ethos, pathos, and logos

Martin Luther King Jr. discusses freedom, justice, and the future in his keynote "I have a dream"
He refers to the past and present to hint at the potential of the future. His appeals for justice and
freedom reveal his will not to let up until everyone is treated equally. The primary rhetorical
devices used in "I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King Jr. are ethos and pathos, but there are
also a few instances of logos. With the help of these persuasive techniques, the speaker
persuades the audience to embrace the Civil Rights Struggle by outlining its importance and the
goals it will help achieve in the short and long term.

Ethos

Essentially, when a speaker appeals both to his reliability as a speaker and to the audience's
belief in his reliability, he elucidates ethos. It is more likely that your listeners will recognize you
and be convinced by your views if they perceive you as being friendly and reliable. "Now is the
time to make justice a reality for all of God's children," King says, appealing heavily to the
jurisdiction of Christian religious teaching, relative wherein all men are members of one body as
such: "Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children." Ethos is utilized in an
assertion by responding to people by alluring the presenter's legitimacy (Fatah & Walid, 2020).
King, as a Black man who lives in America and who works inside the Civil Rights Movement, is
in a position that is ideal for him to speak about what it is like to live in modern America. King
ponders his dream by saying, "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." The ethos rhetoric in the speech is effective in that it displays and demonstrates
King's reliability in the topic of discussion. Additionally, he illuminates the issues the black
people face in modern America by envisioning a time when all the problems they face will not
be there.

Pathos

Furthermore, King uses pathos in his passionate speech. Pathos is used in asking or to persuade
an audience by purposefully invoking particular feelings to make people feel the way the author
wants them to think. This is an example of using pathos, which is also known as the appeal to
emotion. Authors use thoughtful word selections, employ language with meaning, and employ
instances and stories that elicit emotion in their readers. Pathos, or the art of appealing to the
sentiments of others, is another literary device that King validates to significant effect.
Sometimes he speaks about people's positive feelings, and other times he substantiates the
destructive emotions that people have. Both are often very effective in their respective domains
(Wróbel, 2015). Through the many biblical allusions he employs, he primarily tries to evoke
feelings of a spiritual or religious character, such as when he says, "...hew out of the mountain of
despair a stone of hope." We shall be able to change the jangling discords of our nation into a
lovely symphony of brotherhood if we have this faith. The speaker's goal is to arouse religious
feelings among the audience members to foster solidarity and assist them in overcoming feelings
of disenchantment. "Five score years ago, a great American who stands now as a symbolic
shadow over us signed the Emancipation Proclamation. But even after a century, the Negroes are
not yet granted their freedom." Essentially, King uses this to illustrate the nation's status and the
oppression its people face. Consequently, pathos helped persuade his audience into various forms
of action.

Logos

Moreover, in his address, Martin Luther King Jr. appeals to reason by citing facts and providing
logical arguments in favor of his viewpoints regarding racial inequality. All of this acts as
evidence that supports King's position in the statement. As an illustration, he suggests a list of
many real-world scenarios in which African Americans face discrimination. In addition, he
emphasizes the significance of remembering that there are decent people among the whites. "The
marvelous new militancy that has engulfed the African-American society must not lead us to
despise all white people. As evidenced by their existence here today, many of our white brothers
have come to the realization that their destiny is tied up with our destiny (Vail, 2006). This
should not lead us to mistrust all white people. They finally realized that their freedom is
inexorably linked to our freedom. We are unable to proceed on our own." In contrast to the
intense emotions, King outlines to the gathering that even if white institutionalized racism is
their adversary, they have many supporters who understand their struggle's significance and are
marching with them against the injustices. The use of logos in King's speech is significant
because it certainly solidifies his appeal to reason by presenting facts and arguments supporting
his viewpoint on racial discrimination. This is an essential aspect of logos.

In conclusion, Ethos, Pathos, and logos are rhetorical features that can be used in a piece of
writing or a work of art to appeal to an audience, to build logical arguments, and appeal to
emotion from an audience. For instance, King, in his speech "I have a dream," evokes the
feelings of his audience by pondering on their plight and what he supports. He criticizes the
actions of the institutionalized racism that belittles blacks. However, he also points out that there
are whites who can be termed allies due to their engagement in the struggles of the blacks.
Therefore, his speech contains ethos, pathos, and logos that make it appealing to the audience.

References

Fatah, A., & Walid, A. (2020). Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech: A rhetorical
discourse analysis (Doctoral dissertation, University of Bejaia).

Wróbel, S. (2015). Logos, Ethos, Pathos. Classical Rhetoric Revisited. Polish Sociological
Review, 191(3), 401-421.

Vail, M. (2006). The" Integrative" Rhetoric of Martin Luther King Jr.'s" I Have a Dream"
Speech. Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 9(1), 51-78.