Does Martin Luther King's Ethos In I Have A Dream Speech

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Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” speech was given on August 28. 1963. This was during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Martin Luther King called for racism to end, and equal civil and economic rights. This speech has developed ideas that show ethos, pathos, and logos. Martin Luther King used ethos, establishment of his credibility for persuading the audience, throughout the speech. The first example is “Five Score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.” (paragraph 2) This quote establishes a strong appeal of ethos because he brought Lincoln into his speech. Lincoln was an authoritative president, who sought to end slavery, which gave America a new sense of freedom. King is trying to do compare himself with Lincoln by using this quote. Americans honor the Declaration of Independence so Martin Luther King used, “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent word of …show more content…
“One hundred years later the negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the negro is still crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” (Paragraph). The use of repeating “One Hundred years later…” emphasizes that African Americans deserve to have equal rights that has not yet been giving to them. They may have been free from slavery for a hundred years, but they have not been free from discrimination. The next example uses the model of money because everyone understands the use and some results that come with money. King states” …America has given the Negro a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds. But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt…We have come to cash this check.” Logos were used to make sure the audience knows that the African Americans have not been given equal rights or opportunities. This makes the audience supports this
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