King evoked sympathy whilst simultaneously applying the valid logic that no human should be subjected to lesser standards. His rhetoric wholly changed American history that day and thus conveyed his ability to maintain equanimity throughout all of the
He is not just any man protesting for the rights of colored people, but he was the leader and organizer of the protest. He is a clergyman reaching out to the others. King also uses Logos to show readers his voice of reason behind everything that is going on,” I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community.. Nourished by the Negro’s frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible devil.” ( page 540)
In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King uses multiple devices of persuasive rhetoric in order to fight injustice. King, a reverend, was a large advocate for civil rights in midst of the great movement calling for equality among all men and women. His letter is widely renowned for King’s proclamation that “in any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of facts to determine whether injustice exists, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action” (par. 6). His usage of tone and carefully placed anaphora aid King in this persuasive essay by further providing insight and evidence that support King’s four points. From Critical Thinking to Argument defines tone as “attitude towards self, topic, and
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
Both pieces have many appeals in common, whether it is pathos, logos, ethos or repetition. In “ I have a Dream speech it contain mostly pathos and ethos because the speech is trying to make the audience emotionally toward the cause. In the speech “ I have a dream” are example of pathos was “ I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”. ( King,18). The quote was made toward to his children not himself it makes the audience think about their own children and how they wouldn 't want what is happening to king children to their own.
Response to “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. In Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, he responded to statements written in a Birmingham newspaper that criticized his actions in the city. He undermined these disapprovals by explaining his belief in nonviolent direct action. King also went on to give opinions on other topics, such as, the lack of support from white moderates and white churches. He used technique and structure to develop his ideas and justify his methods.
The “I Have a Dream” speech is well known throughout history to be one of the most famous speeches to be on the subject of civil rights. Throughout the entirety of “I Have a Dream”, Dr. King uses pathos more than logos. “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.”
On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a famous speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and freedom, this speech was called “I have a dream.” This speech was focused on ending racism and equal rights for African Americans during the civil rights movement. He displays a great amount of pathos, logos, and ethos in his speech. Martin Luther King Jr. displays pathos by targeting the audience’s emotion by talking about his American dream that could also be other peoples too. He shows logos by giving a sense of hope to the people that better things will come in time.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an extremely impactful activist during the Civil Rights Movement that gave over 2,500 speeches in his lifetime. Of these speeches, his most popular is his famous I Have a Dream speech that he gave on August 28, 1963 in Washington, D.C. during the March on Washington. Even famous speakers like Martin Luther King, Jr. use persuasive techniques to appeal to the different sides of their audiences. In order to appeal to his predominately African American audience, Martin Luther King, Jr. makes reference to Abraham Lincoln and his granting freedom to slaves by signing the Emancipation Proclamation.
To begin with Dr. King used logos in his speech to educate the people and give them evidence and logic. Dr. King used both logos and pathos in his speech here is an example of logos used in his speech. “ Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, Signed the Emancipation Proclamation. ”(King 261) is the quote that Dr. King wrote in his speech. He is telling them that the African Americans have been free for five hundred years and that was a great point in history but the African Americans aren’t treated equally or fairly.
March Rhetorical Analysis The 1960’s civil rights movement often used persuasive language to echo the unheard voices of many individuals. Some more than others possessed the ability to exercise their potent use of language to bring forward prominent changes. In the book, March by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, eloquent methods of speech play an important role. John Lewis, Martin Luther King, and George Wallace are some that expressed their beliefs through persuasive empowering words.
Dr. Kings “I Have a Dream” speech shows powerful examples of logos and pathos. His effectiveness relies heavily on his usage of these two ways to explain the pain and suffering of segregation. By him capturing his true life’s reality through pity and credible sources allows him to become successful in attempting to end the racism crisis. King states that, “when our republic was writing the Declaration of Independence, they were making a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable rights’ of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Logos is the prime example of King using this event of writing the Declaration of Independence.
Martin Luther King Jr. uses both logical and emotional appeals in order for all his listeners’ to be able to relate and contemplate his speeches. He does an exceptional job using both these appeals throughout his speeches by backing up his emotional appeals with logical ones. Using emotional appeals captures an audience's attention and makes them think about what the narrator is saying. Emotional appeal uses intense words and charged language to grab listeners to get them to keep listening. On the other hand, logical appeals helps to grasp the concept better and provides facts that prove it to be true.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech is one of the most well-known and critically acclaimed speeches of all time. Every child, every teenager, every adult has at some point in their lives heard King’s speech. They have heard the words “I have a dream” ring through the air. The success of King’s speech is not accidental by any means. King’s speech bears many of the hallmarks of a strong persuasive speech.