David Brown

English 110
10/16/16

Power
Martin Luther King Jr.s speech was a phenominal use of ethos, pathos,
and logos. His demonstration not only brought the African American
community together but helped to stop the segregation and discrimination of
African Americans in the south. Many of the people who had travled to D.C
had gone through unspeakable horrors. This is part of what made this speech
so powerful. He knew that he had to build his credibility berfore he could ask
the audience to do anything so he started with ethos, five score years this
was used in correlation to Lincolns Gettysburg address which was such a big
part of bringing together the separated country (what Dr.King was trying to
do). He started the speech this way to build up his credibility as the speaker,
because Lincoln is so well known and respected. He then goes on building of
of his start with Lincoln saying that the negro is still not free one hundred
years later. The emancipation proclamation was written one hundred years
earlier and his evidence also helps for him to build his credibility as the
speaker. After he builds his credibility he then creates a bond with the
audience by using pathos and metaphors. One of the most powerful
metaphors that he used was the African Americans check was marked
insuffient funds. This was saying that all those years ago when granted their
freedom when they went to cash their checks (freedom/equality) they were
not granted what they were promised. He went on to say that the community

could not rest until they were granted what they deserved. He then used
logos to talk about and quote the declaration of independence on how all
men are created equal. He used his logos in such a powerful way that it
almost seemed like pathos because he went in so well. He not only uses that
example but he talks about the truths of what is happening on the streets
and those are facts but it also helped him to bond with the crowd and build
his credibility. He uses every method very well in this speech and that is what
made it so powerful and well remembered because it not only helped push
the civil rights movement over the hill but to help shape the way the
community worked after. He told the audience that they could not sit around
any longer and watch as they needed to act. He had already started to
identify with their troubles so his message was recived easier. He made
claims that not only talked about the African American community as a
whole but as he phrased it was him also pulling the crowds pathos through
these powerful lines. Through the whole speech he used such powerful
metaphors and direct speech that he seemed to using pathos the whole time
even while he used ethos or logos. What helped him to do this was he was a
minister and had the voice that could be heard over the whole space.
Without fail he could switch the technique that he was using and keep the
audience invested and listening to his message. After he has built his
credibility and built a bond between him and the audience he then began to
ask them questions and to do things to fix the problems all over America. In
the middle of his speech he had already told the audience that they could no

longer sit by and watch and then he goes on to talk about how the journey
itself was a trial and that this is why they need to not rest until there is
change. Throughout the whole speech Dr. King used metaphors for all the
justices being devastating things in nature like storms and winds (things that
people learn how to get over) to say that they need to learn that it is not the
end just a new beginning for them and that there may be storms but they
can get over them. These metaphors are also so basic that everyone knows
what a storm does and that they pass and it is up to the people to fix what
has happened after the damage. After he builds with those metaphors he
jumps back to pathos and begins with I have a Dream about his children
and white children playing together. This part was so powerful that it almost
seemed to propel the whole speech over top and helped bring everyone in
the audience together in concencus that something had to be done. Io
believe that throughout the whole speech Dr. King used ethos, pathos, and
logos so well that even now fifty three years later I still feel the urgency and
importance of this speech to America. AS he spokje he used diferent tones, I
attribute this to his background as a pastor/minister and he knows how to
get his point across. I think that the power of Dr. Kings speech came through
his use of ethos, pathos, and logos. To make his speech accessible to
everyone who needed to herar it he used great language and metaphors that
got his message across the whole time. His use of these rhetorical devices
helped to make this speech as well known and understood over its time.