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Pathos In Martin Luther King's Speech

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Martin Luther King Jr. is known as one of the most influential civil rights activists to date. His speeches and teachings have become some of the most popular among scholars and people interested in Civil Rights. He become the spokesman for nonviolent acts of protest and has since influenced millions of people in their journey for their rights. There are many reasons as to why he was and still is a very influential leader. The three main reasons are his uses of Aristotle’s three Rhetorical appeals: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos. Aristotle’s Ethos is the use of the persons credibility or character to persuade the audience to follow them. Pathos is the use of appealing to one’s emotions in hopes that they will follow and trust what you are telling them. Lastly, Logos is the use of logic to portray your reasoning in hopes that the audience will …show more content…

has shown his ability to use all of these throughout his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In this letter, his use of persuasion tends to lean more towards Pathos and Logos than it does …show more content…

Martin Luther King Jr. was a priest before he was an activist. This fact gave him some shred of credibility among the clergymen he was addressing, no matter how small. Martin as a person was known to be very kind and warm to those who had met him. His use of nonviolent protests instead of violent protests proved to many that he was not just some random angry black person off the street. His eloquence and way of speaking proved that he was a smart man with brilliant ideas. His words had a credibility to them that those before him did not. He was an intelligent man who knew that screaming and physical violence would get him no where and so he turned to speeches and using emotion and logic to sway others opinions to match his own. All of his ideas and actions have reasoning behind them that lends to his persona of being a credible source of

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Aristotle’s proofs, ethos, logos and pathos can be found in campaign ads. In one of Hillary Clinton’s campaign messages called family strong, she is trying to convince the American people that kids and families are important to her in order to receive their votes on election day. Ethos relates to the credibility of the person to the following debate or argument. In the campaign message, Hillary Clinton uses her past positions in office to help spread her message that kids and families are important to her. Hillary Clinton could have became a lawyer at a big law firm but instead she decided to work in the Children’s Defense Fund.

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Ethos, Pathos and Logos Ads Puti Alifa Djamalludin M. (2101695320) There is various way in which person can convey their opinion without causing a strong objection from the intended individual. According to Aristotle, a philosopher from Ancient Greece, in expressing an opinion or a statement there are three main aspects or qualities that must be owned so the other individuals can listen and accept the opinions that we convey and the three aspects are Ethos, Pathos and Logos, on the other hand the persuasive communication or can be referred by the term of rhetoric, Ethos, Pathos and Logos are also the three main aspects if you want to persuade the audience. The first one is Ethos, Ethos is a form of credibility. People tend to listen more to people who have influence or who are regarded good by the society.

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Logos, or logical appeal, uses a clear line of reasoning supported by evidence, such as facts or data. Pathos, or emotional appeal, uses loaded or charged language and other devices to arouse emotions. Using these, he influenced people to follow him. If he would not have spoken up, the world could have ended up still being segregated today. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used pathos and logos in his speech to draw in people so

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By using the rhetorical features, MLK’s speech reached a different level of effectiveness for his audience. Using credibility, authority, trustworthiness and similarity to build a relationship by using evidence, MLK achieved ethos. Then by stating his values and creating imagery achieved but hos vocabulary he effective used pathos. Finally, by his clarity, goals, evidence and consistency, MLK appropriately reached his audience logical and effectively using logos. Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered for his great speeches, accomplishments and his leadership skills, but also for the sincerity of his heart for the freedom and unity of all people.

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Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most influential African-American activists in American History and was a key participant in the Civil Rights movement, the goal of which was to provide full civil rights to all rights in America. MLK has written many, many speeches and letters in favor of the Civil Rights movement in America, the most famous of them being his legendary “I Have a Dream” Speech and the monumental “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. To attempt to gain support for his cause, MLK employs the use of emotional appeals, also known as pathos, and logical appeals, also known as logos, which aid to stir emotion and reasoning in the listener. It is more than obvious that MLK tends to tug at the heartstrings of his listeners with his emotionally charged language essential to his success. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses more powerful and plentiful examples of pathos in his literature, examples of which being his “I Have a Dream” speech and his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, than logos due to the more powerful emotional connection they carry which can convince his listeners to sympathize with his civil rights movement.

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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.

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