The Rhetoric of Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” letter and “I Have a Dream” speech have two distinct styles.  Both texts, though, are aimed at promoting American Civil Rights.  The major differences are due to the different audiences King is writing for and the format of the actual writings themselves.  These two works can best be compared using the idea of the rhetorical triangle.  This model shows the relation between the text (logos), author (ethos), and audience (pathos) of any piece of rhetoric. 

Before explaining the interactions of the text and author with the audience, the distinct audiences themselves should be fully explained.  King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” after being arrested for parading without a permit during a non-violent protest in Birmingham, Alabama. He was locked in a jail cell and explains the length and comprehensiveness of his letter by stating, “what else is there to do when you are alone for days in the dull monotony of a narrow jail cell other than write long letters, think strange thoughts, and pray long prayers?”  This letter came as a response to a public statement directed to King written by eight Alabama clergymen.  This correspondence, therefore, is much more personal as the audience is eight particular men.  Furthermore, these men have all criticized King’s work and ideas.  King claims:

If I sought to answer all of the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would be engaged in little else in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work, but since I feel that you are men of genuine goodwill and your criticism are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

Clearly, King values the opinion of these men and is willing to respond to their concerns.  This shows that the audience is educated, upstanding men.  It can also be discerned that these men are of good faith and genuinely want to promote goodwill among humanity because of their positions as clergymen. 

The audience of the “I Have a Dream” speech is far different than that of the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”  King wrote perhaps his most famous speech intending for it to be delivered to the masses of his supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a key period during the American Civil Rights Movement.  The audience for this speech itself is quite varied.  Listeners were black, white, educated, uneducated, rich, poor, etc.  Their tying bond, however, is the fact that these people all agree with King’s views and are already there to support him.  This fact elucidates the main distinction between the audiences for “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and the “I Have a Dream” speech.  In one case, the audience is opposing King’s views and he must use rhetoric to convince them of his cause, while the other work is used to raise the spirits and excite men and women that are already aligned with King’s Civil Rights views. 

This major variance in audiences directly leads to differences in the author-audience relationship.  In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” King is a peer to the audience he is writing to.  This is clear from the very opening of the letter when he writes, “My dear Fellow Clergymen”.   Most of the letter then goes on to explain King’s individual views.  The audience he is writing to is not immediately concerned with the ideas of the masses.  King is their figurehead, so he takes on the responsibility of explaining his personal standpoints as a black male struggling with segregation.  King’s includes various examples of specific incidents where racial injustices affected his family personally.  Perhaps the most emotionally-charged instance is King’s explanation to his six-year old daughter as to why she cannot go to the Funtown amusement park and her innate reaction to being told that segregation is the cause.  King uses these personal images to try to connect with the clergymen from a poignant perspective as well as explaining his ideas using pure and simple logic.  King’s main purpose for writing the letter is to change the clergymen’s standing on racial problems.  Thus, the author-audience relationship throughout is sincere, yet firm, and defended with a multitude of historical and contemporary examples.

The “I Have a Dream” speech, on the other hand, has a much different author-audience feel to it.  King is talking directly to his people, those that have supported him and he knows will continue to support him.  The majority of the audience are people struggling with racial injustices along with King, so he repeatedly uses the first person plural pronoun “we”.  King goes on to explain that the whites in attendance are also indirectly affected by segregation.  He claims, “their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.”  King connects with his audience purely from an emotional standpoint.  He has no need to explain his actions or provide a specific plan.  His audience is already in political accordance with him, so he merely intends on inspiring them and uplifting their spirits.

The texts of both works are the physical link between the author and the audience.  The text itself has a direct interaction with the audience and is therefore different depending on the particular situation and audience involved.  In the case of “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” the author-audience connection is personal, as previously explained.  The correct correspondence is therefore a personally written letter addressing the specific concerns of the clergymen.  King organizes the letter in such a fashion that each topic is sub-headed and individually explained using examples, quotes, and logic.  The simple fact that the letter was composed while King was incarcerated also adds to its impact and meaningfulness.  King’s diction throughout the letter also establishes the specific text-audience relationship.  King continuously uses scholarly words, many which the common man would be unfamiliar with.  King’s attention to these types of details in his text help to prove his high level of academic prowess and make his arguments all the more legitimate.

