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Pathos In Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream

Decent Essays

Martin Luther King Jr in his speech “I Have a Dream” furthers his purpose of demonstrating himself as a leader to his community in regard to fighting against slavery and segregation by effectively employing pathos, logos and ethos. One way that King furthers his purpose is through his use of pathos. Pathos is using emotion to convince an audience or to persuade. Near the middle of his speech, King states that, “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” (383). Mr. King uses pathos to communicate with his enormous crowd by doing the following: King uses his four children in his speech to appeal to the emotions of the crowd. King successfully used pathos throughout his speech by affecting the audience’s feelings so that the crowd can agree with him and relate to him too. By mentioning his children, King, not only is he a leader, but he is a family man. He connects with his audience by making personal connections in hopes to connect with every audience member who have a family of their own. For example, King says, “And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream” (383). King succeeds in convincing the peoples emotions in his favor by creating a warm, aspiration atmosphere, to uplift the mood of his people. A parent himself as well as the parents in the crowd, he mentions the future of his four children and the

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