Class 43EWRT 1A

AGENDA

"Presentation: Motivational AppealsIntro to Speech: Speeches: Ethos,

Logos, and PathosMartin Luther King Jr. “I have a Dream”

Discussion: "I have a Dream.”

Rhetorical Strategies

Motivational AppealsAristotle

Introduction to Speech Writing: The Art of (Ethical)Persuasion

Three Crucial Motivational Appeals:

Ethos: Establishing credibility; convincing through your character, credentials, or knowledge.

Pathos: Appealing to emotions, values, and beliefs.

Logos: Appealing to reason or logic.

Martin Luther King Jr. has now been dead longer than he lived. But what

an extraordinary life it was.

At 33, he was pressing the case of civil rights with President John Kennedy. At 34, he galvanized the nation with his "I Have a Dream" speech. At 35, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. At 39, he was assassinated, but he left a legacy of hope and inspiration that continues today.

King's most famous speech, "I Have a Dream," was delivered in 1963 at the March on Washington, one of the largest political rallies for human rights in United States history; it called for civil and economic rights for African Americans.

“I Have a Dream”Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ethos

Ethos means the character of the speaker in the eyes of the audience. King was born into a well-educated, successful family, graduated from Morehouse College, and, as the outstanding member of his senior class, from Crozer Theological Seminary. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1955, and served as minister of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church from 1955 to 1968. His Nobel Peace Prize was received one year after this speech was given.

Pathos: King depends on his use of language to draw emotion from his

listeners. Figures of speech predominate.

Antithesis, or the setting of one clause or other member of a sentence against another to which it is opposed, is heavily used. “It came as a joyous daybreak to end their long night of captivity,” is the first of many examples of antithesis used in the speech.

Simile is the comparison of two unlike things, connected with the words “like” or “as” such as “justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Metaphor is a compressed simile (the “like” or “as” is eliminated) and they are abundant: “manacles of segregation,” “symphony of brotherhood.”

Allusions, or references to literary, historical, and biblical events, occur often. One obvious example is “Five score years ago,” which refers to the Gettysburg Address.

Personification: the attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects or abstract notions: "Death lays his icy hand on kings”

Hyperbole: obvious and intentional exaggeration: “to wait an eternity.”

Contrast: To evince a difference that can distinguish meaning: “Voiced and voiceless”

Colloquialisms: a word, phrase, or expression characteristic of ordinary or familiar conversation rather than formal speech or writing, as “She’s out” for “She is not at home.”

Repetition: repeated word aimed at stimulating thought on a recurring theme; used to create an 'auditory' stimulus.

Anaphora: a poetic device and a repetition device where the same expression is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences.

Parallelism: occurs when a writer or speaker expresses ideas of equal worth with the same grammatical form: "Veni, vidi, vici," (I came, I saw, I conquered)

Logos: A persuasive strategy of logic

In his “I Have a Dream” speech, King used mostly his own personal experience and observations to support his major arguments. His thesis (or purpose) statement is, “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”

Homework

Post #46 Find five examples of Pathos through language use in “I Have a Dream. ” Slides 8-10 will help.

Use the list of strategies to generate several ideas for your own speech.

Read: SMG "Oral Presentations” 835-39

Study the vocabulary words: 24-27