...On April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave a very important speech amongst the clergymen to protest against the Jim Crow laws and racial violence. King's reasoning for his speech was to argue for change and to justify his actions. While writing his letter, King uses rhetorical devices and appeals to develop his argument. In the beginning of MLK's speech he mentions that while being in jail, Martin Luther King Jr. said that their recent activities were "unwise and untimely". Ethos is shown being used when King makes a claim that he is not an "outsider". Martin Luther King Jr. established his credibility by mentioning that he and several members were here because they were invited. Paragraph 2, MLK states, "So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here." Furthermore, King expresses his biblical duties and says he is "compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town."...
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...MLK uses the following rhetorical devices in his speech, Repetitions: “I have a dream”, “Let freedom Ring”, “With this Faith…” Allusion: “Dream rooted in the American dream”, “Faith”, “the constitution”. Rule of three: “1OO year later; ‘the Negro are not free”’, “they still suffer from segregation and injustice”, and “poverty”. Alliteration: “Sons of former slaves and sons of former slave-owners” I think MLK’s careful choice of the words of his excellent speech had a great impact on the listeners. It was obvious that he stirred their hearts with hope of that awaited day when the dream would come to pass. His word selection affected so much his speech to the extent that I became one of the greatest speeches ever given. The following...
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...needs to understand and participate in the process to peace. Using this phrase, he is trying to tell people they need to put their differences aside and unite to solve the major world problems. By using anaphora to get this point across, it leaves the message in the audience mind while also stating his point of what needs to be done. It shows that both sides need to understand the problem at hand and try to come to an agreement. The anaphora strengthens this point by introducing the point in the audience's head. Some people could argue that MLK uses anaphora best because of the power of the statement “I have a dream”. It can be said the the way MLK uses anaphora is much stronger because of the emotion used in the statement. The way he uses it in reference to his children can be considered very moving and persuasive because almost everyone can relate to it. It makes the statement very moving and emotional. Although these are valid statements, MLK points are purely emotion based. JFK points are emotion based as well as fact based with good...
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...Martin Luther King Jr. had been imprisoned for eight days in the Birmingham Jail in Alabama. In these eight days, he would write one of the most renowned rhetorical works that would be studied for years. He had written this on stolen paper while confined in a jail cell in response to the criticism and false accusations made about their whole movement by eight white clergymen. He brought attention to the protest and emphasized that there would never be a better time for this; action needs to be taken now. King would persuade the audience through the use of logic and objective evidence supporting his argument; he is able to further emphasize his point by frequently utilizing metaphors and juxtapositions. This is one of the most effective ways he convinced his audience, as it would be difficult...
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...Martin Luther King Jr. rests as the most remembered figure associated with the civil rights movement in the United States. The nation remembers his message as a nonviolent reach at civil rights through civil disobedience, and resistance. The resistance came from the superior race, government officials, and the white church. Eight Clergymen from said white church continued the resistance by sending a letter that criticized and rebuked King’s movement in Birmingham Alabama, the same movement that led to the incarceration of King in the Birmingham City jail. This letter accused King of creating violence in the streets, and not properly negotiating with courts or government officials before acting. King responded to the Clergymen in a letter of his own, “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In this letter King expresses his views and beliefs on segregation, unjust laws, and the inadequate support from the white church. In backing up his claims King used quotes from the Bible and he referenced certain stories within it. King used his knowledge of the Bible to quote it from memory, as he did not have access to the book while he wrote his letter. The audience in which King wrote to had studied the Bible wholeheartedly and King took advantage of that. As respected leaders of the white church the Clergymen had spent many years studying the Bible and preaching every word written in it. King made clear through his use of quotes from the Bible and other resources, the importance of his issue and...
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...Rhetorical Analysis Paper Martin Luther King Jr.: I Have a Dream According to Aristotle, there are three ways for a speaker to persuade his audience: ethos, logos, and pathos ("American rhetoric: Aristotle's rhetoric - selected moments," n.d.). Aristotle noted that a speech should “engage both the rational and non-rational elements of the listener's soul” (Wardy, 1996, p. 63). The speaker must have credibility with their audience and appear fair, open-minded, honest, and knowledgeable (ethos). He/she must also have logical appeal with strong, valid arguments based on facts and, perhaps, with personal experience and observations (logos). And, finally, the speaker must emotionally appeal to the audience and create a personal connection to draw and hold their attention (pathos). Of the three, Aristotle believed that ideally arguments should be made with reason, or logic, alone (McKay & McKay, 2010). However, it is often a speaker’s emotional appeal that creates the personal connection, as well as captivates and motivates the audience … and few have done that better than the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. If you say the words “I have a dream”, Americans from age 18 to 80 immediately think of Martin Luther King Jr. They may not know the words achieved notoriety from a speech given at an equal rights march on Washington, DC in August 1963. They may not know that 250,000 blacks gathered at the National Mall to demand "jobs and freedom" (Hampson, 2013). Additionally, they...
