Rhetorical Analysis Of I Have A Dream Speech

King uses logos and pathos to help all Americans better understand the African-American struggle of the 1960s. In “I Have a Dream” and “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King’s use of pathos highlights the real emotions he is feeling about the America in which he lives in. He then uses logos to expand his reasoning behind the civil rights movement. A similarity between my logos and pathos quotes are that at least one of the quotes from each rhetorical device show some sort of problem between African Americans trying to receive freedom. A difference between the two quotes are that the pathos shows the struggle, and destroyed hope of what had happened. The logos quotes state more of a historical fact. The point trying to be made is that logos and pathos can show the struggle and facts all about the rough world during the

In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. makes appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos to convince the clergymen that colored people have been waiting for too long for political, economic, and social justice and freedom. He argues that it’s unfair to promise someone, or a group, for a change and not fulfill that promise. Along with demonetizing and/or belittling a person to the point where they don’t feel as important or as worth as they should; making them feel hatred and anger towards the person(s) that inflicted the pain on them, and anger towards their ethnic/culture. Also, that he is needed and wanted in Birmingham. King appeals to ethos to establish credibility and biblical allusion. King uses logos to process his

Martin Luther King Jr. was a man who genuinely knew how to capture his audiences with his words. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” makes an appeal to his reader about the injustices that have been set in place by the oppressor. In the letter he talks about numerous things, mortal authority in Christian communities, American ideas, and the suffering of the African American community. Dr. King uses logos to persuade the reader why he s protesting in the first place because the oppressor has broken the negotiation between the whites and the African American. His logical argument to why the ideal way to proceed with non-violent protests is because of the political decisions that have been made. An example he brings up is the idea of there being just and unjust laws in America and as citizens those unjust should be deliberately disobeyed. Dr. King says, “Conversely, one has a mortal responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all” he soon starts to define what both type of laws means…”A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law…An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the mortal law.” In order to persuade his reader about the idea he has do more than engage with the readers emotions. By Dr. King defining what the difference between the two laws sets a more conceiving idea of the treatment towards African American. Martin Luther King basic point is unjust laws do not just hurt the one being oppressed but also the one doing the oppressing. This is more of logos appeal for the reason he is not trying to connect with the reader emotionally but rather make sure the reader understands his cause for the protests.

Logos is the appeal to logic, meaning to convince an audience by use of logic or reason. The following are examples of logos used by Jackson: “The Declaration of Independence and the Federal Constitution were the results of our fathers’ attempts to put on paper the ideals that inspired the birth of the nation, and those principles by which and on which the nation was erected and sustained” (Jackson 2). “The civil rights struggle then is not a struggle to negate the high and lofty philosophy of American freedom. It is not an attempt to convert the nation into an armed camp or to substitute panic and

In paragraph 6 Martin Luther King Jr uses logos by stating facts about “There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any city in this nation.” Martin Luther King Jr uses this quote to show that Birmingham was attacking African Americans more than any other city in the nation; showing how segregation was strongly shown in Birmingham. Also in paragraph 11 Martin Luther King Jr uses pathos by showing the reader how he feels trying to persuade us to feel the same, in the quote “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 the tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking in agonizing pathos: ‘Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?’” Martin Luther King Jr talks about having to explain to his

In Martin Luther King Jr’s famous speech, King uses Logos and Pathos to express the Negroes’ fight for fair treatment. “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence… was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’” (pg. 261-262, P4) This quote from MLK’s powerful speech used Logos by presenting a logical and convincing fact. It states how our founding fathers wrote the freedom of African Americans in the same legendary documents that we follow and live by today, not just white people, but all men are created equal. Other than using Logos to appeal to his large audience in front of the Lincoln Memorial, he also presented a large amount of emotional phrases

Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 wrote “Letter From Birmingham Jail” in largely in response to “Public Statement By Eight Clergymen” and the rising racial tension in the United States. In the letter, Dr. King addresses many of the arguments made against his civil rights protests and the timeliness of his actions. Dr. King illustrates his points by using pathos of the audience describing horrific and solemn scenes caused by segregation. He also supports his points using ethos quoting the bible, activists, and philosophers. Dr. king also uses logos making logical conclusions and arguments that defend his actions.

The first indication of Ethos that I noticed in Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech is within his statement, which began, "Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation" (King, M.L.). Within the syntax of the statement, the phrase "Five score" directly references to one of the most famous speeches ever given by a President, the Gettysburg Address given by Abraham Lincoln, whom Martin Luther King Jr. is referencing. An example of logos is when Martin Luther King Jr. compares the reason for the “March on Washington” to “cashing a check” (King, M.L.). This comparison throughout the beginning of the speech, seen as an analogy, helps to ensure a logical structure for the argument.

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.

For example, in lines 69-76, King answers the critics questioning of his use of direct action and marches to protest against segregation. He states that “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. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored” (71-73). This explanation is so broken down and easy to understand that it would not make sense to disregard it and agree with the critics. Another instance in which King uses logos is when, as mentioned above, he references the Holocaust and Hitler’s mistreatment of Jews in lines 181 to 185. He discusses how the definitions of “illegal” and “legal” were skewed during that horrific time period. King connects how the definitions in Germany during the Holocaust are similar to the definitions during the Civil Rights Movement about segregation. This appeals to the critics and readers logos because it forces them to think about how terrible the Holocaust was and the treatment of Jews, and realize that the Jews and the African-Americans were being treated in a similar sense. The way King uses logos, is very effective because he makes his ideas and points have sound reasoning while politely diminishing the reasoning of the

At the beginning of Martin Luther King’s speech, he says, “But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free, one hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination…” (Martin Luther King speech, 1963, para. 3). King keeps saying “one hundred years later”, to show that no matter how much time passes, African Americans will never be equal to the whites. Even after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Logos is shown all throughout his “I have a dream” speech. He is letting the audience know that they have not been given equal opportunities, like the whites have been given.

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.

The speech that I have chosen is “I have a dream “by Martin L King Jr. the setting this speech took place at was in Washington D.C. in front of the Lincoln memorial. The purpose of Dr.King “I Have a Dream “ speech was for people to continue to boycott and also protest until they were granted full equality and privileges due as any citizen of the united states. A weakness of the speech is when he stated “It seemed that all my fears had come down on me at once and I got to the point that I couldn’t take it any longer. I was weak”.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s purpose in writing the speech "I Have a Dream" is to inform his audience that their fighting for freedom and equality will soon pay off, as in his speech he uses a hopeful tone when exclaims to his audience that segregation will end and they will receive their rights of freedom and equality. After King expresses to his audience his hope of the day where people are judge by their actions instead of their color, he expresses " I have a dream that one day down in Alabama- with its vicious racists, with its Governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification.." Accordingly, this quote demonstrates how King uses a hopeful tone to express to his audience of his hopes that governors will nullify

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a huge influence on the civil rights movement and the oppression every minority suffered through. In both of his significant writings titled I have a Dream and Letter From Birmingham Jail King uses a series of pathos and logos to make people feel different things and understand his complex views. Throughout the speech and the letter, pathos and logos are both applied consistently, and both hold influential impacts on people worldwide.