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Logos In Dr. King's I Have A Dream By Martin Luther King

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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. The “I Have a Dream” speech is well known throughout history to be one of the most famous speeches to be on the subject of civil rights. Throughout the entirety of “I Have a Dream”, Dr. King uses pathos more than logos. “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.” (King, 263). The use of words like victim, horrors, heavy with the fatigue, are all there to make the …show more content…

“...;when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking; ‘Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?’” (King 275-276). The whole of the paragraph that this quote is from is all demonstrating pathos. The use of the child is used to relate to the audience members with children, or who remember being a child (which would be almost every member of the audience) and make them think of how hurt that child must be. Dr. Kings usage of the audience’s sympathy is widely shown before and after every quote containing

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used pathos, ethos, and logos to reach his audience and explain to them the pain that comes from segregation during a difficult time in civil rights history. The letter was written as a response to several critics that were white religious leaders of the South. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. started out by using pathos to connect to the readers emotions. He explained the difficulty that one must go through on a daily basis as a colored individual. For example, Dr. King had to explain to his daughter why she can not go to a new amusement park because it is not opened to those that are colored and she does not understand because of her age and innocence.

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Empowered, gratified and dedicated is how Martin Luther King Jr, made his audience feel when they were either reading his “Letter From Birmingham Jail” or listening to his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The letter he wrote from the Birmingham jail was a response to the 8 white clergymen who criticized M.L.K for leading protests in Birmingham, Alabama. The speech approached by non-violent protesters, it took place at the Lincoln memorial after the march on at Washington. In these two forms of writing Martin used two different persuasive appeals, logos and pathos.

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MLK was a legendary man, who did bold things in the name of justice, freedom and equality. Kind of like Americans, except MLK means the equality part. He has done many works, and his most famous is the “I Have a Dream” speech. Another famous document he wrote is his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, which he wrote while jailed for nonviolent protesting of racial segregation. To argue his point, MLK uses logos, or clear reasoning with facts, and pathos, or charged language used to stir up emotion.

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In MLK’s famous letter from Birmingham Jail and “I Have a Dream”, he uses different types of persuasive arguments such as appealing logic as well as charging his language to affect people’s emotions. Although Dr. King uses mostly pathos in the letter from Birmingham Jail, he still uses facts and evidence to support his claims. By appealing to both the logical and emotional side of people Dr. King provides good reasons to join the fight for African American rights and the end to segregation. Despite using mostly charged language aimed at people who play more the moral side of life than the people who play more to the logical side of life, Dr. King still states strong evidence about the injustices African Americans face daily.

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On April 3rd 1968 Former civil rights leader Martin Luther King jr. employs the appeal of ethos, pathos and logos effectively in his speech “I’ve been to the mountaintop”. to persuade the people to stand up for equality. Martin Luther king jr. use of pathos strengthens his ability to make an emotional connection with the audience because they must have went through the similar experience. “Thirteen Hundred of God’s children are suffering, sometimes are going hungry,going through dark and dreary nights”.

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¨ I have a dream that my four little will one day live in on a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.¨ (King 263) Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his ¨I Have a Dream¨ about the civil rights movement speech to read in front of hundreds of African American and white protesters at the Lincoln memorial in Washington. DC. He also wrote a letter in the Birmingham jail to 8 clergymen about an article they wrote in the newspaper. Dr. King uses logos and pathos in his¨I Have a Dream¨ speech and his ¨Letter From Birmingham Jail¨ to tell his readers and listeners what should happen in the civil rights movement.

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Martin Luther King Jr is an incredible writer and speaker which did help him when he was in the civil rights act to end the segregation of African Americans and white people. In king’s famous works such as his “I Have A Dream” speech and his “Letter From Birmingham Jail” King discusses his want to the end of segregation through the means of persuasion. By doing this he uses two types of persuasive appeals, logos(using a clear line of reasoning supported by evidence, and pathos (using loaded or charged language and other devices to arouse emotions) in King’s coordination towards each texts targeted speech and audience. King uses both of these appeals excellently and is not exactly better at one than the other mainly because of the target audience and occasion these texts are represented by. Let the rest of essay explain to you as to why this is.

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The speech called “I Have a Dream” was MLK’s way to get civil rights back to his people which were African Americans. He used many example such as when he said “One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” (King,Pg.261). This Quote from the speech is pathos because it tells us that they are sad and crippled which might make people feel sorry for them and want to help them out. This speech also has many examples logos too, one is “When the architects of our republic wrote the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir” (King,Pg.261).

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The United States of America was not always as free as it claimed to be. For instance, black people were once subject to segregation and discrimination. As the leader of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to respond to his fellow clergymen and their statements that criticized the demonstrations that put him in the jail cell he was writing from. All in all, King’s letter sheds light on the struggles against racial inequality through the persuasive styles of ethos, pathos, and logos. Judging from his letter from Birmingham jail, it is obvious that Martin Luther King Jr. is living in a time of racial inequality and discrimination.

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Dr. King stood in front of many people and gave his speech, which was created to strike the people’s emotions of how African Americans suffered and why they wanted a change. In contrast, the letter was created to show the reasoning behind wanting a change, because he was writing to his fellow clergymen who said his actions were unwise and untimely. In Dr. King’s speech and letter, he uses rhetorical appeals many times to compel the feelings and reasoning behind the civil rights movement. In Dr. King’s famous speech, “I Have a Dream” he appealed to the audiences’ emotions about the topic of inequality and he proved his logic and reasoning for the Civil Rights movement. When Dr. King gave his speech about the inequality of African Americans, he backed himself up with reasoning to prove why equality was needed.

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One Friday in 1953, 53 African Americans marched down the streets of Birmingham to peacefully protest against discrimination; however, only for all of them to be arrested. Nonetheless, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. reciprocated a response that was a turning point for the Civil Rights Movement. In Dr. King's “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he justifies the nonviolent actions of the black community using the rhetorical methods of pathos, ethos, and logos to demonstrate their diplomatic push towards desegregation. Veering towards not only the eight clergymen who wrote a proposal for blacks to stop their futile actions but as well as the people of America, Dr. King uses ethos to establish his credibility to fight injustice. Even before he states

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An avid supporter of civil rights movement, Martin Luther King, Jr. touched the lives of many with his passion, eloquent speech, and drive to improve the lives of the downtrodden. King was the leader of countless protests calling for countless people’s dreams for equality to be put into action. Because the government deemed King too radical, King was arrested. Despite this, King continued to spread his influence through his “Letter to Birmingham Jail,” in which he addresses the issue of racial discrimination against the African American population as well as his motivations and justification for actively breaking the law. In order to make his arguments persuasive, King relies on three primary tactics: pathos to build a more personal appeal

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King 's “I Have A Dream” speech is arguably one of the most famous speeches in American history. It’s popularity and influence would mostly be attributed to Kings excellent use of pathos throughout the speech. Although both logos and pathos can be found in “I Have A Dream”, the lines containing pathos are much more poignant. For example, possibly the most famous line from Dr. King 's speech 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." (King 263).

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