Rhetoric in Jfk and Mlk Jr.'s Speeches

King used ethos to show his audience that he is a trustworthy man with good intentions. King is president of a christian organization that works in all southern states and they have eighty-five affiliated organizations. “ I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights.” (7) This shows the clergymen and the audience that King knows what he is doing. By giving information on the events he has participated in, he shows people his experiences in protests for justice. People trust a person who has experience in a certain situation because they know what to do, so King uses ethos in his

King uses ethos, which is making himself seem credible, many times throughout his letter. An exceptional example of this would be in paragraph three, where King says, “...so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.” By comparing himself to the apostle Paul, it makes King appear to be more credible; more important and worthy of his position of leadership in the civil rights

when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?" King demonstrates his ability to inspire his fellow civil rights activists, raise empathy in the hearts of white conservatives, and create compassion in the minds of the eight clergyman to which the "Letter" is directed.Ethos are present throughout the “Letter” but there was one specific example that caught my attention. “Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code

In this life, many hope for peace, but not many try to achieve it. According to Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, there are many ways to achieve this, but the best possible course of action would be through nonviolent direct action, which includes but is not limited to: peaceful protest, sit-ins and civil disobedience. In King’s letter, he proclaims his reasoning behind nonviolent direct action, including: the concept that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (par. 4), extremism can be used positively (par. 22), and the fact that “oppressed people will not stay oppressed forever” (par. 24). King uses literary devices including ethos, logos, and pathos to prove and reaffirm that which he is trying to convey.

The Use of Pathos in this speech is used in a way that affects everyone’s emotions do to the attack on Oahu, Hawaii. Here’s an example of pathos in the speech given, “The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost.” This quote appealed to everyone’s emotion in the U.S. by telling us the damage caused by the Japanese. Everyone in the U.S. are most likely feeling depressed and full of anger towards the Japanese Empire because the military forces and the innocent citizens were attacked and/or killed. With Roosevelt’s statements, the people in the U.S. are feeling more insecure, whereas the president wants to go to war to show other nations that we will defend ourselves.

Since King, is a very sophisticated writer, he uses utilizes a lot of ethos to support his statements. For

Kennedy, wanted nation’s to come together and be civil with one another. To not show fear of negotiating with them the idea. He explains how he wanted this to be done, yet he knows this wouldn’t happen during their time, but he wanted to be the start of something new. During his speech he used the rhetoric device chiasmus which is to rephrase what was said in the previous sentence. Here is an example of what he said, “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” It is the same thing just switches it to make it sound how can you help, instead of how they can help. Basically, kennedy is saying to be more involved in our country.

Martin Luther King Jr. 's 1963 "Letter from Birmingham Jail", a rhetorical masterpiece, was written in response to eight clergymen’s statements condemning his nonviolent direct actions. He defends the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights nonviolent, direct action against individuals, institutions, and laws that look the other way while unjust racial prejudice against African Americans runs rampant in Birmingham. Using three main appeals, Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Dr. King communicates the struggle that was the essence of human rights, equality. Appealing to the logic, ethics, and emotions of the reader strengthens his rebuttal of the opposition, helps him gain support, and clearly justify the recent direct action he led. King uses logos to illustrate his argument and invalidate the opposition to his claim, leading the reader to side with his position. Exampling this, he demonstrates that direct action is not opposed to negotiation, contrary to what his fellow clergyman believe, and states “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue” (King par 9).

This also brings out the reader’s emotions. This statement shows that many people were against King and did not want him to have a voice. Readers can relate to this quote because they could be in that situation where they feel like people are not understanding a situation that they are going through. King used pathos in order to pull readers in, and to get their attention.

In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, he uses a variety of rhetorical strategies. The main ideas of the speech include freedom, civil rights, and the end of racism. His use of rhetoric helped to effectively communicate to the audience his purpose of ending racial discrimination. He uses the fifth canon of delivery, which includes pauses and breaks, to emphasize ideas while also allowing the audience to understand the ideas being presented.

During the well known and historic speech “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr., there are many rhetorical devices used in hopes of appealing to the audience in such a way as to gain support. King uses a number of statements that appeal emotionally “as a great beacon light of hope…” (1) to his audience. Emotions are one of the strongest feelings in the body. Therefore, many people will fall into persuasion for a simple emotional sense. King also repeats words and phrases as a way to permeate the mind with ideas that will stay there forever all because “[he had] a dream” (3-4).

One of the arguments that King makes to strengthen Negro communities is to not cooperate with evil. King means to not cooperate with people who are not respectfully treating Negroes. In his speech he declared, "Along with the march as a weapon for change in our nonviolent arsenal must be listed the boycott. Basic to the philosophy of nonviolence is the refusal to

I have a dream speech was said by Martin Luther King Jr in 1963. He was a part of the civil rights march in Washington D.C. The purpose of his speech was to persuade people to end racism. This speech makes a perfect example of rhetoric because he uses all three logos, pathos, and ethos, through his whole speech.

Obama uses pathos extremely well, he connects with the, audience and makes things personal to them and himself. His speech is more about the people and how they are what powers change. He talks about his life making the speech personal to himself however he doesn’t just focus on himself he focuses on the people and making the changes he wants to see in America as a citizen. “Not just to hold office, but to gather with you to transform a nation. I want us to take up the unfinished business of perfecting our union and building a better America.” This is a perfect example of pathos because he’s bringing the audience together and making them feel excited causing an

The speech I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King is one of the most outstanding examples for use of rhetorical means in text. The power of this text is hidden in its comprehensibility and the imaginary used by the speaker. The speech sounds melodically due to the appropriate choice of rhetorical techniques, and it has a highly persuasive effect. The most important aspect of the speech that draws attention is the imaginary of the speech.