Use Of Rhetorical Devices In Lyndon B. Johnson's The American Promise

“So in the next 40 years we must re-build the entire urban United States.” This shows that Johnson is using ethos to unite the citizens and have them realize the future of America. He wants them to know that the future of America is going to begin with a population growth and he has to unite the population to make them realize this. "Men come together in cities in order to live, but they remain together in order to live the good life." The future of America depends on people coming together and working together to build a good life which is what Johnson envisioned in his great society. He uses ethos to create unity between the citizens which is why his speech is

Dr. King was arrested in 1963 in the struggle for civil rights for African-Americans. “The Letter from Birmingham Jail”, written a few days after King’s arrest, defended Dr. King’s argument about the civil rights movement. He uses the pathos, ethos, and logos modes of persuasion and uses several rhetorical strategies such as metaphors, citing authority, parallelism, Rogerian strategy, and anaphora to defend his argument against racism and segregation.

He describes the aura of the situation during the Salem March by saying, “the air was thick with doubt, anticipation, and fear” (Obama). The addition of figurative language engages the audience and keeps them active in the argument. He persuades his audience to support his purpose not only by using rhetorical devices but also using a presentation style that engages the audience.

Ms. Floyd and fellow classmates, my essay will illustrate how the art of rhetoric can spark a movement and bring change to our nation. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was famous for his inspirational speeches that showcased the epitome of rhetoric and solidified his place in history of being the most influential civil rights leader. One of those speeches, MLK’s “Give Us the Ballot”, energized the civil rights movement on May 17th, 1957. He was driven to action ever since the Supreme Court had ruled that segregation of schools was against the 14th constitutional amendment. This was a huge step forward for civil rights. Unfortunately, the states choose to ignore this landmark decision and the federal government turned a blind eye. This

Lyndon B. Johnson orchestrated a strong, strategic speech on the day of March 15,1965. His speech was striving to persuade the nation to pass a bill which would give African- Americans additional rights to vote. Throughout his speech, Lyndon B. Johnson demonstrates all men are equal and should have equal rights through his utilization of repetition, pathos, and rhetorical questions.

When informing Americans across the nation of his dream, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proposed an unforgettable speech that would one day change The United States of America forever. In analyzing “I Have a Dream”, there are a few rhetorical purposes that are reflected throughout. These purposes are repeatedly focusing in on a particular audience in which King speaks to. Using different types of appeals and literary elements, his speech produced a meaningful purpose that the audience could relate to.

In a period of time where few were willing to listen, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood proudly, gathered and held the attention of over 200,000 people. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech was very effective and motivational for African Americans in 1963. Many factors affected Kings’ speech in a very positive manner; the great emotion behind the words, delivering the speech on the steps of the memorial of the President who defeated slavery. And not only was this message beautifully written for the hope of African Americans, but the underlying message for white people, revolution and peace. To stimulate emotion from both parties of his listeners, King used a selection of rhetorical devices such as allusions to historical

The role of a leader is to always put the interests and needs of the people first. However, a barrier may stand in the way of this connection. While addressing the media on April 11th, 1962, President John F. Kennedy discusses the steel executives’ decision to raise the price of their product, which affected the American public. Throughout this speech, Kennedy strategically berates the executives, removing the blame off himself, as well as rallies together the American public through his appeals to the consciences of the smaller group of executives and the shared virtues of the larger group of Americans.

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.

Lastly, additionally to using literary devices, diction, and sentence length, Lyndon B. Johnson uses pathos to impact his audience more prominently and emphasize his purpose in an emotional sense. Johnson frequently uses pathos in his speech, which all have the same effect, either for reflection, unity, attention, or connection. In Lines 6-7 (“So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma Alabama”), Johnson uses pathos for two reflection as to show how Selma, Alabama will influence U.S history as the other battles of the Revolutionary War and Civil War, respectively. This can also be seen in Lines 17-19 (“Our lives have been marked with debate about great issues -- issues of war and

If a writer wanted to appeal to the audience, what would he have to do? He is going to have to utilize some rhetorical devices of course! Rhetorical devices are key in writing persuasion papers and just any paper that is meant to be read to an audience. In the Inauguration Speech of 1961 given by President John F. Kennedy, he was able to really connect with his audience that day by using lots of different rhetorical devices. By using chiasmus, anaphoras, and metaphors, JFK was able to effectively reach and persuade people to have faith in him despite his age and religion.

Commencement speaker Lyndon B. Johnson, in “The Great Society”, unveils a widespread set of domestic programs in the United States that serve to eliminate poverty and racial injustice. Speaking to the nation's youth, Johnson uses his speech in order to place the responsibility of the nation’s future success upon the upcoming generations. He develops his purpose by upholding credibility through the use of historical figures, which promotes a sense of patriotism within the audience. By utilizing alliteration, Johnson draws attention to his important ideals, which works to motivate the youth to act upon his desires. Through the continuation of his speech, Johnson uses the parallel structure of anaphora to intensify his ideals, and ultimately challenge the nation’s youth to help build a “Great Society” that will propel the nation to success.

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.

In Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Lincoln delivers a speech to the Union telling them not to give up and to fight against the Confederates. In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's “I Have a Dream” speech he addresses the problem of segregation and racial equality. Lincoln and Dr. King both have a similar purpose and that purpose is to bring change to the country. In this paper I will analyze how Lincoln and Dr. King persuaded the audience of bringing change to the country by using rhetorical devices.

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.