Martin Luther King Jr Ethos Pathos Logos

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. declared his views about equality for African Americans at one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in history. Over 250,000 people, both black and white, stood before Dr. King that day in our nation’s capital. Dr. King played a key role in ending the segregation for African Americans and helped inspire the Civil Rights Act of 1964. His powerful message left an impact on America that will be with us for the rest of our nation’s history. Through his use of appeals, metaphors, and his use of inclusion, he influenced the American public to believe that all men were created equal. Martin Luther King Jr. heavily relied on pathos and ethos to convey his message of

In his speech, Dr. King alluded to the Emancipation Proclamation to give credibility to his speech: “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation.” By using the authority of Lincoln in his speech, he established trust and common ground with the audience. He also uses the Declaration of Independence to appeal to the audience by reinforcing “unalienable rights” to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” to show that the government has not kept its promise to the American people. His use of these historical and significant documents adds to his credibility, or ethos, as a speaker to convey his message. He also gained a lot of attention from the ways he would, using pathos, capture an emotional response from the crowd by appealing to their emotions, fears, and desires. By repeating the phrase “I Have a Dream,” he stresses the sense of hope and sympathy for Negroes during that time. He also stated that the “Negro…finds himself in exile in his own land.” This phrase shows compassion and shows that he empathizes with the unfair treatment and alienation of African Americans. He also used highly