Civil Rights Activist: Dr. Martin Luther King

King belabors the point made on the struggles of colored people; he lists specific examples that highlight the overarching point of this paragraph. He establishes a candid, impassioned tone that allows the reader,

Throughout Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, written to the Alabama Clergymen, he addressed the innumerable hardships that African Americans were enduring at this time. He explains how African Americans have waited much too long for their natural rights. His goal is to point out the flaws and lack of equality in the United States. Martin Luther King Jr. uses rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, and logos to show the struggle of African Americans at this time.

Two individuals, meeting for the first time, sit on opposite sides of a coffee table in the dimly lit library of a beautiful home in the south. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Ellison seek to find common ground and a personal understanding of each other based on the shared experiences of Black American men. Their conversation centers on the plight of Black Americans whose voices were silenced, whose existence ignored, and whose value was to easily disregarded and dismissed. In an attempt to succinctly identify the purpose of his Letter From Birmingham Jail, Dr. King set his coffee mug on the table, leaned forward and said, ‘My letter to those eight, white clergymen was a direct, express attempt to elicit empathy.’

Martin Luther King Jr. once stated “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now”. King’s basis was racial equality for all Americans. King spoke in many places throughout the United States from 1963 until 1968 when he was assassinated. He fought for African Americans’ rights when no one else would. Ultimately, he enlisted the support of white Americans and eventually won rights for the African American people, but sadly it was not until the 1970’s, two years after King’s assassination, that black people were finally able to enjoy the rights King helped win with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These rights would not have been possible without King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” which he wrote in compliance to the white clergy calling his civil disobedience “untimely and unwise.” The civil disobedience the white clergy is talking about is the one that he and many other activists including children were arrested for protesting without a permit. Although King wields a plethora of appeals and devices, pathos and allusion are the most powerful because these play on the audience's guilt and reference related historical events that denounce the oppressors’ racist ways.

The first two paragraphs in his book possess powerful diction that describe the living conditions of African Americans as “vermin-infested” and “rickety”. Martin Luther King joins in their time of suffering because he too has faced the hardships of being a colored man in a condescending white society. The description of the two Negro children demonstrates the knowledge King has about the horrific environment that families and all African Americans are living in because of white supremacy. He analyzes the concept of “no promotions for the Negro” in stores, but employs “no promotions” in life and rights for African Americans by detailing their “all-Negro” ambience. The vivid vernacular captures a sense of comfort and understanding to the Negro community. Through King’s loaded diction and the concept of an equal society, the African American people grasp a desire to enforce change, whereas the non-Negros recognize the harsh conditions they are creating for the African

Racism & inequality has been a problem in the United States for many years. In August of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I have a dream” speech to address some of these known issues. By utilizing allusions that create credibility and reasoning & strong anaphora that establishes logic and an emotional connection, MLK successfully conveys his message of giving hope to black Americans that there will be new beginnings & that he wants Congress to initiate a civil rights bill while Americans should fight for the rights of all people in peaceful ways. In the first half of the speech, MLK discusses the past & present injustices in America while advocating for peaceful protests. King starts off by using a logo filled allusion as shown.

Referring to “vaults of opportunity… riches of freedom and the security of justice”, Martin Luther King Jr. intelligently and metaphorically expresses how valuable equality is for African American citizens (King Jr. 2). After speaking out about injustice and lies, his discourse changes as it comes to an end. King Jr. focuses more on the unification of the nation instead of focusing only on African Americans. He faithfully believes the nation can “transform…. Into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood” (King Jr. 5). Highly contrasting from his first metaphors, the audience is provided a sense of peace and faith. Martin Luther King Jr. used many metaphors to mold the hearts of the audience and persuade them to believe in the civil rights movement.

With these repetitions, he resounds the horrors of racial discrimination, segregation, and marginalization of the African Americans and the need for freedom and equality of all Americans. A second element King used in his speech were metaphors which helped highlight some contrasting concepts. For example, to contrast segregation with racial justice, he uses “ dark and desolate valley” and “ sunlit path” (paragraph 6), another example is “joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity” (paragraph

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech was an astonishing display of language that persuaded the American nation to dissolve the barrier that stood between equality for all in our great nation. The true beauty in Dr. King’s speech rests in his ability to persuade the audience at the Lincoln Memorial, as well as, the nation to believe that it is a necessity to rid the exigence of segregation. Through the usage of metaphors that engage the reader, King uses language as an instrument to control the audience’s emotions and fuel their ideas that they can be the ones to make the change to propel our nation from one mediocrity to greatness. In his speech, King uses an eloquent blend between symbols and emotions through metaphors to persuade the audience that there is no true constraint that can hold them from achieving their goal and use the historical March on Washington as the solution to this exigence that failed to wither away one hundred years ago when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

On August 28th, 1963, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr stood on the steps in front of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. He spoke passionately for 17 minutes on his views about human equality for African Americans at one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in history. King played a major role in ending the segregation for African Americans. His rhetorical language left an impact on America. Through his use of appeals like ethos, logos, pathos, and other rhetorical techniques. He influenced Americans to believe in the notion that all men are created equal.

As announced by Martin Luther King's speech “ But, 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. ”(King ¶3). This sentence adds to the importance of the speech because it relates to the reader/hearer or raises awareness of what really is going on. Another quote that holds this affect on people is “ One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the vast ocean of material prosperity.” This quote uses the rhetorical device of imagery that allowed a metaphorical image burning in their minds of how they live/d. Another section of the speech that allowed people to understand different things was “This momentous decree that came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had seared in the flames of withering injustice.”

"Martin Luther King Jr." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 05 Jan. 2017. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

“[The] Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation,”.stated Martin Luther King, Jr. in his speech “I Have A Dream,”.which he gave on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, during a march on Washington (1).King’s purpose in his speech was to expound on the need for change in civil rights, especially for black Americans. By utilizing repetition, an extended metaphor and light and dark imagery,King connects logically and emotionally to his audience to evoke a sense of power to overcome racism.

In the text, “The Other American,” by Rev. Martin Luther King Junior, he compares the different conditions that African Americans have sustained to compared to white Americans. Dr. King uses excellent phrases that allow the reader to become emotionally attached to the piece of writing they are reading such as, “Every city in our country has this kind of dualism, this schizophrenia, split at so many parts, and so every city ends you being two cities rather than one.” (King, 1) This text provides Dr. King’s point of how segregated the cities throughout America are for the different people of color. The text goes on with different examples of how African Americans are treated different compared to other American such as, education, jobs and poverty.

Throughout his speech, Martin Luther King Jr appeals to the emotions (pathos) of his audience. He uses word and phrases like “crippled”, “chains of discrimination” and “island of poverty” to portray the conditions in which black Americans are forced to live. His continuous emphasis on racial injustice