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Martin luther kings appeals of ethos and pathos
American civil rights movement
American civil rights movement
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One of the greatest orator of all time is Martin Luther King because of the great speaking abilities he had. For example, he was excellent at using pathos. Pathos is when a speaker is able to appeal to the audience’s emotion. Four of the emotional reference in pathos are people, actions, events, and objects. Within each reference there is a positive and a negative orientation. For people there is saint or sinner. In actions there is virtue and vice. In the third reference, events, there is utopia and wasteland. And for the last reference, objects, there is idol and abomination. His ``I Have a Dream`` speech is where he best used pathos. Due to his great use of pathos in his ``I Have a Dream`` speech, it is the great speech of all time To …show more content…
understand the significance of the ``I have a Dream speech`` one has to know the historical situation. On August 28th, 1963, King gave his most famous speech delivered at the March on Washington during a time when African Americans suffered racial discrimination . Since discrimination had gone on for years, it led to the civil rights movement in America in the mid-1950s and to the 1960s . Some of the discrimination that blacks faced was segregation , they had less rights than white Americans, and they suffered police brutality. King saw these injustices and preached that they must protest against racial discrimination non-violently. He also used the Christian doctrine of loving thy neighbour/enemy. Given the situation, King had two goals: to call out racial discrimination in the USA and to end racial discrimination in the USA As mentioned above, one of the reasons why Martin Luther King`s ``I Have a Dream`` speech is the greatest speech is due to his use of pathos. Throughout his speech, he used pathos a lot. Some of the emotional references he used were Abraham Lincoln, the current situation, what his dreams are, the U.S Delectation of Independence , how people are protesting against racial discrimination, and others. King first used pathos when he mentioned Lincoln as an emotional reference . To be more specific he used the people emotional reference in pathos. For most African Americans, Lincoln is an important president as he was the one who signed the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves. For example, what makes the use of this pathos strong is when he said ``Five score years ago, a great American…signed the Emancipation Proclamation`` . I believe that this is a good use of pathos because he claimed that he was a great man because he freed the slaves. Thus he showed him as a saint. As mentioned before, most blacks felt emotion due to the fact that Lincoln freed the slaves. Another great use of pathos was when King talked highly of the people that protested and still faced the consequences . I believe that the people who were present at this speech could have related because either they too protested for the same cause, or they could have been grateful for the brave actions that the protester took. On the other hand, he also used sinner to describe two types’ people. I believe that the first one is the politicians. Although he does not directly call them out when he said “It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned ”. It is the duty of the elected politicians to uphold the constitution, and during that time politicians failed to uphold this right. So therefore I believe that King called them out on their failure to uphold the constitution. In addition, I also believe that when he said “down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" he also called out politicians. I believe this due to the fact that during this time, many of the southern states nullified many of the Supreme Court ruling and federal laws passed against segregation. On the other hand, he also called out his second sinner directly when he said “[w]e can never be satisfied as long as the [n]egro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality” . During the civil rights movement, many African Americans would suffer from police brutality. I believe that blacks at this speech could have related when he described politicians and police as sinner due to the fact that’s since almost all suffered from discrimination since they did not get their constitutional rights or they suffered from police brutality. In addition to using people as an emotional reference he also used actions. When using action he mainly points out vice compared to virtue. For example, half way through the speech he mentioned some of the difficulties that African Americans faced. He used several examples such as, blacks did not have voting rights, they faced police brutality, their children face discrimination due to segregation, and that they did not have basic motilities rights . All this actions are vice due to the fact that blacks had less rights, faced police brutality and discrimination. Black Americans could relate to this because they suffered these vices, and they had enough and wanted justice. In addition, I believe when he said “The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people,” he was saying that this is a vice . I this believe due to the fact that this “new militancy” taught a different philosophy compared to King’s non-violent philosophy. Furthermore, King also taught that they must love their enemy. As king mentioned, they taught a distrust of white people. I believe that some African Americans could relate because they were tired of violence and wanted to get along with any race. On the other hand, he also used virtue. One example is when said “I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations…” I believe that he is saying these the actions that these protesters were brave and deserve recognition. As mentioned before, most could have related to this because either they were grateful for the actions taken by these protesters or they too took similar actions. Events is most likely his strongest use of emotional reference in pathos.
