Compare And Contrast King And Obama's 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.

Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who seldom cared what other people thought about him, lived in the moment. In doing so, He became furious over the amount of injustice. This essay shows King’s fury over injustice through the use of rhetorical appeals through ethos, logos, and pathos.

In a period of time where few were willing to listen, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood proudly, gathered and held the attention of over 200,000 people. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech was very effective and motivational for African Americans in 1963. Many factors affected Kings’ speech in a very positive manner; the great emotion behind the words, delivering the speech on the steps of the memorial of the President who defeated slavery. And not only was this message beautifully written for the hope of African Americans, but the underlying message for white people, revolution and peace. To stimulate emotion from both parties of his listeners, King used a selection of rhetorical devices such as allusions to historical

One of the views they had in common was equality amongst citizens of the US and other nations, including our own. In Washington’s Inaugural Address it states, “No such prejudices should interfere with the equal eye that should watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests.” In Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address, it states, “And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born, know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and respect.” This shows that the big picture of these quotes is equality for all. Washington wanted equality among citizens, while Obama wanted equality among citizens as well as other nations.

Another instance when Martin Luther King Jr. utilizes the tactic of directly addressing his audience to present his rebuttal is evident in the part of his letter beginning, "You may well ask: 'Why direct action? ... isn't negotiation a better path?' You are quite right in calling, for negotiation." In this example, he also uses appeal to logic as the main backbone of his argument but occasionally intertwines pathos and clever word choice along with the logos. As with the previous example, Martin Luther King Jr. first identifies a portion of his opponent's argument and slowly picks it apart. He accomplishes this by focusing on the word "tension." Through a comparison of violent tension, which is undesired, and nonviolent tension, which is constructive, he gradually establishes the concept that the "constructive, nonviolent tension" will "help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood." King uses exceptional word choice, such as "dark depths" and "majestic heights," to accurately present his point of view. He then follows it up with "Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue." His statement not only uses logical reasoning to identify the necessity for negotiation, but

Almost immediately, Dr. King tries to plead the case of all African-Americans. He states, “One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” This appeal is to the hearts of those listen, that even if they are physically free, many parts of life bind them in a similar manner. The allusion of chains weighs heavy on a person’s conscience and is a great example of pathos. While he definitely uses a mixture of rhetorical devices, King uses pathos the most to make his point.

George Wallace’s Inauguration speech and Martin Luther King Jrs “I have a Dream” speech were given during the civil rights movement. Two men who stood on opposite sides of the issue; integration or segregation gave these speeches. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that America should be integrated, while Governor George Wallace believed America should be segregated. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the I Have A Dream speech in August 1963 in Washington, DC about the integration of America. In one of the greatest speech’s ever given, he tells the nation that there can be change. We could be the change that comes together from all nationalities and work together for a greater future. Martin Luther King Jr. tells that the constitution was meant to unite

In the year of 1963, when racial discrimination was evident in the community, Dr. King delivered two of his most noted works called the “I have a Dream” speech and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to the public. These two pieces, quickly following each other in succession, were literary works of Dr. King devoted to the cause of racial equality and used eclectic devices and appeals to achieve that goal. King’s purpose bolstered in his “Letter” and “Dream” speech by key rhetorical devices are supported by audience oriented diction and appeals.

In the introduction of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” King responds to the clergymen’s criticism about his non-violent actions in Birmingham as “unwise and untimely” As he justifies why his actions were not “unwise or untimely” King addresses the bigger issue of blacks suffering from racism and lack of equality and the need to take action for justice. To convey his arguments King uses quotations, allusions and pathos to effectively support his argument and to carefully refute what his opposition is saying. Throughout his piece, King uses quotes said by famous historical figures to support his central claim that black oppression needs to be addressed. King quotes St. Augustine, a highly respected religious figure, “an

He questions the audience about society and what they have done for their community. “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the 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; we cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one; we can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity,” (King). King knows how to bring the people into the speech to involve every single person standing before him and make them feel like they are apart of the speech. He mentions what has been taken away from them which creates anger within the crowd. King’s ability to appeal to the audience through emotion affected society for decades after and changed the sense of pride the African Americans had.

The Acceptance Speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. emphasizes the racial injustice being held by the majority white population in 1964, by the use of repetition. Kings acceptance of this speech involves a complex understanding of a people in a critical point in their lives. He uses different statements to define the authenticity of a cause that means a great deal to him. Martin Luther King Jr, is a man of God, fighting for the rights of his people to be treated as equals, in a way very few have tied before, nonviolence. In the year 1964 in Oslo, Reverand Martin Luther King Jr. accepts an award half of his people, but not without explaining the priorities of freedom that his side is fighting for. King uses repetition constantly in his speech in

President Obama’s victory speech and Martine Luther King’s speech are two of the most famous discourses that everybody is discussing today. The speeches are representation of racial progression, which starts from the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement to the election of the first black president in the American history. Both speeches are a symbol of hope and a new start of the upcoming changes. In fact, both speeches called for unity and inclusion to achieve the American dream. Furthermore, both occasions had loud voices echo not only in the United State, but also in the global level. Despite the similarity of Obama’s and King’s speeches in the persuasive and inspirational tones, their goals were for different purposes and audience, also the effects on the audience were different.

I see a very interesting connection between these two quotes made 60 years apart. For example, when Dr. King goes on about how white people’s destiny and black people’s destiny are bound together. Not only but also in Obama’s speech he says two officers both black and white stood next to each other to someone holding a sign saying no justice, no peace. I can potentially say that both King and Obama have somewhat of the same agenda in uniting both black and white people. However Obama likes to focus more on examples like the one he provided while Dr, King focused a bit more on ideology and what he hopes will happen. While King may be using literary devices, because his writing is much more poetic than of Obama’s. In this case Dr. King says

He really conveyed his morals by explaining to the audience why violence is not the option and how you get closer to the outcome you want by protesting peacefully. King explains his thoughts by saying, “We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.” Obama also included ethos in his speech, as well as morals, but still not as competently as MLK. He shows his care for people and their well being by saying, “We’re creating a Race to the Top fund that will reward states and public school districts that adopt 21st century standards and

One of the things Martin Luther King uses is the “foundation of love” Martin Luther King Jr chooses love. He believes that by not getting aggressive and wanting revenge and only peace through love they will win. Another example, used is the “churches burned and kids killed” king shows dehumanizing by him say kids have been burned, killed however, thinks people should not slump to the same level and by peaceful protesting they can end this racism, however, Obama has a different view he uses evidence from past event like; Evil does exist in the world.” A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies.” He showed that it was necessary to use violence, for we could not have stopped Hitler by protest. The world has problems that have to make the decision on how to approach and sometimes the issues need to be approached in a non friendly way. Also he justifies violence by using another past event such as,Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. .-Obama know that al Qaeda’s would not sit down and talk or let protest stop him