Emotions is one of the most vital aspects of humanity, ones emotional response to another can decide the future of ones career, relationship, and even an entire society. The emotional reaction from those around a person will fluctuate depending upon how appealing the person appears. This emotional appeal, or Pathos, is a driving force in any good writing. It gives the audience the gut feelings to drive them forward, though others may disagree. Pathos, logos, and ethos are all rhetorical appeals utilized in Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech “I have a dream”. When discussing which of the three are more present in the speech conflict arises, logos is used heavily throughout the speech but arguably the others are as well. Although Dr. King uses strong
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Dr. Kings use of logos is clear throughout the speech, for example when he explains “police brutality” and “creative suffering” it provides strong logical appeal for the reader. Logically any human being can understand and sympathize with the issue of the denial of basic human rights to the African American people (King). In his speech logos is shown specifically through use of literary devices such as metaphors and similes. This strong presence of logos shown in Dr. King's speech shows his strong attempt to appeal to logical thinking in his listeners. A strong metaphor that Dr. King uses a comparison of the promised good life in America to a “bad check,” which when brought to the bank by the African American people it is “a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’” (King). For the African Americans this can be compared to “creative suffering,” due to the lack of equal rights the rest of America enjoys. Any human hearing this can make the logical assumption of how unfair this is. This appeal to logic compels listeners to hear and understand what Dr. King says, leading to a true understanding of the concepts he presents. Another device …show more content…
This compels the reader to pick up the call to action Dr. King brings to light. Using pathos, he paints a vivid picture of a true patriotic America, a free country is all the people need and Dr. King acts as a map to warmer waters through his speech. Freedom is America's crying chant and patriotism flows from the citizens at the idea of true freedom for all people. He often uses allusions and metaphors to work out the readers patriotism, helping him in convincing them of his cause. In the very beginning he calls back to “Five score years ago” harkening back to the Emancipation Proclamation, this immediately gives the reader an image of the patriotic proclamation saying all will be free. This also promotes the reader to support the cause because it shows that supporting the cause of freedom is truly patriotic. Using strong metaphors he can create understanding by providing picture like examples of where fierce patriotism can take the reader. The power behind this is that the already passionate and patriotic reader is emotionally stirred on more with “with this faith we will be to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope,” reassuring that if the reader works hard they will assist in giving fair rights to all americans (King). In all this reading drives the reader emotionally to take action even after the initial cause has passed, this
Dr. Kings use of logos is clear throughout the speech, for example when he explains “police brutality” and “creative suffering” it provides strong logical appeal for the reader. Logically any human being can understand and sympathize with the issue of the denial of basic human rights to the African American people (King). In his speech logos is shown specifically through use of literary devices such as metaphors and similes. This strong presence of logos shown in Dr. King's speech shows his strong attempt to appeal to logical thinking in his listeners. A strong metaphor that Dr. King uses a comparison of the promised good life in America to a “bad check,” which when brought to the bank by the African American people it is “a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’” (King). For the African Americans this can be compared to “creative suffering,” due to the lack of equal rights the rest of America enjoys. Any human hearing this can make the logical assumption of how unfair this is. This appeal to logic compels listeners to hear and understand what Dr. King says, leading to a true understanding of the concepts he presents. Another device …show more content…
This compels the reader to pick up the call to action Dr. King brings to light. Using pathos, he paints a vivid picture of a true patriotic America, a free country is all the people need and Dr. King acts as a map to warmer waters through his speech. Freedom is America's crying chant and patriotism flows from the citizens at the idea of true freedom for all people. He often uses allusions and metaphors to work out the readers patriotism, helping him in convincing them of his cause. In the very beginning he calls back to “Five score years ago” harkening back to the Emancipation Proclamation, this immediately gives the reader an image of the patriotic proclamation saying all will be free. This also promotes the reader to support the cause because it shows that supporting the cause of freedom is truly patriotic. Using strong metaphors he can create understanding by providing picture like examples of where fierce patriotism can take the reader. The power behind this is that the already passionate and patriotic reader is emotionally stirred on more with “with this faith we will be to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope,” reassuring that if the reader works hard they will assist in giving fair rights to all americans (King). In all this reading drives the reader emotionally to take action even after the initial cause has passed, this