Vinny Amoroso

English 3
March 21
Rhetoric Essay
Persuasive writing and speaking creates the ability to greater advance the
progress towards social justice and equality by including the use of rhetoric evidence.
The influencers Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Julia Alvarez, and Malala Yousafzai show the
use of rhetoric persuasion in ethos, pathos, and logos in order to advance their purpose.
In the ​Letter from Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr​, he best persuades his
audience, the clergymen, compared to Alvarez and Yousafzai to allow him to act/protest
for justice and equality. Meanwhile, in ​A Genetics of Justice by Julia Alvarez​, her
purpose is to inform her audience of the hardships faced by those in the Dominican
Republic, and persuade her audience to speak for justice. Lasty, in the ​UN speech by
Malala Yousafzai​, her purpose is to advocate for women’s rights, girls education, and
free education worldwide for every child. In King's letter, he expresses the use of ethos
to aid an appeal to authority and credibility by mentioning his knowledge and
involvement towards justice and equality. Similarly, Alvarez introduced the use of
pathos by including her family's experience under Trujillo's dictatorship to express the
trauma and the fear that he administered. Lastly, Malala manifests the use of logos in
her speech by stating her past with the Talibans shooting to the world leaders in order
to advance and intensify the need for change.
In the Letter from Birmingham Jail, King uses ethos and pathos to convince the
clergymen of his reliable character and for the credibility of his argument, and appeals
an emotional response to advance his purpose to get permission to act/protest on
segregation and discrimination. This is shown when King states, “I say it as a minister of
the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its blossom; who has been
sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of
life shall lengthen” (9). King explains that he will stay true as long as he lives. He
mentions his authority to the church as to what he has been through to appeal more
credible, which convinces the clergymen to be trustworthy and reliable. In addition, King
states, “If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church,
it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an
irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century” (10). King explains that
if the situation is not addressed, it will snowball and end with no meaning in the future
generation. King persuades his audience by appealing to their fears and worries for the
future to obtain an emotional response, which advances his purpose greatly. King is the
most successful author that shows ethos because he addressed to religious leader and
explains the way of life. He greatly impacted segregation and discrimination worldwide
to acknowledgement and led to more protests.
In A Genetics of Justice, Alvarez uses ethos and logos in order to persuasively
advance her purpose to inform her audience of the hardships faced by those in the
Dominican Republic, and persuade her audience to speak for justice. For instance,
Alvarez states, “Perhaps because I was spared, at ten, from the dictatorship my parents
endured most of their lives, I often imagine what it must be like for them growing up
under the absolute rule of Generalisimo Rafael Leonidas Trujillo” (1). This shows how
rough the dictatorship has left them and how it was a high toll to take upon for those in
the Dominican Republic by proving her credibility and authority. This greatly boosts her
ability to convince her audience and her argument. Alongside, she also states on page
6, “Thank you for having instilled in me through your sufferings a desire for freedom and
justice.” She continues by expressing a sound of reason for freedom and justice in
individuals. She uses her mother's response to prove the positivity and need for justice.
Alvarez is mostly successful with using rhetoric evidence to advance her purpose
because she addressed the situation with logic and reason while appealing to credibility,
in order to persuade and inform her audience. This relates to Martin Luther King's letter
because she has brought awareness and a voice for the families and those impacted
from Trujillo's rule, but does not impact a clarity of credibility as equal or more as Dr.
Martin Luther King does.
Malala uses logos and pathos to advocate for women's rights, girls education,
and free education worldwide for every child. In particular, she says, “Even if there was
a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the
compassion I have learned from Mohammed, the prophet of mercy, and Lord Buddha”
(7). Malala describes her compassion by including the prophet of mercy and Buddha to
appeal to her audiences particular beliefs. This proves how she advances a persuasive
argument to evoke an emotional response. Moreover, she also states, “One child, one
teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution.
Education first” (16). Malala explains how education will resolve the serious worldwide
situation. She does this by approaching a logical and radical thought that proves her
argument. Her audience is more swept to be convinces with sound reasoning that
proves her point. She uses logo and pathos successfully, to an extent. She uses
credibility of her experience and religious beliefs to advance her purpose but does not
state as to why and how education will solve the issue. Alvarez was more successful to
use pathos than ethos in advancing with her and her family’s experience because she
mentions her mother's fear under the dictatorship.
Thus, Dr. Martin Luther King better uses examples of rhetoric evidence in affect
to persuade his audience for permission to act for justice and equality. Not only because
his letter did greatly impact the future, but because he mentions religious beliefs as he
is appealing to authority. He logically executes the situation as he appeals with his
sufferings in which greatens his impact of an emotional response. Malala and Alvarez
can improve their use of rhetoric by advancing to why and how their purpose is
significant to fully persuade their audience. These influencers demonstrate how
persuasive writing and speaking will advance the progress towards social justice and
equality to start a greater movement worldwide, in what will bring equality and justice for
individuals.