Robert F. Kennedy’s Approach On April 4, 1968, the presidential hopeful, Robert F. Kennedy, announced to his crowd of supporters that Martin Luther King Jr. had been fatally shot. This tragic news that stunned the nation was delivered to the crowd in Indianapolis, Indiana in a way that was hard-hitting. Despite the fact that Kennedy’s safety was not promised, he still made the speech about how Dr. King dedicated his life to promoting love, peace, and justice. Kennedy appealed to all the people who were enraged about Dr. King’s death and wanted to seek revenge. He expressed to the people that they should return to their homes and to not take matters into their own hands. The language that Kennedy utilized in combination with the conviction in his voice, suggests the ethos and pathos appeals. Kennedy employed these appeals to cause the audience to feel and understand the severity of the situation and …show more content…
Most noticeably, this is seen when Kennedy suggested that we can continue to be polarized as a nation or we can come together. It is clear what most people would pick; become unified as opposed to continuing down the destructive path that ultimately leads to Dr. King getting murdered. Kennedy utilized this fallacy a few more times but this isn’t seen as outright as in the previous example. It is suggested when he says, “What we need in this nation is not…” and he inserts negative words and concludes with stating, “what we need is…” followed by the positive words. Again, this would cause one to side with him because most would prefer a nation without hatred, violence, and division but with justice, peace, and love. He stated what the nation doesn’t need and to any reasonable person, they would side with him. Kennedy adequately employs the either-or fallacy by giving his audience a choice between an outright absurd choice and a more logical and just