Letter From Birmingham Jail:
Focus on a couple paragraphs and cite where you find appeals to ethos, logos and, pathos in your COMMENT. You can randomly pick a spot in King's letter and easily find all three appeals working somewhere in the vicinity.
http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
Also, use this as a reference to identify the sources of persuasion:
http://courses.durhamtech.edu/perkins/aris.html
Finally, consider how the sources of persuasion (ethos, logos, and pathos) are used (and not used) in your primary source for essay #1.
Left to Right: Plato and Aristotle-Inaccurately attributed most the credit for forwarding rhetorical theories.
Four basic steps to any non-violent campaign . . . (logos)
ReplyDeleteNegroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. (pathos and ethos)
The second paragraph where he indicates the purpose of his speech is a great example with all three appeals. The first sentence defines who he is and his credibility. If you keep reading, he provides a logos appeal by stating the nature of the situation and a possible solution. As for the pathos appeal, he tries to make a connection with the readers by describing his emotions toward the conflict.
ReplyDeleteTo explain why he is in Birmingham and counter the argument that he is an outsider coming in Dr. King appeals to logos by stating that he is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization that operates throughout the South with affiliates in Alabama.
ReplyDeleteDr. King appeals to ethos when he makes the statement that African Americans have been waiting for 340 years for their constitutional and God given rights.
He appeals to pathos by talking about hot disappointed he is with the church for not getting involved in ending inequality
I found ethos and pathos in the third paragraph of the exert. MLK is expressing ethics and values while he is talking about the Bible and Jesus Christ. MLK is showing emotions in his letter when he says, "so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town" he is using a credible source as a reference to his actions.
ReplyDeleteIn the second paragraph he demonstrates ethos by stating his affiliation with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which makes him credible.
ReplyDeleteIn the forth paragraph he shows pathos and ethos. His ethics come into play, values and emotions. He wants to do something about a problem and is tired of sitting back and watching this horrible thing happen.
In the sixth paragraph he reasons by stating the steps he is taking in Birmingham,by logos. He is stating facts in this paragraph to get his point across.
In paragraph four, MLK states "I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states." This is an example of ethos. He is defining who he is/what he does, and this explanation gives him credibility. In the same paragraph, King goes on to say "whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly" this represents pathos. An example of logos would be paragraph six, when he discusses the four basic steps in any nonviolent campaign.
ReplyDeleteKing lays out ethos in his second paragraph, stating that he is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which operates in every southern state, as well as his involvement in the affiliated Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights.
ReplyDeleteDr. King expresses pathos when speaking of the mass violence carried out against African Americans: "...But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters;" King appeals to the reader's emotions by evoking these grisly images.
For logos, King cites Thomas Aquinas' view of unjust laws, which states any law that degrades human life is an unjust law, and thusly segregation is unjust because it "damages the personality."
I found ethos in the beginning where MLK explains that he serves as the President of the Southern Leadership Conference and was in Birmingham because he was invited. By explaining his official title and the fact he was given an invitation to help with the injustice in Birmingham he seems, and is, credible.
ReplyDeleteHe displays pathos while talking about how he is disappointed with the churches lack of efforts to help the injustice and inequality.
He dissplays logos in the sixth paragraph when he explains the four basic steps to any nonviolent campaign.
The ethos is demonstrated in the second paragraph when he explains his association with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and their affiliation with other human rights groups in the southern states. This tells the reader that he is in fact a person of stature, which is important especially when writing from a jailhouse.
ReplyDeleteLogos is used starting with th 16th paragraph. Stating the fact that "it was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany" gives a logical reason why sometimes breaking the law is necessary, especially when "a higher moral law is at stake". This could also fall under the category of pathos, since topics such as the Holocaust stir up strong emotions in people.
MLK doesn't hesitate to use ethos right away. in the second paragraph, he states that he is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state. Then he uses pathos to appeal to the emotions, "There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation." I believe he then uses logos in his profound statement that,"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere...Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
ReplyDeleteEthos- In the second paragrah Dr. King shows his credibility by stating he is president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
ReplyDeletePathos- This can be found when MLK discusses the reason he is in Birmingham because of injustice. This displays the emotions that MLK feels about this topic.
Logos- This can be found when he discusses the four steps to a nonviolent campaign. The four steps show logical steps that are taken to have a nonviolent campaign.
This is pretty straightforward and all three examples can be seen in the second pharagraph. First, he uses logos by citing the organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, that he is associated with and the logisitics of the organization. Ironically, he also uses pathos to a slight degree by pointing out that this organization has a branch in every southern state and by stating that it is his honor to serve as the president of this organization. Finally, he uses ethos when he points out that he and his organization were asked to be on call in case of "a nonviolent direct action program".
ReplyDelete