Samantha Krag
English 100
7 October 2014
The Power of the Word
Have you ever came across someone who is drastically more persuasive than most people? Perhaps because he/she applies stronger elements of speech, such as rhetoric and other literary devices, etc. To start things off, there were many individuals in history that stood out like sore thumbs when it came to factors such as being able to exponentially excel in things like speech and art and so on. Things that could actually make the deciding factor such as when someone puts forth that little bit of extra effort or moment of attention span that makes all the difference. Communities are moved toward social justice through rhetoric because it grants substantially more credibility in what is communicated.
Rhetoric plays a big part in growth of a community’s social justice. To begin with, most pupils would simply just be more stricken by a person who indoctrinates a more just speech. There is one person in peculiar that stands out on the subject of rhetoric and that is Martin Luther King. “Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech exhibits an "integrative" rhetorical style that mirrors and maintains King's call for a racially integrated America”(Vail 9). This style utilizes concepts such as voice merging, dynamic spectacle, and a prophetic voice. Approaches like these, are huge factors on why MLK could leave such a big impact through his speeches. Even after the powerful voice of Dr. King was silenced, almost fifty years later, his ideas are still a source of inspiration for people who seek peace and justice An individual could absolutely know what he or she is talking about and in fact also be dead on point, but if he/she doesn’t know how to apply elements of persuasion such as rhetoric than it’s not going to hold much validity regardless of how plausible it indeed was.
Music also holds a vast effect on a community’s prosperity on the means of social justice. First off, music comes off as the unseen messenger that really isn’t too concrete itself but is understand just like a speech itself. People get the same feeling, or response that another gets. The big difference is seemingly open to many more. Whether sung at mass meetings, on marches and sit-ins, whether played on stage or record, these songs conveyed the moral urgency of the freedom struggle, while expressing and helping to sustain the courage of the extraordinary ordinary people who were at the heart of it. For example, one of the most celebrated of all freedom songs is “We Shall Overcome”. “We Shall Overcome” served as the theme