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History grade 12 civil rights movement
History easy The civil rights movement
Grade 12 history essay civil rights movement
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Civil Rights Essay One of the darkest times in American history includes the time of slavery. Injustice, rights of men, the thought of being “equal,” was all questioned during the time of slavery. The fight for freedom became the main goal of African Americans, to help them with this fight for freedom were three activists. The three activists included; Minister Martin Luther King, and younger activists, Malcolm X, and Stokely Carmichael. These civil right activists all had one goal in mind; equality and fair treatment for black people. While all three activists shared this common goal, their means of achieving it differed. In Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Stokely Carmichael’s speech different rhetorical strategies and appeals were used …show more content…
to back up the position of each speaker. In Martin Luther King’s speeches “I have a dream,” and “I’ve been to the mountain top,” King uses all rhetorical appeals (pathos, logos, and ethos), anaphora, rhetorical questions, isocolon, parallelism, epistrophe, and other schemes to not only encourage people to stay strong, but to convince them to take action non-violently.
In both speeches rhetorical appeals were used. In the speech “I have a dream, “pathos was used to connect emotionally with his audience. Blacks are described as being “crippled” by the “manacles of segregation” and “chains of discrimination.” The use of such diction, possess an emotional tone causing pathos. The use of these words make the audience think that blacks are being punished for some crime they committed, but the “crime” is just the fact that they are black. King states while everyone in the world are in an “ocean of material prosperity,” blacks are on a “lonely island of poverty.” This …show more content…
represents the inequality between the two races. Later on King says “I have a dream” and “Let freedom ring!”, giving the audience hope of a better tomorrow. In the speech “I’ve been to the mountaintop, pathos is also used. Using word such as” “freedom,” “rightful place,” and “victory,” giving the audience hope and a want for something better. These powerful words mixed with the tone and power of his voice made it even more impactful. In both speeches anaphora is used to put emphasis on certain points. Some examples are “I would” and “If I had sneezed” In the “I’ve been to the mountaintop speech.” Some examples of anaphora in the “I have a dream speech,” are “I have a dream” and “Now is the time.” Those are only some of them, his use of anaphora throughout his speeches made them very powerful. In Malcolm X’s speeches "The Ballot or the Bullet" and "Message to the Grassroots,” Malcolm uses rhetorical appeals (pathos, ethos, and logos), rhetorical questions, parallelism, and anaphora to persuade his audience to take action through violence in order to truly gain freedom.
In the speech “the ballot or the bullet,” Malcom uses logos stating “If they draft you, they send you to Korea and make you face 800 million Chinese. If you can be brave over there, you can be brave right here. These odds aren't as great as those odds. And if you fight here, you will at least know what you're fighting for." This like an eye opener to the audience persuading them to fight for freedom. Malcolm also states: "We're not even as far up as we were in 1954. We're behind where we were in 1954. There's more segregation now than there was in 1954. There's more racial animosity, more racial hatred, more racial violence today in 1964, than there was in 1954. Where is the progress?" This tells the audience it is time for a change because what we have been doing is obviously not working. He says all of this in hopes that people will take the initiative and fight back for what they want.” If violence is wrong in America, violence is wrong abroad. If it is wrong to be violent defending black women and black children and black babies and black men, then it is wrong for America to draft us and make us violent abroad in defense of her.” The use of logos here is explaining to his audience why violence
is necessary and how being non-violent is not working. While the people are being non-violet in America, America is being violent to them. The use of these rhetorical strategies in Malcolm’s speeches tries to persuade the audience to take action by being violent. Moreover, in Stokely Carmichael’s speech “Black power,” Stokely uses rhetorical appeals (pathos, logos, an ethos), anaphora, chiasmus, and metonymy to show the audience a “self-defense” way of fighting for equality. He uses metonymy stating “Every time I tried I was shot, killed or jailed, beaten or economically deprived,” stating what happens to one person in the black community effects all of blacks or in a sense happens to all blacks. Stokely also uses chiasmus stating “we were never fighting for the right to integrate, we were fighting against white supremacy.” This explains what this fight is about, not to necessarily integrate but to fight against white supremacy. He also utilizes ethos to establish his credibility in giving this speech. In Stokely’s use of ethos: I am black. I know that. I also know that while I am black I am a human being,” this is just reestablishing an already foundation that he has the right to speak on this subject because he himself is black. Furthermore, Stokely uses pathos to connect with the audience saying “a man is born free. You may enslave a man after he is born free, and that is in fact what this country does,” this connects with the audience’s emotions, saying wow people are stripped of the freedoms they are born with, how sad. Stokely uses these rhetorical devices to connect with the audience and get them to listen to his push towards self-defense in a fight for freedom/equality. Although these three activists had a common goal of more rights and equality for the black community, their means of achieving it differed. In all three speeches we see a similar use of rhetorical strategies. All three speeches utilized the three rhetorical appeals (pathos, logos, and ethos), each speech had anaphora and other strategies to successfully persuade people to take action their way. Each bearing a successful response because of the effectiveness of each speech.
Recently you have received a letter from Martin Luther King Jr. entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In Dr. King’s letter he illustrates the motives and reasoning for the extremist action of the Civil Rights movement throughout the 1960’s. In the course of Dr. King’s letter to you, he uses rhetorical questioning and logistical reasoning, imagery and metaphors, and many other rhetorical devices to broaden your perspectives. I am writing this analysis in hopes you might reconsider the current stance you have taken up regarding the issues at hand.
