Rhetorical Analysis Of King's Speech

In his “Letter to Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King employs the use of logos and allusions to strengthen his point and get others to see his stance on advocating for civil disobedience. King uses logos in the quote, “So the purpose of the distraction is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitable open the door to negotiation (King, page 7). The logos in this text is persuasive because his logic follows a clear path and makes sense to the vast majority of people. Most can understand the reasoning behind what King is saying and how it relates to the matter at hand. The logic also gives the impression that King knows what he’s talking about when he makes this sensible and rational statement.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. effectively uses pathos and logos in his “I Have a Dream” speech and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to cement his stance on racial inequality. In King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, he uses a lot of pathos to promote civil rights and promote racial equality. Dr. King effectively uses pathos when he expresses his hope that “all men [will] be created equally”(17), and that America “will live out the true meaning of its creed”(17). King describes his hopes for America’s future regarding the racial inequality African Americans face. King’s use of pathos is perfect at this time, due to the emotion that came from the march.

” (paragraph 39). In this quote he is saying motivational things like “free at last” and “able to join hands” which can inspire the audience. Another example in the speech that shows pathos to persuade the audience is when Dr. King emphasizes that “[he has] a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed” (paragraph 17). Again, the words he uses in the part of the speech can make the audience very motivated to do something about the problem they are having. Next, in the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Dr. King switches his writing and uses logos to respond appropriately to the clergymen.

Ethos was used to gain the trust of his audience, logos gave a logical explanation of his actions and pathos made people feel empathy for African Americans. All three methods were effective on different types of King's audience, but together they convinced a larger audience. In this letter King not only defends his opinion and beliefs but also his people and the organisations helping others gain their

Dr. Martin Luther King Junior was able to captivate many people during a time where African Americans were considered inferior. He stood up for himself and others and vowed to make a change in his community and around the country. The words he were extremely powerful and are still remembered today. Some of his words aroused people and caused them to want to make a change (pathos), and others appealed to reason and used evidence (logos). Dr. King used pathos more frequently in his I Have a Dream speech and used logos more prominently in the Letter from Birmingham Jail letter.

Dr.King’s appeal in the letter was a mixture of pathos and logos. An example of him using logos was in the beginning of the letter when he told his audience his reasoning of being in Birmingham was because he had ties to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Another example is when he told the audience how a

Martin Luther King Jr. was a man who genuinely knew how to capture his audiences with his words. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” makes an appeal to his reader about the injustices that have been set in place by the oppressor. In the letter he talks about numerous things, mortal authority in Christian communities, American ideas, and the suffering of the African American community. Dr. King uses logos to persuade the reader why he s protesting in the first place because the oppressor has broken the negotiation between the whites and the African American. His logical argument to why the ideal way to proceed with non-violent protests is because of the political decisions that have been made. An example he brings up is the idea of there being just and unjust laws in America and as citizens those unjust should be deliberately disobeyed. Dr. King says, “Conversely, one has a mortal responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all” he soon starts to define what both type of laws means…”A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law…An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the mortal law.” In order to persuade his reader about the idea he has do more than engage with the readers emotions. By Dr. King defining what the difference between the two laws sets a more conceiving idea of the treatment towards African American. Martin Luther King basic point is unjust laws do not just hurt the one being oppressed but also the one doing the oppressing. This is more of logos appeal for the reason he is not trying to connect with the reader emotionally but rather make sure the reader understands his cause for the protests.

King also used pathos in his speech to show emotion. “And those who hope that the negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.” (King 262) King is showing emotion in this patho by saying that even though the

Doctor Martin Luther King Junior was an expert in persuading his audience. He was a massive advocate for the civil rights movement, and when he saw the injustice being served to the African American community during the Vietnam war, he had to take a stand. In his passage, "Beyond Vietnam- A time to break silence", he uses the rhetorical devices of logos, pathos and ethos to to strengthen his argument for why American involvement in the Vietnam war was unjust. The technique of logos, using logic to persuade an audience, is seen many times throughout this passage.

BP 1: C: Initially in the third paragraph King is strongly appealing to with pathos. E: By saying “One hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation”. A: This example of pathos shows that it is the most important appeal King uses because it shows what it’s like to be a Negro during this time and the reader fells sorry for them. And that you want to help the Negro people. L: This shows that pathos is the most important appeal in Kings Speech. This is really a very big part of society because

Logos means reason. Martin Luther King Jr. uses logos to show why he is delivering this speech and why he wants things to change. He is delivering this speech to show how many blacks and other races, that weren’t being treated equally, really didn’t have freedom like they should. “It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro.” (King, M. L. Jr. (1963, Aug.28) Para 6) “Instead of honoring the sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’” (King, M. L. Jr. (1963, Aug.28) Para 5) These quotes are just a couple of the logos quotes Martin Luther King said in his speech.

In 1963, minister and rights activist, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a speech in front of Lincoln memorial to bring awareness to the unfairness of injustice for black people. King's speech was an effort to try and mandate the coming together of the black and white race and finally have the equality between us all be put into force for a free nation. As the speech left King’s mouth and entered 250,000 citizens ears, it left them to think about what point he was trying to make because he uses pathos, logos, and ethos.

King gave a speech to his followers. Near the middle of the speech, he expresses "We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: for whites only" (8). This helps motivate his followers because he describes how their treatment is unfair and why they should be treated the same as everyone else. "We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: for whites only" (8).This evidence functions as pathos because King makes the audience feel hurt knowing the fact their children are facing discrimination due to the color of their skin. This evidence made King's speech more persuasive by helping paint an image in his audience's eyes about the very injustice that was occurring during that time.

With the people of The United States of America categorized as the audience, King speaks to people of all races and ethnicity. This discriminated audience included the grasping appeals to the ethos, pathos, and logos. As each appeal is fully informed of the rhetorical purpose, King finds a way to encourage all three. Through several metaphors and types of imagery, he makes the decision to speak to all of the appeals in order to accomplish to need for change. Clearly aimed directly at the hearts of blacks and making the whites feel ashamed of their actions brought together a turn in society as they knew it. This specific structure geared towards the audience was the main reason why King impacted Americans across the country and not just at the march. These different appeals mixed within the audience to help King influence his purpose of racial equality as each type of person could relate to his moving words.

King is extremely emotive in his speech, and uses incredibly descriptive and poetic phrasing to demonstrate the eloquence of his argument. His use of words like "Now" and "today" imply a great need for immediate action regarding civil rights; the fact that he is so well-spoken is intentionally utilized in the speech to lend credence to his words. Given the stereotype at the time that blacks were unintelligent and uneducated, King 's responsibility to show the capabilities of black rhetoric was great. King, as a religious man, brings spirituality into the speech itself, but not in a self-aggrandizing way; he merely states that racial justice should be done as it is according to God 's will.