Tasha Petit-Louis
Lisa Warman
Enc1102
January 31, 2015
King's Inspiring Message
Dr. King is an emotional, inspiring and strong speaker. His " I Have A Dream" speech tugs a deep root war of emotions in every American’s heart. Even though pathos overwhelm logo and ethos, they also very much present in his speech. Martin Luther King, Jr conveys a message about the governments lack of understanding the social and political upheaval in a integrated society through the use of ethos, pathos and logos by utilizing his credibility, knowledge and emotional values.
On August 28, 1963 Dr. King made his way to Washington Mall from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial to commit his speech to his fellow Americans. Dr. King commands his speech during an ironic period time of America history. African-Americans were frowned upon by the Caucasian. Not only the African-American had a difficult time fitting in, also Asians and Hispanics were discriminated and surrogated from the Caucasian population. The heartless Caucasian police officers would verbally command their racist hounds on the desperate but yet innocent African-American young adults and children. The inhuman Caucasian fire department used their almighty water hose on the nonviolent protesters, only because the protesters skins were darker than theirs. Dr. King first starts out all pumped up on a very light note. He is very optimistic about his speech in the very first line. However he bluntly addressed the issues of hardship, which African-Americans endured while America was beginning to become a stronger symbol of hope and freedom. He acknowledged the experience of wealth which his race became accustomed to, the ghetto poverty. As bluntly as he began his speech, he boldly pointed out the Supreme Law of The Land, the Constitution and quoted the Declaration of Independence as all. Martin Luther King is invoking the credibility. He states that the American government has broken its word to the American people" unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"(King 1). Dr. King is using his own credibility and reputation as an American citizen who was effected by the actions of the government.Dr. King is a man who is over flowed of nothing but creditability. As he delivered his speech on the steps of the Lincoln memorial. Lincoln in his speech stated, "Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation"(King1). Dr. King's use of what people thought and knew about Abraham Lincoln influenced his audience. Lincoln was a great president who empowered the American people throughout the civil war. He gained the trust of America and established a new sense of freedom. Martin Luther King was invoking the credibility. King not once pointed his finger, as a child would and blame the Caucasian men for forcing the African-American to attempt to survive a horrific ordeal of history. He encouraged his brothers and sisters of color not to protests with bitter and physical violence but to engage hands and peacefully demand to be treated equally. He encouraged his colored brothers and sisters to go back to where they are from with not despair in their hearts, but hope that one day there will be freedom within reach. Within a few moments of presenting his speech, he showed respect to the Caucasian by not pointing his finger at them. When he showed respect, he also showed a very high maturity of which he posses. The way Dr. King wrote his speech is very impressive. He used his writing skills to display his intelligence. He used rhythm to capture every heart and ear in his audience. Which must have been second nature to him, since he was taught how to write impressive speeches and sermons when he was young.
Even though Dr. King is full of creditability, he is also full of knowledge. In his speech he talks about slavery, as though he went through it himself. He knew exactly what he spoke of and knew