Dr. Martin Luther King was a keynote speaker at the ‘March On Washington’, on August 28th, 1963. The speech was during the height of the civil rights movement. Speaking to thousands, he used the size of his audience to his advantage. Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States of America, spoke to 200 people, on July 16, 2009, at the centennial anniversary of the founding of the NAACP. The two speeches were very different in many ways, but both were about justice, equality, and the rights of those not fortunate enough to have them. Dr. King reached his audience well using Pathos and Ethos, but a large lack of Logos makes the audience believe that the speech was not founded in fact. Obama used a lot of Logos but many of the facts …show more content…
Pathos was useful for bond building between the speakers and the audiences. In Dr. King’s speech there were many examples, but one of the most memorable was “Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”. The strong and passionate language helped the audience feel the emotion of the speech, building a bond between Dr. King and the hundreds listening. Obama also used strong language in his speech but there were not as many examples to choose from. One example was “I want their horizons to be limitless. I don't tell them they can’t do something. Dont feed our children with a sense of that somehow because of their race that they can not achieve.”. By discussing the subject of children, the parents of the audience were likely moved because they want their kids to have a strong future, therefore helping create a bond between Obama and his …show more content…
One of the best allusions in Dr. King’s speech was in the beginning when he referenced Lincoln’s gettysburg address by starting the second paragraph off with “Five score years ago-”. This reference helped the audience make connections between Lincoln and Dr. King. One of the allusions in Obama’s speech was “but our kids can’t all aspire to be LeBron or Lil Wayne.”. It was a cultural allusion because those are prominent figures in some teenager’s lives. Most people know of them due to the times they are in. This made the audience feel like they were in on
Patrick Henry was a political leader during the American Revolution, who was educated from home. He gave a speech on March 23, 1775 at the Virginia Convention that has became a great part of history. Henry’s speech was considered to have started the American Revolution. His speech caused the House members to fight for their freedom; he showed them reasons why they shouldn’t want peace, but freedom. He took charge and gave a speech that went down in history.
Martin Luther King Jr’s rhetorical choices stressed the importance of remaining non-violent as well as trying to view the world in the perspective of the opposition. Those choices proved powerful to people of all races. Martin Luther King Jr. incorporated all three modes of persuasion in his speech but it is clear that pathos is the primary vehicle in which he chose to move his audience. Martin Luther King Jr. uses pathos because of the diverse audience itself. If he were to spend all of his time writing his speech on the legislative aspect of the civil rights movement, his speech would not have had the same impact as it did.
This poster uses Ethos- to appeal to the American people. It is created based on the ethic that you do not want your country to loose the war, therefore you will not share any sensitive information. This make the person fell a duty, and responsibility to keep american citizens safe, and you as a citizen should appeal to the country 's need for a trust worthy citizen. Since an argument by definition is when some makes a statement on what they believe is right, I would have to think that this poster uses an argument to make its point across. Meaning that the government believes that the best way to win this war is to keep the American people from providing useful information to the enemy.
Martin Luther King Jr. inexplicably opened the eyes of Americans across the nation with his role in the movement and his use of resonating imagery, excellent emotional appeal, powerful voice, and evocation of logic in his “I Have a Dream” speech. With such an enthralling rhetoric he gained a vast amount of support and exponentially increased the pride in standing up for what’s righteous and just. Exemplifying the throes of being a colored person, King evoked sympathy whilst simultaneously applying the valid logic that no human should be subjected to lesser standards. His rhetoric wholly changed American history that day and thus conveyed his ability to maintain equanimity throughout all of the
In the 1960s the African Americans were freed, but did they really have all the rights they were promised? Racial conflicts were everywhere. Lyndon B. Johnson was current president and was trying to encourage congress to pass a bill called The Voting Rights Act. To influence the vote he gave the speech “We Shall Overcome.” In “We Shall Overcome” President Lyndon Johnson used ethos, pathos, logos, and other rhetorical devices such as allusions, repetition and appeals to authority to persuade congress to pass the act.
