On the tragic evening of April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot in Memphis, Tennessee and died. Kennedy is running for president when he learns of peace advocate, Martin Luther Jr.’s assassination. In the persuasive speech, “Robert Kennedy on the Death of Martin Luther King, Jr,” Kennedy uses all three rhetorical devices of ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade his audience to stay calm and work for peaceful solutions. Although all three devices are utilized, the two used most effectively are pathos and logos. Pathos is used to describe the ideal world Martin Luther King envisioned by influencing the audience's emotion. Kennedy tells the audience that he has “some very sad news for all of you” which warns them that the upcoming speech is very serious and emotional. In addition, Kennedy says that …show more content…
Kennedy supports the vision of Dr. King by saying that people should“replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has” plagued our country “with an effort to understand, compassion, and love.” This idea greatly relies on reasoning because peace can be achieved in a non-violent way which makes people question the ways of violence and chaos. Moreover, Kennedy explains that the majority of white and black people want to “improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land.” Everyone wants to have a better life quality and have justice so this statement appeals to the audience. Similarly, Kennedy communicates to those who side with Martin Luther King Jr., you can “be filled with hatred and mistrust” but we must “go beyond these rather difficult times” because difficult times will always arise in the future. Obviously, people have experienced difficult times before so they will not cause mayhem because of the assassination since they know it can be overcome just like all other