Rhetorical Analysis Of John Lewis 's Speech

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.

Immediately following the death of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, Robert Kennedy's job was to inform his African American audience of King's passing. After realizing that the crowd’s initial reaction would be the desire to revolt violently, Kennedy knew he needed to subdue their immediate emotional reactions and make them respond rationally and peacefully. The speech Kennedy gave was crucial in the maintenance of peace in tragic times. In order to prevent revolts, Kennedy established common ground with his audience, he created an empathetic tone, and references a Greek poet to instill peace in the minds of his audience.

When he had arrived in Buffalo, Lewis’s first reaction to when they had finally reached his Uncle Otis’s home. “When we reached my Uncle O.C’s home and Dink’s house, I couldn’t believe it, They had white people living next door to them...on BOTH sides.” (Lewis and Aydin March Book 1: 43) Segregation in the north wasn’t a big deal to people in the north than it was in the south and from that he experienced a lot during that visit in the north. Once he had returned back home, he knew what was different now, he understood what the problem and differences were while he was up in Buffalo and at home. It came to him when school time was coming back around in the fall. “ In the fall, I started right the bus to school ,which should’ve been fun. But it was just another sad reminder of how different our lives were from those of white children.” (Lewis and Aydin March Book 1: 47) Between the black and white community, Lewis saw how “degrading” it was when it had came to school. They didn’t have the nice playground, the nicest bus, roads, and the ugly, sad sight of the prison full of black men and only black men, but he had managed to get pass all of the gloominess with a positive outlook of reading. “ I realized how old it was when we finally climbed onto the paved highway, the main road running east from Troy, and passed the white children’s buses..We drove past prison work gangs almost every day the prisoner were always

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 hardships 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 Lawson’s workshops, his decision not to go to college and Martin Luther King’s speech all helped him become who he is.

On April 4, 1968 Robert F. Kennedy began his political campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in Indiana. Before boarding his plane, Kennedy found out that Martin Luther King, Jr. had been shot in Memphis, Tennessee. At his arrival in Indianapolis, Kennedy was informed that Martin Luther King, Jr. had died from the incident. Kennedy was scheduled to speak to a large African-American audience, and was advised by the Indianapolis Police to not speak. The Chief of Police warned Kennedy that he would not be responsible for whatever may happen, making this speech even more dangerous. Kennedy chose to ignore the warning signs, went into the conference campaign, and spoke to the audience. Robert Kennedy, putting his political aspirations aside, advises the Indianapolis African-American audience not to retaliate to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination with violence, but with prayer, understanding, and love as Martin Luther King, Jr. taught. This is done through the use of motivational appeals, rhetorical devices, and expressing to the audience a purpose.

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.

C.S. Lewis skillfully used the rhetorical triangle, ethos, logos, and pathos, in order to engage his audience member's minds and emotions as he articulated a little discussed but extremely prevalent aspect of culture, the "Inner Rings,” which without a doubt affected the lives of his entire audience. In 1944, when he delivered his speech at Kings College, it was during the final stages of World War II. Because of the unsteady times, C.S. Lewis was trying to relay the importance of banding together instead of the commonplace practice of excluding those who did not belong to your "inner ring.” In his speech, he addressed the ways that a longing for inclusion can change us, how it can become the driving force of our lives. He also explained how

It was after a group of young men start attacking to part of John Lewis’s group and eventually beating up everyone around. He declares, “I was not afraid. I felt free, liberated like I had crossed over” (Lewis and Aydin 1:102). The beginning of new era had begun, a new John Lewis who was not afraid of anything. His commitment with the movement was unparalleled. It shows how strong his personality is, maybe he is trying to say that nothing was going to stop him…. What was the worst thing that could happen to him? Go to jail? Again? Seems like he is always going to make his best effort to make this country a little bit better… just like he says, “We wanted to change America – to make it something different, something better.” (Lewis and Aydin 1:103). It was not about him or a reduced group of people, it was about an oppressed community that was suffering injustice as we can’t even imagine. Lewis also says, “The first of many” (Lewis and Aydin 1:103). Just in case we did not understand his first message, this one was clear and loud, he will keep protesting no matter what or who. Unfortunately, his parents did not in the same way as he did with the news of his first arrest. He tells us, “When my parents found out I’d been arrested and gone to jail, they were devastated. I was an embarrassment, a source of

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.

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

"You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying,`now, you are free to go where you want to, do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please.' You do not take a man who has for years been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying,` you are free to compete with all the others,' and still justly believe you have been completely fair...This is the next and more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunity- not just legal equality but human ability- not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result."