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Martin Luther King Jr Rhetorical Analysis

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Change and Revolution have always been in the American bloodstream; from the first wave of immigrants that came to the states, the search for change and the rebellion of injustice has been constant. Through each of our distinctive eras, we’ve had profound leaders that gave our present time the voices and opportunities to achieve the goals they never could. Martin Luther King Jr. , a civil rights activist, and Henry David Thoreau, an 1849 transcendentalist, both are common public figures of their time, pushed the ideas of ethical nonviolent protest. Their diligence made them influential activists of their time in favor of making a change in American society. King and Thoreau strongly encouraged citizens to advocate for nonviolent protest …show more content…

Thoreau’s writing although specifically directed towards certain individuals has a logical appeal to it, he discusses how our votes don’t matter anyways and how voting doesn’t change anything. “All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong… Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it” (Thoreau 4). We’ve had the electoral college since 1787 which validates Thoreau’s statement that our votes don’t matter. The emotional appeal is how he’s correct, the electoral college and popular votes has shown many times throughout U.S. history how the people want one thing but are still given another. Although King was fighting to end segregation a different topic from Thoreau, his emotional and logical appeal is how he and his fellow blacks deal with racism and segregation in the South on a daily basis. “ But when you haven’t seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim…’Daddy why do white people treat colored people so mean?” (King 3). From the demeaning signs to the vulgar names, they’ve been taught to be mentally and physically strong enough to deal with the hate. It’s a logical statement since there is evidence of this criminal actions happening in the South, without any remorse. The emotion to is how true the statement is and the emotional tone King has. Thoreau and Kings logical and emotional appeals while being for different audiences there relation to injustice is

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