The Power Of The Spoken Word

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The Power of the Spoken Word On April 3, 1968, civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his speech “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” responding to the human rights revolution. He is for the human rights revolution. In his speech, Martin Luther King Jr. asserts that it is now a decision between nonviolence and nonexistence. His tone is serious but hopeful. His target audience is colored people in America. He uses pathos to buck up his thesis. The author’s purpose it to get rights for colored Americans. One of the rhetorical strategies in Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech is anaphora. He uses anaphora throughout the whole speech many different times. An example of some of his anaphora’s is “I would move… I would go…I would even… I would come…I would even”(mlk jr.). “But I wouldn’t stop there… But I wouldn’t stop there… But I wouldn’t stop there… But I wouldn’t stop there… But I wouldn’t stop there… But I wouldn’t stop there… But I wouldn’t stop there”(mlk jr.). He is trying to reinforce his ideology but a repition of the same words or phrases. It is effective because of the repition of certain words draws attention and emphasis them. Another rhetorical strategy Martin Luther King Jr. uses in his speech is allusion to create ethos. An example of an allusion is “Egypt…red sea…greece…plato…aristotle…socrates…Euripides…arrstophanes…pathenon…roman empire…renaissance…Martin Luther King…church of Wittenberg…Abraham Lincoln…emancipation proclamation”(mlk Jr.). He is being knowledgeable and showing ethos(ethics). An allusion makes you believe the speaker because he seems more credible. He is backing up his words with credibility. The last rhetorical strategy he uses is pathos or emotion. An example of pathos is”…because the world is messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around... Only when its dark enough can you see the stars”
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