Martin Luther King Jr And Frederick Douglass Ethos

Martin Luther King Jr. and Fredrick Douglas were some of the most inspirational, and talented speakers of the last two centuries. One of the biggest ways they were able to give their viewers an idea of what the point of their speeches was, was through the use of Flashbacks, and Similes. When speaking about the struggles he went through as a child, MLK states “We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” Using similes in this way proves to be a good idea to express to viewers what he is trying to prove about our nation and the discrimination we have experienced. Through the use of Pathos, viewers can make an emotional connection to the words MLK speaks, and it affects them more deeply.

He speaks about how white people and black people can get along, but uses a more emotional vocabulary to prove his point and give people a more heart-to-heart connection. While MLK used a more emotional connection for his listeners, Fredrick Douglas used a more logical approach, giving listeners the brutal truth of what he went through as a slave. In chapter one of his writing in “The Life of Fredrick Douglas”, Douglas writes, “The louder she screamed the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran the fastest, he whipped the longest”. This use of Flashbacks gives people a real look into the pain he went through as a slave, giving us an emotional and logical connection to what's happening in the South. When we see what is partially a purposeful exaggeration, but also the cold truth, it gives the reader/listener the near 100% accurate pains of slavery. Douglas writes in Chapter 1, “The overseer's name at my farm was