Rhetorical Analysis Essay On Martin Luther King

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To Fight for Justice or Not to Fight “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’” (I Have a Dream 4). This quote is said to be the strongest argument in Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, because of the meaning, hope and pathos it provokes. Just as any of King’s speeches there is one section or paragraph that presents the strongest point in King’s argument. In the case of King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” the words presented in the section where King tells of how the “oppressed cannot remain oppressed” and of how he has no fear about the outcome of his people’s struggle, present the strongest point …show more content…
Looking into his extensive use of Aristotle’s rhetoric, one may wonder how he does so in a proficient and engaging manner. King uses ethos throughout his whole speech, he does so as an art and as a leverage never truly stating that his movement should be supported on an ethical base. Instead, King uses examples of why it is ethical to support racial justice, the same as he does with the emotional reason why he should be supported. In terms of pathos, an example of King’s use is found when disagreeing with the clergymen’s view of the police force arguing that, “I don’t believe you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its angry violent dogs literally biting six unarmed, non-violent Negroes. . . . if you would watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you would see them slap and kick old Negro men and young Negro boys” (“Letter from Birmingham Jail” 13). This statement is used to appeal to the clergymen’s emotional response to pain and brutality, along with their pride for standing behind a wrongful police department. Moving to Aristotle’s logos mentality, King establishes many logical points in the beginning of his letter as responses to the clergymen’s criticism. An example being when King wrote, “I think I should give the reason for my being in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the argument of ‘outsiders coming in’” and then continuing to logically go through how himself and some of his colleagues were called in to engage in a nonviolent direct action program (“Letter from Birmingham Jail” 3). After viewing King’s different uses of ethos, pathos and logos, it can be fairly concluded that his use of pathos had the greatest partake on persuading his audience, appealing to their morality and emotions using
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