Achieving Racial Equality On April 12th, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. was leading a peaceful protest in the city of Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in him being arrested and jailed. Later that day, eight clergymen responded with the statement “A Call For Unity” in The Birmingham News requesting he ends all of his protests. A few days later, King created a response to the statement in the form of an open letter. In this letter, Martin Luther King Jr. develops a well-proposed argument in response to the eight clergymen who published the statement. Throughout the letter, King uses rhetorical appeal in order to give the viewer a sense of King’s credibility, his emotions, and also his logic on why he does what he does.
The 20th century was a definitive time period for the Black civil rights movement. An era where the status quo was blatant hatred and oppression of African Americans, a time when a black son would watch his father suffer the indignity of being called a “boy” by a young white kid and say nothing in reply but “yes sir”. Where a Black person can be whipped or lynched for anything as little as not getting off the sidewalk when approaching a white person, for looking into their eyes, or worse, “for committing the unpardonable crime of attempting to vote.” In the midst of the racial crises and fight for social equality were Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. who despite their difference in philosophies were “icons of social justice movement both in the United States and around the world” .
There are many similarities between I Have a Dream and the Letter from Birmingham Jail. Both of the pieces have many rhetorical appeals in common, whether it is pathos, logos, ethos or even repetition. In the speech, “I Have a Dream”, one pathos part that had stand out the most was, “ I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”. This quote is so emotional because it was not about what King wanted for himself but for his children, it also stand out because it make the audience thinks about their children and how they wouldn’t want their kids going through what they was going through, which makes it even more important to put end to racism. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, one pathos part that stand out was when King said, “For there is the more excellent way...
...artin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X approach the same problem differently. They both use pathos, a central metaphor, and give a warning. However, Martin Luther King Jr. uses pathos to create a welcoming and patriotic feeling whereas Malcolm X uses fear. Martin Luther King Jr. uses a check, used on a daily basis, as the object of his central metaphor; Malcolm X uses a powder keg, a very damaging and dangerous object, as the object of his central metaphor. Lastly, Martin Luther King Jr. warns his audience that the people of color will revolt passively. On the other hand, Malcolm X warns his audience that the people of color will revolt violently with bloodshed. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X both achieve their goal. After reading both speeches, Malcolm X seems, in my opinion, to have made a greater impact on the white community because fear is stronger than joy.
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 conveys his audience by the type of context he uses. He chooses the best time frame to speak, it wasn’t too early, and it wasn’t too late. People were ready to listen and see what the future had in store. King uses many methods to connect to his audience, but he uses over 60 metaphors that were easily related to so people could relate and understand. The “I Have a Dream” made the speech more welcoming because he wasn’t trying to demand something, he was just saying what the ideal situation would be and what he wishes it would be. Throughout the speech, King deftly repeats key phrases, including "Let freedom ring" and "I have a dream." Though in some situations using the same words and phrases would be considered “redundant”, in this speech, it is used to emphasize and get the point across to the listeners.
Thought the 1950s and 1960s, the tension between those who agreed and disagreed with segregation and discrimination of African Americans increased. The African American community was sick and tired of just being pushed around, so they began to stand up for themselves. Many people didn’t warm up to this idea, but, due to the many inspiring speeches given throughout the movement by Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and others, they started to involve themselves in the movement. Two of those speeches were “Message to the Grassroots” by Malcolm X and “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King. Even though both people had very different view on how this movement should have been like, they used similar rhetorical techniques in there speeches as a way to
Dr. King is an emotional, inspiring, and strong speaker. His " I Have A Dream" speech tugs a deep root war of emotions in every American’s heart; therefore, this speech is the perfect display of pathos. Even though pathos overwhelm logo and ethos, they are also very much present in his speech. On August 28, 1963 Dr. King made his way to Washington Mall from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial to deliver his speech to his fellow Americans. Dr. King commands his speech during an ironic time in American history.
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.
In King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, he uses rhetorical strategies to capture his audience and to keep their attention as well. One style that Dr. King used when he delivered his speech was Ethos, which is establishing his own credibility to
King uses the phrase "I have a dream today," twice in his own paragraph. This statement was probably spoken with great emphasis since it gave the listeners the desire to change "today" instead of continuing to be discriminated against. Martin Luther King's speech could very well have been titled something else, but because of his use of anaphora which strongly emphasized these words, it earned itself the title "I Have a Dream." Martin Luther King's use of alluding to other historic documents, which also deal with equality issues, helped his speech reach the listener. These allusions were probably geared more towards the white listeners than it was towards the black because it provided textual evidence from past documents which stated that all men were created equal and all people should have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
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.
He felt that all Americans should be equal and that they should forget about injustice and segregation. He wanted America to know what the problems were and wanted to point out the way to resolve these problems. In his speech, King uses different types of rhetorical guidelines. He uses them to show his points in a better and easier way to understand. At the beginning he successfully uses mythos. A myth has a deep explanatory or symbolic resonance for the audience.
Nearly three centuries ago, black men and women from Africa were brought to America and put into slavery. They were treated more cruelly in the United States than in any other country that had practiced slavery. African Americans didn’t gain their freedom until after the Civil War, nearly one-hundred years later. Even though African Americans were freed and the constitution was amended to guarantee racial equality, they were still not treated the same as whites and were thought of as second class citizens. One man had the right idea on how to change America, Martin Luther King Jr. had the best philosophy for advancing civil rights, he preached nonviolence to express the need for change in America and he united both African Americans and whites together to fight for economic and social equality.