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Martin Luther King Rhetorical Analysis

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Emotional Appeal. In Martian Luther King Jr’s speech I have a dream; King used his words skillfully and intellectually to target his audience’s emotions. His words lifted up the spirits and hopes of those who stood in support of him. Imagine how different an impact his speech would have had if he approached it with the emotional appeal of pity or sympathy. It’s not likely many people would have been moved if he pulled the poor pitiful us card. Instead, King went at it guns a blazing determined to let everyone there know that they were not down for the count and their voice mattered. When King used the words, “…America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.” The crowd erupted with cheers. This is what they wanted to hear. This was the message that needed to be given all over the United States. …show more content…

Manipulation makes it easier to persuade someone into something that could be wrong. For example, if you have ever had a friend offer you drugs they would try to appeal to your emotions using words like “It’ll make you feel good.” or “everyone is doing it.” Your subconscious tells you that you want to feel good or accepted so it’s better to take the drugs and get on with it. The same goes for our society. We want to feel good about the things we do in everyday life so we talk ourselves up targeting that feel good

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