On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. stood beside the Lincoln Memorial to give his famous I Have a Dream speech in the midst of the civil rights movement, a period where African Americans, roughly 100 years after being liberated, were still victims of unjust acts such as segregation and police brutality. The speech was given during what King described as “the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation” (King, 1963), where all races came together to protest the discrimination that was extremely prevalent in America at the time. The sheer location and timing of this speech benefited King in that the people attending the protest were those already fighting the excessive cruelty against the African American community.
The rhetor in this particular speech is Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights activist who protested against segregation for years. In …show more content…
In the repetition of “ I have a dream” and the phrase : I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” (King, 1963) he openly displays his extreme passion about this subject. Showing extreme devotion to a cause is a prime example of ethos, boosting credibility. Also, in saying “We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: For Whites Only” (King, 1963), Martin Luther King Jr. emphasizes the overall toll of this injustice, showing that it affects the children of America. This tugs at the audience’s heartstrings, which makes this strategy pathos. His logos is far less pronounced and obvious, mostly found when he mentions the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves, but follows the statement with “one hundred years later, and the Negro still is not free” (King,
The rhetor in this particular speech is Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights activist who protested against segregation for years. In …show more content…
In the repetition of “ I have a dream” and the phrase : I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” (King, 1963) he openly displays his extreme passion about this subject. Showing extreme devotion to a cause is a prime example of ethos, boosting credibility. Also, in saying “We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: For Whites Only” (King, 1963), Martin Luther King Jr. emphasizes the overall toll of this injustice, showing that it affects the children of America. This tugs at the audience’s heartstrings, which makes this strategy pathos. His logos is far less pronounced and obvious, mostly found when he mentions the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves, but follows the statement with “one hundred years later, and the Negro still is not free” (King,