Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Lincoln Memorial Speech
800 Words4 Pages
When adversity is standing toe to toe with a leader; scowling, vehemently looking into their eyes, peering into their soul; a leader must know what they are standing steadfast for and why. Furthermore, there must be a confidence shown as they speak louder than the voice of adversity to move a people to action. Martin Luther King Jr. was a leader who knew his adversaries; moreover he was a leader who knew his audience. He was a leader who knew the tools of public speaking and expertly used them. He gracefully and meaningfully practiced the use of ethos, logos, and pathos to communicate; consequently moving his audience to inspiration and action. We will take a look at how he elegantly incorporates these appeals in his landmark speech at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. King creates a podium to speak from by referencing acts from America’s past that give him a firm foundation for his speech. He surrounds himself with the facts of how America was built and its’ vision of a…show more content… The purpose of his speech was to promote peace, equality, and freedom. He walked a fine line that separated stirring the crowd to anger and violence; and setting their feet on the path of peaceful resolution. In the movement to gain the freedom that was rightfully theirs’, care was needed not to acquire that freedom through acts of violence. To not stand in final victory with hearts full of bitterness and hate towards their brothers (King, 1963). To keep the crowd on track to realizing the goal of freedom for all; King, accordingly, focused on the theme of letting freedom ring. He spoke of his dream to see freedom for all individuals and offset the negative topics that needed addressed by the speech with an overwhelming support and focus on freedom. You can see him take the darkest aspects of the speech with the emotions they invoke and use them to fuel the passion to embrace freedom along a non-violent