Pathos according to Public Speaking and Civic Engagement textbook is when “seeking information that will connect your topic with your audiences’ feelings, needs, and emotions” (49). Out the three rhetorical techniques pathos is the strongest one of all because it get to humans emotions. Even though it can be the strongest one; it can also be the hardest one to transmit to the audience. In Cicero’s, “On Oratory and Orator” he states: “common usage and the custom and language of all men” (Cicero 9). Meaning to say that when speaking the presenters should use a common language that all men understand.
Within a few decades of each other both Martin Luther King and Chief Dan George speak to the public of racial injustice towards their own ethnicity. These two distinct activists both display hope in achieving racial and ethnic equality throughout their speeches. Martin Luther Kings’ speech can be seen as forward and direct in portraying his message, utilizing the rhetorical device of logos such as disturbing facts to persuade his audience. An example of this can be seen when he restates the promises of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, “A promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty,
In short, President Barack Obama gave a Commemoration Speech during his presidential campaign at Brown Chapel in Selma, Alabama on Selma Voting Rights March. His speech was powerful and he will go down as one of the greatest President to give speeches. Therefore, in this assignment I will discuss Aristotle’s three ways of persuasion. First, his speech was in a church and his audience was people who regularly attend churches and they usually have respect for their Pastors or guest Preachers because of their qualification. He used the first step of Aristotle three steps known as ethos which is determined through the character of the speaker (Excelsior College, n.d., para 2).
Martin Luther King Jr. was an important figure in gaining civil rights throughout the 1960’s and he’s very deserving of that title as seen in both his “I Have a Dream” speech and his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” letter. In both of these writings Dr. King uses logos - logical persuasion - and pathos - emotional appeal - to change the opinions of people who were for segregation and against civil rights. Although King was arrested for a nonviolent protest, he still found a way to justify his actions with the use of logos and pathos. MLK uses both ways to gain the attention and agreement of the audience but, he uses pathos not just more, but in a more relatable way in order to appeal to his audience.
He compared Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech with Obama’s
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an extremely impactful activist during the Civil Rights Movement that gave over 2,500 speeches in his lifetime. Of these speeches, his most popular is his famous I Have a Dream speech that he gave on August 28, 1963 in Washington, D.C. during the March on Washington. Even famous speakers like Martin Luther King, Jr. use persuasive techniques to appeal to the different sides of their audiences. In order to appeal to his predominately African American audience, Martin Luther King, Jr. makes reference to Abraham Lincoln and his granting freedom to slaves by signing the Emancipation Proclamation.
On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr gave us one of one of the most rhetorically moving speeches ever given. Titled as the “I Have a Dream Speech,” he read this speech to the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”. As a civil right mover he gave this great speech to all Americans (black and white) so that he could give off the idea of equality on the same level. Because of his crowd of mix races King made sure to make his speech imploring to all no matter what the race that they may be. He uses metaphorical imagery, powerful diction,and symbolism to create an impact on the audience.
To begin with Dr. King used logos in his speech to educate the people and give them evidence and logic. Dr. King used both logos and pathos in his speech here is an example of logos used in his speech. “ Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, Signed the Emancipation Proclamation. ”(King 261) is the quote that Dr. King wrote in his speech. He is telling them that the African Americans have been free for five hundred years and that was a great point in history but the African Americans aren’t treated equally or fairly.
Pathos is when the speech appeals to the audience’s emotions. President Abraham Lincoln uses pathos is this speech to console the audience for the losses that the country has endured during the Civil War. Lincoln uses pathos to convey sadness when he says, “The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.” When saying this Lincoln appeals to the people’s emotions by explaining that their loved ones struggled there and he also appeals to the feeling of pride they feel for their loved ones who dedicated their lives to their cause. Another example of pathos in this speech is, “...that from these honored dead we take increased devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain…”
At the 1963 March on Washington, American Baptist minister and activist Martin Luther King Jr. delivered one of his most famous speeches in history on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the height of the African American civil rights movement. King maintains an overall passionate tone throughout the speech, but in the beginning, he projected a more urgent, cautionary, earnest, and reverent tone to set the audience up for his message. Towards the end, his tone becomes more hopeful, optimistic, and uplifting to inspire his audience to listen to his message: take action against racial segregation and discrimination in a peaceful manner. Targeting black and white Americans with Christian beliefs, King exposes the American public to the injustice