The text of any speech is far different from written prose.  King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is no exception to this rule.  Rather than using the text to establish himself as an intellectual, King uses the text of his speech to stir emotions and create a true sense of hope.  King uses rousing symbols and makes strong statements rather than creating a sound argument or defending his ideas.  Thanks to technology, the speech itself is actually captured on video (see YouTube video below).  Viewing the fifteen-plus minute speech certainly adds to the written text itself.  King’s intonation throughout “I Have a Dream” is strong and powerful, necessary elements for any good leader.  In all, the emotional written words and delivery of the speech combine to create a complete text that goes down as one of the best orations in history.

The audience for a work of rhetoric plays an integral part in the author’s motives and intentions, as well as the format for the text itself.  During Martin Luther King Jr.’s battle for racial equality, he continuously shifted roles between a political peer and movement leader.  In doing so, the audiences he addressed also were always changing.  King, a true master of rhetoric, however, was able to accurately recognize his audience and adjust accordingly.  This ability led to effective, proficient works of rhetoric.  In both the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and the “I Have a Dream” speech, the audiences varied completely.  The styles of these texts, therefore, were markedly different as both the author-audience and text-audience relationships required different things in order to be successful.  Overall, King’s lifetime work in rhetoric, although cut short, can serve as an excellent example for the need to write towards a specific audience.  When the audience is identified properly, the three sides of the rhetorical triangle remain connected and any piece of writing benefits tremendously.   

"I Have a Dream" Speech:

Bibliographic Information:

King Jr., Martin Luther. "Letter From Birmingham Jail" WRIT 130 Course Book 
     (Spring 2009): 40-48.

King Jr., Martin Luther. "I Have a Dream" WRIT 130 Course Book 
     (Spring 2009): 49-51.

"Chuck Norris Approved": False Authority in Campaign Ads

Although amusing, Mike Huckabee’s campaign advertisement entitled “Chuck Norris Approved” for the recent presidential election completely revolves around a logical fallacy.  In particular, Huckabee’s campaign team utilizes false authority in order to promote Huckabee to the general public.  Chuck Norris, a famous action star and recent pop culture icon, officially endorses Huckabee while explaining Huckabee’s views on some major issues.  Huckabee, on the other hand, explains why Chuck Norris’s opinion should matter.  Unfortunately, from a logical perspective, reasons like “when Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the Earth down” do not quite warrant political respect.  Chuck Norris is an actor, a far cry from anything related to politics, so his opinion should not really be considered when entering the polling booths.  Nonetheless, Norris’s popularity, especially among American youth, may have actually gained Huckabee some votes.  This is the perfect example of a logical fallacy that is so blatantly obvious that it actually becomes effective.  Huckabee uses false authority to explain some of his standpoints on serious issues while showcasing his sense of humor.  Even though this logical fallacy is used intentionally and facetiously, it still can be considered a good example of false authority and some of the problems that can arise from such an argument.

Watch the Mike Huckabee “Chuck Norris Approved” ad below:

       

Newspapers: Still the Premier News Source

In my opinion, a news source should be a fair representation of what is going on in the world.  Good sources are as unbiased as possible and accurate.  It is every citizen’s right to have equal access to the news, so news sources should be easily available and inexpensive. 

Currently, print media is the most reliable source for good news.  Newspapers have a very good integrity and the most dedicated and experienced journalists tend to work for major newspaper corporations.  Many markets also have multiple newspapers available to them.  This keeps a fair balance between differing viewpoints and allows the readers to make their own educated decisions about important topics.

While the recent surge of internet and television sources itself is definitely not a bad thing, newspapers are still better at relaying the pure, unaltered news.  Often internet sites tend to focus too heavily on opinion rather than fact.  Also, news broadcasts on television sometimes have their own hidden agenda and can be slanted towards certain political parties or other national factions.

