Martin Luther King is a famously known Civil Rights activist during the Civil Rights Era. His contributions led to equal rights for men of color and whites. One of his strongest attributes was, to persuade people to think or do what is right. Two cases of this are his famous "I Have a Dream" speech and his "Letter From Brigham Jail". In both works, he uses persuasive text to persuade the reader do or think someway. His persuasive texts contain numerous logical appeals and emotional appeals. The texts had distinctive contexts surrounding them, as a result, the speech had a more emotional appeal(pathos) and the letter had a more logical appeal(logos).
The "I Have a Dream speech" was uttered by Martin Luther King at the footsteps of The Lincoln …show more content…
While in jail he read a newspaper article about 8 clergymen who criticized him for "unwise and untimely" protest. As a result, King wrote a letter to defend himself in the margins of the newspaper. He was trying to persuade the clergymen so he used more logical appeals to back up his case he used antithesis and allusions. Examples include but are not limited to "We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights." This quote defended King's protests from being untimely as African Americans have already waited 340 years for rights that they should have received. "I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest." This quote defends his protests from being unwise because even though it may be unwise to have protests that land you in jail he is in jail for an unjust reason and an unjust law. King also states "Lamentably, it is a historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.", and, "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." This quote backs up the need for his protests …show more content…
Due to the background of the situation he needed to connect with people emotionally and it was verbal so he used many emotional appeals like charged language. He refers to the Negro slaves as being "seared in the flames of withering." He describes the negro life as "crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination" and tells his people to "not wallow in the valley of despair." Along with charged language, he uses many analogies such as comparing a "bad check" with what the negro people have been promised but not given and he also compared doing wrongful deeds to gain freedom as "drinking from a cup of bitterness" to "satisfy their thirst for justice."These are just some of the many emotional appeals used by King in his
The "I Have a Dream speech" was uttered by Martin Luther King at the footsteps of The Lincoln …show more content…
While in jail he read a newspaper article about 8 clergymen who criticized him for "unwise and untimely" protest. As a result, King wrote a letter to defend himself in the margins of the newspaper. He was trying to persuade the clergymen so he used more logical appeals to back up his case he used antithesis and allusions. Examples include but are not limited to "We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights." This quote defended King's protests from being untimely as African Americans have already waited 340 years for rights that they should have received. "I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest." This quote defends his protests from being unwise because even though it may be unwise to have protests that land you in jail he is in jail for an unjust reason and an unjust law. King also states "Lamentably, it is a historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.", and, "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." This quote backs up the need for his protests …show more content…
Due to the background of the situation he needed to connect with people emotionally and it was verbal so he used many emotional appeals like charged language. He refers to the Negro slaves as being "seared in the flames of withering." He describes the negro life as "crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination" and tells his people to "not wallow in the valley of despair." Along with charged language, he uses many analogies such as comparing a "bad check" with what the negro people have been promised but not given and he also compared doing wrongful deeds to gain freedom as "drinking from a cup of bitterness" to "satisfy their thirst for justice."These are just some of the many emotional appeals used by King in his