Persuasive Speech

In the letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 16, 1963, Dr. King is answering criticism from white clergy men. King stumbled upon a statement in a newspaper while in jail and felt the need to write on it. He did it to explain why he was in jail. After all Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a nonviolent protestor. Kings says “I am in Birmingham because in justice is here.” Dr. King wants to see a change. This paper will examine King’s uses of rhetorical devices to appeal to his audience. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s letter “Letter from Birmingham Jail” reveals all three rhetorical appeals. It appeals to ethos, logos and pathos.

The majority of this letter is logos. It was important for Dr. King’s intended audience to acknowledge the logic behind the actions taken that landed him in the situation he was in while writing this letter. This adds to the overall argument by giving the readers knowledge of the situation from a different point of view. In order for Dr. King to properly convey his points he had to first give a logical explanation for his actions. He gives critiques of the church, the people-good and bad-and critiques of the clergymen

One hundred years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation to stop slavery, Martin Luther King, Jr. presented the “I Have a Dream” speech to thousands of people. The day Luther King, Jr.’s speech was the day of the March on Washington, which was for the support of the rights o colored citizens, and for the termination of segregation. King delivered this speech with a tone of hope and determination in order to convince colored people to fight for their rights and persuade the citizens that all lives matter and should be treated equally. He also delivered it in order to urge the rights these people deserved. Luther stood before all these people to express his thoughts on equality and the rights his people were stripped of. Kings’ audience consisted of the citizens of America that believed in equality for all races. In the “I Have a Dream” Speech, Martin Luther King, Jr used many metaphors, similes, analogies, Pathos, and Mythos to connect with his audience on a superior level and develop his tone.

Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech titled “I Have a Dream” on August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. In this speech, Dr. King is trying to persuade all races specifically Blacks and Whites to take action in order to gain freedom and harmony in the community. He tries to do this by using different techniques to appeal to his audience. It is shown that he uses pathos or emotional appeal throughout his speech. Also there are clear signs of logical appeal which is called logos. In addition, to logos and pathos, Dr. King uses ethical appeal to strengthen his argument. One of the key main techniques that Dr. King uses is figurative language which gives his speech more emphasis on why action is needed.

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.

African American Baptist minister and activist, Martin Luther King, Jr., in his “I Have a Dream” speech, addresses racism against Negros and demands equal rights and freedoms. King’s purpose is to motivate his audience to join him in fighting for what they deserve. He shifts from an urgent, demanding tone at the beginning of the speech to a more hopeful and patriotic tone towards the end. Throughout the speech, Dr. King appeals to the audience’s desire to better their futures by utilizing figurative language, such as similes and metaphors, and rhetorical devices such as repetition and parallelism.

In Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Dr. King uses the rhetoric devices of ethos, pathos, and logos throughout the whole letter. While each component of his letter is an important key part of the process of persuasion, I believe that paragraph twenty-one is the strongest within his letter. Within this paragraph King uses multiple examples of mainly logos, but also pathos and egos in harmony in order to further prove his point of persuasion to his audience. These rhetoric devices were used in a way that I believe gave Martin Luther King Jr. the upper hand in approaching his audience. His audience throughout the paper was broad, but I believe that this paragraph addressed an important audience: The Clergymen. Not only does King use these rhetoric devices, he uses them in way that bring about the most benefits in terms of persuading his audience to agree

I am sure that everyone of you have heard about aliens and UFOs. Indeed, we all have heard about the famous case of aliens and UFOs in Roswell, New Mexico. Most people might be interested in the topic of aliens, but I know that the majority of you just think of it as rumours and the existence of them are impossible. Therefore, I am standing here in front all of you to make you change your perspective. I am strongly confident that I have found the evidence of their real existence to convince all of you.

King also uses allusion to augment his point in his speech. Throughout his speech he makes many references to the Bible. “…justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” (King). King alludes to the bible verse Amos 5:24. Through the allusion, King depicts that he wants justice to overtake the injustices of discrimination, and for justice to not only overcome discrimination, but for it to flow through America forever. King believed that humans live in a world where God does not judge people by their race and that people should not judge each other off of the color of their skin. “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and that the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (King). This line in King’s speech alludes to the bible verses Isaiah 40:4-5. Although he does not quote the verses verbatim, this connects King’s message with the religious sides of people, as the majority of people practiced Christianity in America at this time. King dreams that one day

One of the things he says to appeal to their emotions are, “I have a dream that my four 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.” (King, M. L. Jr. (1963, Aug.28) Para 12) He also says, “When will we be satisfied? 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.” (King, M. L. Jr. (1963, Aug.28) Para 9)

Martin Luther King’s use of Pathos and Logos in “I have a Dream” showcases how he uses the devices to inspire others, compared to how he uses these rhetorical devices in “Letter From Birmingham Jail” to persuade the Clergymen. Martin Luther King, also referred to MLK, uses both Pathos and Logos to fit the audiences and occasions for each text. His uses of Pathos and Logos in these two texts are examples of how words can inspire change.

Why has the speech I Have a Dream delivered by Martin Luther King been widely spread around the world since 53 years ago? One of the most important reasons is that Martin Luther King employed abundant rhetorical devices from the perspectives of logos, ethos, and pathos, including similes, metaphors, euphemisms, ironies, connotations, imageries, repetitions, and parallel structures to illustrate his demonstration for freedom and equal rights for American citizens of color, especially for the Negro. Besides, he also took advantage of rhetorical fallacies such as the false dichotomy, the sentimental appeal, and the scare tactic to enhance the persuasiveness and to show his determination to struggle for freedom. This essay will analyze the specific

Barack Obama, Martin Luther King Jr. and Fannie Lou Hamer all delivered powerful, persuasive speeches that will go down in history. The use of these creative individuals’ language and persuasion played a pivotal role within the civil rights movement. We can observe this in the speakers’ rhetoric devices like ethos, logos and pathos.

From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial more than two score years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King electrified America with his momentous "I Have a Dream" speech. Aimed at the entire nation, King’s main purpose in this speech was to convince his audience to demand racial justice towards the mistreated African Americans and to stand up together for the rights afforded to all under the Constitution. To further convey this purpose more effectively, King cleverly makes use of the rhetorical devices — ethos, pathos and logos — using figurative language such as metaphors and repetition as well as various other techniques e.g. organization, parallel construction and choice of title.

An American literary theorist and novelist, Kenneth Burke, once said, “Wherever there is persuasion, there is rhetoric, and wherever there is rhetoric, there is meaning.” (Burke) Barack Obama, Martin Luther King Jr. and Fannie Lou Hamer all delivered powerful persuasive speeches that will go down in history. The use of these motivational individuals’ language and persuasion played a pivotal role within the civil rights movement, the movement that achieved the most important breakthrough in the equal rights legislation. We can observe this in the speakers’ rhetoric devices like ethos, logos and pathos.