He used both utopia and wasteland. His strongest use of utopia is evident when he talked about his dream. For example, he said “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."” As the speech went on he talked more about his dream about how he wanted there to be equality and desegregation between both blacks and whites. This is his most renown and most power use of pathos due to the fact that his movement was based on equality for Black Americans. So therefore, I believe that every single Black American could relate to his dream. For years Black Americans had suffered due to segregation and many dreamt of the day that they racial discrimination was no longer an issue. Furthermore, one can also see him used utopia when he said “[a]nd when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands…” As mentioned before I believe this a great use of pathos because Black Americans could relate to this dream. While he has a strong use of utopia, he also had a strong use of wasteland. This manifested when he stated the current situation that Black …show more content…
American faced. He said “[w]e can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality…” He further went on to address the different issues that blacks face. This was relatable for blacks due to the fact that blacks were living in that wasteland. The last emotional reference he used was objects, in which he used it several times.
For idol he used the Constitution of the United States and the Delectation of Independence. When he said [t]his note 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.” I believe that this a good use of pathos because in the Constitution of the United States it states that everyone should have these “unalienable rights”. I believe that everyone that was present at his speech could agree with these undeniable rights. On the contrary, when he stated “[l]et us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence…” I believe that he is using the “cup of bitterness and hatred as an abomination. I believe because he does not agree with the use violence to achieve their goals. I believe that African Americans could relate to this abomination because most blacks agreed with
King. Overall I believe that Martin Luther’s king “I Have a Dream” speech is the best speech ever due to his use of pathos and because of the historical situation. During the civil rights movement there was a lot of civil leaders that offered different types of approaches to end racial discrimination. One example is the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X that preached Black Nationalism and allowed use of violence. In hindsight, Martin Luther King’s non-violent and “love thy enemy” was a far better and more effective philosophy than other philosophies. In addition, it is also a great speech because he used a lot of pathos in speech. I believe that most, if not all his speech is filled with pathos. Furthermore, he used these pathos effectively. How can one not agree with his dream? How can one not feel any kind of emotion when he states the troubles African Americans faced? Without a doubt Martin Luther King was a great orator and the “I Have a Dream” speech is by far his best speech and the best speech of all time.
Throughout both letters pathos is used to help shape the reader’s opinion towards the end goal of the author. In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter, he writes about how disappointed he is with the actions of his fellow Americans, comparing it to past events
Pathos is the appeal to emotion and Malcolm X uses a lot of pathos in his speech. Before getting into specific lines of his speech that use pathos, Malcolm X has a great usage of pathos by repeating the line “the ballot or the bullet.” This line created a sense of urgency that his audience needed to do something now to create change. He uses this effectively throughout his speech. A specific part of his speech that uses pathos is when he mentions about the march in Washington. He said “He made a chump out of you. He made a fool out of you. He made you think you were going somewhere and you end up going nowhere but between Lincoln and Washington.” This is an example of pathos because of how he spoke this in a way to spark anger in his audience. He is appealing to their anger towards the injustice they faced from the white man. Malcolm X purpose of trying to spark anger is because anger is a way to get someone passionate about an issue and more likely to do something about it. Another specific part of his speech that uses pathos is when he begins saying that African-Americans have never seen democracy. His exact words are “We don’t see the American dream. We see the American nightmare.” Again this is a way to spark anger in his audience over the injustice they have faced. Malcolm X did not believe in violence, his intent was not to get his audience angry and react out in violence, but to vote for future. This is why he
His emotional appealing begins when he stated: “The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet like speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.” And his emotional appealing continues and gets more effective when he describes the suffering life of black people who are suffering from racism and injustice:” when you take a country-cross drive and found it necessary to sleep night after night in the corner of automobile because no hotel would accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading ‘white’ and ‘colored’”. This makes people want to join his case and mak...
He talks about how the emancipation is very important to us African Americans, but to other white people it was just a speech because it did not really involve them, so they really just did not care because it was not their history. As Americans, I feel we share the same history because it was just not the blacks that got everything passed for them, but it was also the whites because we all played a separate part with it. When issues like this come up I just look back on the elections of my president Obama. Every one said that us as African Americans we got him into office both times, but if the whole black population would of voted just for Obama he would not have won.... ...
In Martin Luther King’s letter from Birmingham Jail, pathos, ethos, and logos are vividly expressed throughout it. All three rhetorical devices are vital to the meaning of the letter; the most influential being pathos. MLK takes advantage of the human body’s strong response to emotion. It is illustrated in his appeal to empathy, exercised mainly through gruesome depictions; his call for action to his peers, as shown when he expresses his disappointment in them as they preserve order over justice; and his strategic use of pathos as a supporting effort for both ethos and logos arguments.
Speeches are a method of persuading people to do something. For Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, their speeches were to bring equality for the people of color. However, their approaches are different. Consequently, the effects may be different. An example of their contrasting differences is a speech from each, King’s “I Have a Dream” and X’s “The Black Revolution”. Their speeches used pathos, a central metaphor, and a warning, but was presented differently.
