Cesar Chavez's Speech Analysis

Sometimes authors use words to bring up strong feelings in others. They can be used to inspire action, provoke or calm people, or even persuade people to make changes and view things differently. Writers use methods such as: analogy, allusion, pathos, or charged language. Starting in 1962, Americans started a movement to try to end the use of pesticides. There were many activists throughout that time who stood up against farmers who were using dangerous pesticides. Many of them used these different methods to influence people. In 1985, Cesar Chavez gave the speech, “Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In this speech he used his words to influence people and to persuade them to stop purchasing grapes grown with pesticides, and he had a significant effect on people.
In “Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” there were 3 specific cases that stood out where you can see Chavez’s uses words to influence people. He was speaking to a crowd at a protest for the anti-pesticide movement and the people there mostly supported him, but they still needed to be inspired to take action. Chavez is saying how that they have been fighting this for a while and that “it should be clear to all of [them] that there is an unfinished agenda” and that although they’ve started working, they still “have miles to go before [they] reach the promised land” (13). Here Chavez uses charged language to appeal to his audience’s emotions. He wants them to realize that they still have a lot of

Martin Luther King, Jr.” Cesar Chavez made a great impact on the people there that day. This speech, along with many others that he gave, were to influence people to not purchase food that was grown using pesticides. There were many people getting sick, including children, and some had even died from cancer. Chavez, along with many others, were able to greatly change people’s views on topics. It is true that words can have just as much power as action when used in a strong, meaningful