The Use Of Pathos In Martin Luther King's Speech

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Persuasive language is an everyday tool we use in order to gain what we need and the use of persuasive makes our arguments and reasoning’s sound logical, coherent and valid. There are different ways of using persuasion depending on what it is you’re looking to gain, the Greek philosopher Aristotle categorised these different ways under pathos, ethos and logos. Pathos comes the Greek word “suffering” and is often associated with emotional appeal through the use of audience’s experience and word choice. Ethos which comes the Greek word “character”, refers to the credibility or ethical appeal a person has, this is important to people with authority and those with a sense of leadership can gain trust and persuade through their character. And lastly …show more content…

King was undoubtedly great at giving speeches and changes the audience ideology and opinions as soon as he was done talking and this was perhaps because of he had ethos and used pathos. King had many great qualities that gave his character authenticity; he had a BA in sociology as well as a doctorate and a strong Christian man, Kings educational background made everything he said valid and his background as a Baptist minister along with being a father and husband created an image of an honourable Christian man. King’s had the strong ability to give speeches, his body language in most of his speeches is calm yet powerful and talking so directly at the audience it seemed very personal. Being a Baptist minister King already had a leadership quality and his voice showed preacher-like passion and confidence and spoke in a commanding voice that come from practise in …show more content…

In King’s speech he referenced Abraham Lincoln’s speech which began with “Four score and seven years ago”, in his own speech King wrote “Five score years ago” and this particular allusion had a strong impact as King gave his speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. A further allusion in the speech is the reference to the Declaration of Independence “life liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, King uses this important part of American history to support his argument. King uses numerous biblical allusions “It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long nights of their captivity” is a reference from Psalms “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” This use of biblical references reinforces to his character as a strong and reliable religious

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