Alleged by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his “I Have A Dream” speech on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Dr. King said “This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. Meaning there shall be equality between one another. Dr. King grew up around pastors in a Baptist Church, so when he gave his speeches he sounded like a preacher. He was a well-educated person who graduated from Boston University and received his Doctorate degree. Plus he was a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race. Being a strong worker and having knowledge of civil rights made him more of a confident and convincing speaker. Therefore, In Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, he pointed out to African Americans, that in the near future the African Americans would have equal rights and liberty like all the other Caucasians have. In this speech I have found Dr. King using logos, ethos, and pathos to get his attention across about equality and to make his speech sound more effective. Out of the three rhetorical appeals I have found that Dr. King used ethos the most predominately followed by the second most effective, pathos, and how King is a convincing speaker to his audience.
King also uses pathos to effectively appeal to the reader’s emotions. The most effective usage of pathos is showing how segregation was hard on anyone no matter their age. He describes his interaction with his young daughter, “see tears well up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children” (King 2). This section is meant for you to see that even simple things are taken away just because of their skin color. The child is seen as innocent in all of this and they still are being punished for something they cannot control. King also uses another approach that focuses more on the horror that African Americans faced by white extremists, “vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers… drown your sisters and brothers… when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters” (King 2). No one in their right mind would want to endure any of this or have anyone they care about face what these people faced. This creates a sense of guilt and sympathy for the oppressed people. Although he shows many of the sad ways the African Americans were treated, he also uses pathos by creating inspiration for the people. His mother is quoted as saying, “You must never feel that you are less than anybody else. You must always feel that you are somebody.” (Historic World Leaders 3). This also can be attributed to emotions because it creates inspiration for the African Americans, but it also gives the reader some
In Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech, King makes use of an innumerable amount of rhetorical devices that augment the overall understanding and flow of the speech. King makes the audience feel an immense amount of emotion due to the outstanding use of pathos in his speech. King also generates a vast use of rhetorical devices including allusion, anaphora, and antithesis. The way that King conducted his speech adds to the understanding and gives the effect that he wants to rise above the injustices of racism and segregation that so many people are subjected to on a daily basis. Throughout King’s speech, he uses the rhetorical mode, pathos, to give the audience an ambience of strong emotions such as sympathy.
King uses in his speech is Pathos, which is the appeal to someone 's emotions or beliefs. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. presented a strong feeling towards African-American people about how they were treated as equal individuals “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” (King par. 3). Another example of pathos that Dr. King used was when he uses vocabulary and phrases, such as “I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream” (King par. 12). He uses the appeal of emotion, especially the word of choice and diction to let his audience’s know what he would like to see in the
He states with quotes "Black young men being sent eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in Southwest Georgia and East Harlem".Pathos is used here wanting to make the audience feel guilty that there sending there sons to fight a war as well as give a country liberties that they dont have here at home that is what Mr.King uses to fuel his audience with anger towards the unjust
... oppression blacks faced. King’s appeal to ethos set the stage for other methods of persuasion. By building up this appeal, King was able to establish a common ground between himself and the audience. King delivered an effective appeal to pathos, which in turn evoked an emotional response from the viewers. King also used appeals to logic in order to reason with his audience. By appealing to all three rhetorical elements, pathos, logos, and ethos, King was able to effectively persuade and motivate the audience to achieve equality for all American citizens.
In mentioning the Emancipation Proclamation he shows that our ancestors signed a contract, in which all human beings are created equal, and therefore should be treated in the same way as others. He also visualizes his ideas with visual examples, which everybody can understand. “America has given the black population a bad check, which has come back marked insufficient funds”( I Have a Dream) In one paragraph of his speech he mentions that the “black population has come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. but we refuse to believe, that the bank of justice is bankrupt and that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation” (316).
Racism and equality was a major problem that dominated America and is still a major issue today. During Martin Luther King Jr.’s time, these problems were at its’ highest peak. On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his revolutionary “I Have A Dream” speech in Lincoln Memorial Park. This speech demanded justice and equality for African Americans. King was one of many protesters who fought long and hard for equality and freedom to all Americans. His speech told the dreams of millions of Americans, demanding a free, equal, and just nation. In his speech, he stressed the idea of equality between colored and whites, and connected his pain with millions. Ethos, pathos, and metaphor are three of the elements that made Martin Luther
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free”. Which shows how even though the Emancipation Proclamation freed the African Americans from slavery, they still are not free because of segregation. He then transitions to the injustice and suffering that the African Americans face. He makes this argument when he proclaims, “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream”.