John Lewis Speech Rhetorical Devices

John Lewis has never let his 40+ arrest affect what he stands for. In Lewis’ book March, he tells his story of segregation in the 60’s and the events that shaped his life. From when he was a little kid, to an older adult, March displays Lewis deal with the segregation in the south, and the hard ships others endure. Although he experienced many events in his life, John Lewis used those events to build himself religiously and help others. Receiving his first bible, Jim Lawsons workshops, his decision not to go to college and Martin Luther King’s speech all helped him become who he is.

In the book trilogy, March by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin. John talks about his life growing up and making a difference. These highlights of his life would make him develop into someone more important. He received a Bible from his uncle as a gift, the trip John took up to Buffalo was a realization of how different the northern and southern states were. Segregation didn’t exist in the north. Later, John met Jim Lawson and began attended his workshops about non-violent protesting, and lastly his first arrest. These highlights during his youth would become eye-opening to Lewis that what he was putting himself through to take down segregation in the south was a risk for his life to save future generations.

Standing for what you believe in can be difficult, especially when you 're against the government. John Lewis held a speech during the march in Washington in 1963, where he confronts the unfairness that colored people face needs to stop, and it has to stop now. Lewis purpose is to appeal to the audience and at the same time send a message to the government. At first, he adopts an upset tone in order to show how unfair the government is, however, towards the end he is more encouraging, wanting people to partake in this act to help them get their freedom. He made this speech to encourage people who joined together to fight for their rights, and used these rhetorical strategies to connect to the audience.

The marchers gathered at the Washington Monument before dawn as planned on August 28, 1963. At 11:30, 100,000 to 200,000 of them began marching towards the Lincoln Memorial singing “We Shall Overcome” (“The March on Washington” 12). At the memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered multiple speeches along with other African Americans about segregation and discrimination issues. During one of his speeches, King Jr. declared that “we will not hate you, but we cannot obey your unjust laws. Do to us what you will and we will still love you…But we will soon wear you down by our capacity to suffer. And in winning our freedom, we will so appeal to your heart and conscience, that we will win you in the process” (“Negro Protest Movement” 507). This statement by King Jr. describes his plans of further nonviolent protesting against “unjust laws” to convince others of the civil rights movement’s cause. He furthers this statement and elaborates his ideas in his infamous speech, “I Have a Dream.”

In March book 2, author and activist, John Lewis, delivered a speech on August 28, 1963. Before John Lewis delivered his speech, there was a lot of ciaos occurring backstage about revising Lewis’ speech. Mr. Randolph wasn’t pleased with the way John Lewis worded parts of his speech and demanded for him to change it. After Lewis negotiated with Mr. Randolph, Lewis was still content with the arrangement of his speech. Lewis confronts his sentiments to the people regarding racial inequality. He emphasizes on the unfair acts that are implemented among the African American working class. John Lewis states, “While we stand here, there are sharecroppers in the Delta of Mississippi who are out in the fields working for less than three dollars a day, twelve hours a day” (Lewis Aydin 166). In this statement, Lewis explains his reasoning for assembling his speech. His objective was to arouse the public on the realism of the nation’s unjust behavior towards African Americans. Lewis explains the march on Washington is occurring because blacks don’t receive the same wages as whites. Lewis declares, “We do not want our freedom gradually, but we want to be free now” (Lewis Aydin 169). He proclaims that African Americans have been fighting for their freedom long enough and they are not willing to be patient. With his skillful use of appeals, Lewis applies powerful logos to illustrate racism, emotional pathos to connect with the audience, and ethos to appeal to the segregation and discrimination towards African Americans.

John Lewis begins his historical speech by addressing their reasons for the march and how they have a tough road ahead of them.The description on the first line of the first paragraph is a perfect illustration of foreshadowing. The reason is that it specify for what they will be talking about and why it must be changed. That is to say, How Lewis believes that it isn't right to just get paid inequality. From this statement, readers can infer that there is some determination within Lewis to deliver his message out to the world. To further illustrate this theme, of challenging the society and the politicians who are trying to stop them. The author describes, the unjust in wages, and one day they will end up in jail just because of their skin color. In other words, Lewis believes that the economic system does not even give them to feed themselves but not even a whole family. John Lewis implies one has to be strong and stand by the people who are fighting for their freedom. To sum, up the first paragraph is the initiative to his speech that builds up the colored had more courage and the politicians with more guilt. (Nayeli Lazaro)

John Lewis initiates his claim by conveying that everyone in America should not tolerate racial segregation nor discrimination. In order to reach to his point, he uses the rhetorical device, pathos, in which it causes the “white” audience to feel remorse for what society has become. To illustrate this idea, Lewis reveals African Americans “live in constant fear of a police state”, “have been arrested on trumped charges”, and some faced “the death penalty for engaging in peaceful protest” (paragraph 2). The evidence highlights that they are going through hardships caused by the federal government because they are considered “inferior” compared to the “white” race. From this, readers can infer that white supremacy is being marked on the walls. Lewis is able to awaken Americans so they can realize how their actions are wounding African Americans. In addition, Lewis is representing the African American community so they can feel inspired to join the Civil Rights Movement. Possibly the speaker is trying to drag the African Americans out of their state of oblivion by incentivizing them to defend their rights. Lewis is addressing the problems to both audiences so they can feel the urge to fix them. Therefore, Lewis’ remarks in the first paragraph reveal that he identifies with the concerns of African Americans and how whites, mainly activists, should focus on addressing their issues.