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...Martin Luther King Jr. was a powerful civil rights leader and set the tone for many nonviolent equality movements. Events in Birmingham, Alabama, thoroughly the most segregated city in the United States, lead to nonviolent demonstrations, which then gave rise to hostile police conduct. The individuals of the protests were apprehended, including Martin Luther King Jr.. Alabama clergymen then composed a letter addressing the racial unrest in Birmingham, and Martin Luther King Jr. reciprocated with his own letter justifying the protestors actions. To justify the Birmingham demonstrations and appeal to his audience of both blacks and whites, Martin Luther King Jr. effectively builds pathos with the use of various rhetorical strategies. King evokes...
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...First of all the following events happened in Birmingham, Alabama in the late 1960’s when segregation against blacks was at a high. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a minister who preaches about using nonviolent acts to prove a point or solve a problem. The rhetorical situation is the segregation and discrimination of blacks in the early 60’s. Dr. King led protests where blacks would sit at restaurants that were for whites only or used white restrooms. This caused a lot of chaos and some violence, but it was deemed that what Dr. King was doing was wrong by leading people to do these illegal acts and he thought this was unfair and still broke it. He was jailed along with several others, but was released eight days later. After protesting for no...
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...Rhetorical Analysis of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” Speech Martin Luther King Jr. was an American civil rights activist who boldly called an end to racism in the United States. On August 28, 1963 he delivered a speech in front of more than 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial; a speech that became famous for its inspiration; a speech that was a defining moment for the American Civil Rights Movement; a speech plainly known as “I Have a Dream.” This infamous speech was so influential and moving because of the many rhetorical devices and appeals used that effectively related to the emotions and knowledge of the common people. Techniques used so beautifully and words spoken so genuinely that the hearts of those listening...
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...through issues) * Both deliberate and conscious of challenges of relating Biblical faith to Social issues * Housing and immigration are public policy issues * Daniel devotes a chapter to this question, using “Caesar vs. God” image from New Testament * Micah Shows up in both books (see below) * Differences? * Is immigration more of a “hot button” issue than housing? * If so, do we find different kinds of rhetoric? * Phil comment in class: Does Reckford focus more on system or structures or root causes (next slide) and Daniel more on individuals? * If so, do we have different kinds of solidarity in these two approaches? * Root Causes (“cycle”) of Poverty (structural analysis) (52-53) * Rhetorical device? * Cites 5 of them * “social capital” (56-58) is a rich illustration * Solidarity involves “learning” and “sensitivity” and “collaboration” (60) * Corresponding interventions/Solutions * E.g. “not charity but capital” (Clarence Jordan, cited 54) * 62-63: justice = level playing field (Sen. M. Fenwick, grandmother) * Housing is one of several interventions, but foundational (59) * Note structural components (infrastructure) of this intervention * E.g. ONE Campaign (http://www.one.org/us/) : 1% of US budget against extreme poverty * Immigration as “spiritual pilgrimage” * Religion/Public Square (ch.4) * “Do I believe in the moral teaching...
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...RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 1 Rhetorical Analysis of “I Have Dream” Speech Alfonso Gonzalez Itt Technical Institute Instructor Deana Schoneberg EN 1320 RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 2 The main point of Dr. Kings speech was that an injustice had been done to the black people. They were promised freedom from the emancipation proclamation and up to that point they still were not free. They were segregated and treated like second class citizens. Were they suppose to sit down and let white men at that time humiliate them, beat them, bomb their houses, and strip them of human dignity? No! Dr. King was preaching to all who listened, that now was the time to metaphorically cash this check, a check that will give them upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. But to do this, not with violence or retaliation, “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.” (Carson, 1998, p225) This would be the way Dr. King would want to see his dream played out, with non -violence. Were all his efforts done in vain? On August 28, 1963, The March on Washington was organized by Bayard Rustin and led by union leader A. Philip Randolph. The backdrop ironically took place on the steps...
