The Rhetoric of Pathos in the Writings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Es

The Rhetoric of Pathos in the Writings of Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. I submit a dream, says Dr. Samuel Proctor, Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Rutgers University. both the little children--you hear everywhere you go I have a dream. every the little children repeating that speech. Its become like the Star Spangled Banner or the Pledge of Allegiance. Its entered our culture. And so it has I have a dream has become one of the well-nigh memorable phrases of the twentieth century. Of all the many speeches delivered at the Lincoln remembrance on that hot, steamy day of August 28, 1963, no other remarks have had such an impact as those of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His words reflected then, and continue to do so now, the deep feel of pathos in the plight of African-Americans passim the United States, a socio-economic and political context rooted in injustices orchestrate by unfair, discriminatory practices that were designed to intimidate and dominate the nations Af rican-Americans behind a veneer of social and political platitudes accepted as givens by others in the same society. Those easy assumptions Dr. King challenged in his reflections on the African-Americans experience to that time. What apparel apart his remarks from all the others that day, however, were elements of style--an oratorical style--that Dr. King had honed in speech afterwards speech for years. He was, in fact, a much practiced orator. A comparison of almost any set of his remarks reveals the key to the dramatic sense of pathos that still accent his works for readers today. The distinguishing features of Martin Luther King, Jr.s style which so change his works are his rich allusions, figures of speech, and parallelism. These th... ...uinas, an unjust law is a military personnel law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law. some(prenominal) law that uplifts human temperament is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust (293). In the name of eterna l and natural law, Dr. King joined in the long train of reformers, dating in the American and western sandwich tradition to Thoreaus Civil Disobedience, to the Continental Congresss Declaration of Independence, and John Lockes apostrophe to democracy, his Essay on Civil Government. Dr. Kings words still urge us all to intensify our sensitivity to universal law that makes each of us free at last. Works Cited King, Martin Luther, Jr. I Have a Dream. A volition of Hope. San Francisco harper and Row, 1986. 217-220. King, Martin Luther, Jr. Letter from Birmingham City Jail. A Testament of Hope.San Francisco Harper and Row, 1986. 289-302.