This year 2016 has been a big impact on everybody .. All throughout the year we've been hearing "blacklivesmatter". We've also had a lot of people speaking up about the situations going on. Not only did Jesse Williams provide a spoken worded speech but he also left a strong message. The Fact that his topic is about police discrimination and black lives matter impacts a lot of people. He uses rhetorical devices , real life example, and comparison to impact the effectiveness of his purpose.

He had been arrested numerous times, beaten, and still remained a vital role in the civil rights movement. He would later be known as a member of the “Big Six”, (Vol 2, 150) consisting of Martin Luther King, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, Jim Farmer, Whitney Young and himself. The injustices at the time lead to a much needed March on the nation's capital: Washington. Though Lewis’ speech seems to to be less well known as Martin Luther King’s, it was a great accomplishment for the civil rights movement. One of my favorite Lewis speech lines was “We will splinter the segregated south into a thousand pieces, and put them together in the image of god and democracy”. (Vol 2,

John Lewis, now a US representative for Georgia, was an activist in the civil rights movement at the time of this speech. Lewis has been involved in politics for quite some time. He was one of the leaders that organized the March on Washington in 1963. All of this lead to the speech he gave on August 28th, 1963. When giving this speech, it is clear that he has the confidence of a strong leader. The larger underlying occasion in this speech, in other words, what is going on in the world that caused Lewis to give this speech, was the civil rights movement. At this time, the African Americans in America were protesting against the government in order to gain the rights they deserved. The immediate occasion, in this case, would, in fact, be the speech that Lewis is giving. During the March On Washington, Lewis gave a speech in order to persuade the people to get more involved with the civil rights movement. There are two audiences that Lewis addresses. He is addressing those that are physically at the location of the speech. These people are there in support of the civil rights movement. Then there is the rest of the world, specifically those who are against the civil rights movement. There is a time in the speech where Lewis calls out those who oppose the movement and, in summary, says that we will not sit in silence. The purpose of this speech is to persuade those who are in favor of the civil rights movement and hope that they become even more actively involved. Lewis

When communicating any type of text, the way you deliver it to the audience is just as significant as the content of your writing. Authors tend to use multiple rhetorical devices that add additional excitement or interest to their work. By performing this, it helps to engage the audience so the text appeals to them sincerely. The novel March, written by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell does an excellent job at exhibiting this over the various uses of rhetoric throughout the text. Therefore, March persuades that an individual’s approach to their mission requires a great effort by displaying concerned expressions, lonely narrative texts and the chaotic graphics of the protests.

America is built and founded on the sweat and tears of the working class. A lot of advancements in the workplace today have been won by unions and the efforts of labor organizations. John Lewis founded one of the biggest institutions that remains at the forefront of the labor movement, the CIO (Committee for Industrial Organizations, now the Congress of Industrial Organizations.) John Lewis delivers his speech to organize workers. He reminds the American working class of the need to unite. Lewis uses the Jeremiad rhetorical tool. John Lewis criticizes the government and businesses disregard for labor and how they have exploited and abused workers, by violently stopping them from unionizing. Lewis describes a “utopian society,” for this society to become a reality he calls on the working class to unite under the CIO.

John Lewis, now a US representative for Georgia, was an activist in the civil rights movement at the time of this speech. Lewis has been involved in politics for quite some time. He was one of the leaders that organized the March on Washington in 1963. All of this leads to the speech he gave on August 28th, 1963. When giving this speech, it is clear that he has the confidence of a strong leader. The larger underlying occasion in this speech, in other words, what is going on in the world that caused Lewis to give this speech, was the civil rights movement. At this time, the African Americans in America were protesting against the government in order to gain the rights they deserved. The immediate occasion, in this case, would, in fact, be

Freedom is the power or right to think, act, and speak as one wants to without resistance. Freedom is the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. In the opening of his speech, Jonathan Gibbs speaks out about how delighted he is to be free, but is enraged with that fact that himself and all the rest of the African American people were not getting respect, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as the rest of Americans. If the African American people are not getting the same life, liberty, and protection as everybody else, are they actually Free.

Applying rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, and logos utilizes the key points in persuading an audience. Mark Antony’s speech to the Citizens of Rome and Martin Luther King Jr. “I have a Dream” speech both consist of rhetorical devices that convinces the audience to act against injustice. Mark Antony uses rhetorical devices in his speech to persuade the plebeians to seek revenge on the conspirators, who unjustly murdered Julius Caesar, whereas Martin Luther King Jr. uses the rhetorical devices to appeal to the audience by gathering and civilly protesting against the unfair treatment towards the minority of America.