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...A Rhetorical Analysis of MLK Jr.’s “I have a dream” Speech Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, one hundred years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, which outstandingly furthered the civil rights movement. At that time, racial segregation, police brutality, and other forms of racial inequality were terribly prominent in America. The speech successfully focused the country’s attention at the need for racial equality “Now” (King, I Have a Dream). King gave the speech in order to motivate his followers to peacefully continue to demonstrate, protest, and boycott until they were fully granted the equality and privileges that any other citizen was allowed to have. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech is his most notable, and one of the most influential of Twentieth-Century-America because of his excellent rhetorical use of repetition and anaphora, contrasting metaphors, and appropriate quotations and allusions throughout the speech. Martin Luther King Jr. used a profuse amount of repetition and anaphora throughout his speech. A subtle form of repetition, the repetition of singular words, was mainly used to emphasize key themes in the speech and keep them in the minds of the audience. Such repeated key themes were “freedom”, “justice” and “injustice”, “America” and “American”, and plural nouns such as “we” and “our”. Since the preceding words were repeated so frequently...
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...ITT-Technical University Rhetorical Analysis of Dr. Martin Luther Kings “I Have A Dream” (Revised) Introduction On August 28th 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the “I Have a Dream” speech which was addressed to not only the 200,000 white and black Americans but people all around the world. The “I Have A Dream” speech has been considered one of the most greatest and powerful speeches in history. Why was it given? Simply to rectify that all me were created equal despite their race or color. In this Analysis I will be explaining some literary terms he used as strategies in his speech, and also explain how Dr. King used two rhetorical patterns to help him support his argument, those two patters are Ethos, & Pathos. Strategies Dr. King used many literary terms in the “I Have a Dream” speech such as Alliteration, which is the repetition of sounds. For example he says, “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.” The “c” in those three words of that sentence gives it a repetitive rhythm feel which will make that important part of the speech catch and memorable. Also from that same sentence he used Anaphora, which describes the most famous part of the speech, where in this case is “I Have a Dream”. Although he used it many times just buy naming this speech “I Have a Dream” it will make...
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...MLK Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis- w/ focus on Ethos “...we are now confronted by a series of demonstrations by some of our Negro citizens, directed and led in part by outsiders…” In this quote, from the third paragraph of the letter written by eight Alabama clergymen, the term outsiders is used. Early on, this creates a label for Martin Luther King, outsider. Throughout his Letter From Birmingham Jail, King is able appeal to ethos in order to refute his title of “outsider” and generate a connection with his audiences, the clergymen and the people of America. King is able to do such a thing by alluding to multiple passages from the Bible as well as the figures it contains, which is done so that he may identify with the clergymen. When not speaking in reference to the Bible, King makes allusions and references to specific points and people in American history, which allows him to connect to his larger audience, the people of America. By demonstrating his practical wisdom, through the use of allusion, King attempts to strengthen his character with a visible appeal to ethos. King alludes to the Bible multiple times throughout his Letter From Birmingham Jail. These allusions are notable in paragraph three, where king refers to the biblical figures “Jesus Christ” and “the Apostle Paul.” The context in which these two are used is to reiterate the story of Paul leaving Tarsus, which King also mentions, to spread the word of Christ. In paragraph...
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...Patrick Brown Mr.Challandes AP Language and Composition 24 February 2015 Malcolm X: Building Up the Fire of the Civil Rights Movement “Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it” (Malcolm X). This quote from one of Malcolm X’s speeches embodies who he was as a person and what he valued. As a civil rights activist, Malcolm learned not to let the hate of others prevent him from living out his life the way he wanted. While others pushed a pacifist movement, Malcolm understood that there would be no peaceful way to resolve the civil rights issues. Malcolm was prepared to fight for his own rights, and even put his own life at risk. The impact that he had on the Civil rights movement was rivaled only by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and all of his ideas were culminated into one speech, called The Ballot or the Bullet. Malcolm X’s speech comes during April of 1963, a critical time during the American Civil rights movement, and Malcolm’s ability to target and rile up the emotions of his African-American audience is what makes his speech so powerful. During the 1960’s, America was a hostile environment for an ambitious African-American citizen. Although executive leaders, such as John F. Kennedy, were promising that they had been doing as much as possible to improve civil rights, not enough actual progress had been made to improve the lives of African-Americans. In 1963 alone, a year in which the civil rights...
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