Granted, the newspaper is becoming less and less popular, while alternate news sources, especially online sites, are seeing more and more traffic each month.  While this may seem to be a natural evolution of media forms, the newspaper is far too important to be allowed to disappear.  There are plenty of hardworking people committed to saving the newspaper industry, and their ideas and propositions should be taken seriously.  The newspaper business accounts for various vital segments of America.  From the already ill-fated economy, to the structure of United States’ politics, to the tradition that connects all citizens, the newspaper is entirely essential.  Losing the newspaper industry would clearly be detrimental to the nation as a whole, and must be avoided at all costs.  

 

Extra! Extra! E-Read all about it?

Usually I pick up a copy of the Daily Trojan before class each morning.  I make sure to catch up on the Trojans’ athletic endeavors and the main stories affecting campus.  Then, I read the inside page where the most important local, national, and international stories are summarized.  When checking my AOL e-mail account, I often click on the stories promoted in the “Today on AIM” section.  In these instances I only click on the news stories that interest me most.  This generally consists of major national news, sports-related stories, and articles discussing economics.  I get the rest of my news from conversations with friends and family.  They tend to know what is of interest to me and fill me in on anything that they have heard in recent news.

Although I do not subscribe to a major newspaper, I am addicted to crossword puzzles.  Because of this, I visit USA Today, LA Times, and the Chicago-Sun Times daily to complete their crossword puzzles.  Sometimes a news story on the side of the puzzle applet will catch my attention and I will read the article online.  I never actually purchase hard-copies of these major newspapers, though. 

Living at the Radisson, the front desk offers complimentary copies of USA Today daily and I still choose to get my news from online sources or the Daily Trojan.  Maybe actual major newspaper publications are no longer necessary?

ShamWow: "You know the Germans make good stuff..."

In the now infamous commercial for ShamWow, a super-absorbent cleaning towel, the pitchman Vincent Offer presents various reasons as to why the consumers should buy the ShamWow.  Most of the reasons are based in good logic.  For example, the towel works wet or dry, can be used on various surfaces, and holds twenty times its own weight in liquid.  Then, however, Offer argues something that clearly falls into the category of hasty generalization.  After saying that the ShamWow is made in Germany, he claims, “you know the Germans make good stuff.”  Again, at the end of the commercial the announcer reminds viewers that the ShamWow is made in Germany.  While, Germany may have a reputation for having good engineers and as one of the main hubs of automotive technology, the fact that the ShamWow was made in Germany does not mean that it is a good product.  There are no relevant details or studies offered which would show that the ShamWow itself was built by a successful German company similar to the likes of BMW or Mercedes-Benz.   Clearly, Offer tries to persuade people to buy the ShamWow using the logical fallacy of hasty generalization.  While it may be true that the ShamWow is manufactured in Germany, this information alone has no bearing on the success of the product and is not a credible reason to purchase the ShamWow. 

Watch the ShamWow commercial below:

 

The Need for a US Rowing Museum

Rowing is the oldest intercollegiate sport in the United States.  Fewer than ten thousand varsity student-athletes compete in collegiate rowing, however.  Rowing has such a rich history that it is about time a museum be established to preserve and promote rowing awareness.

Rowing is by far one of the most intense and demanding sports in the world.  Oarsmen and coxswains devote countless hours of year-round training in order to maximize boat speed- the goal of any serious crew.  The majority of the United States population, however, has no clue what rowing is all about.  Quite frankly, I did not even know about rowing culture until joining the USC Men’s Crew Team.   A rowing museum would solve this problem.

My proposed museum would be located in Southern California.  The west coast is renowned for its great rowing programs, and the museum could be fully taken advantage of in an environment that is suitable for rowing year-round.  The museum will double as a boat house so that community members (children in particular) can get involved in rowing.  This will help rowing become more popular among the masses, hopefully propelling rowing back into the forefront of college athletics. 

With United States collegiate rowing dating back to the mid nineteenth century, one would think that a rowing museum would already exist.  The only established rowing museum in the world, however, is located on the Thames River in England- site of the world-famous Royal Henley Regatta.  While this is considered a good museum, it does not represent United States rowing well.  A museum in the United States, therefore, would make rowing more accessible to Americans in particular and truly show what a great sport rowing is!  

California ScienCenter

Out of convenience and an interest in the subject matter, I chose to visit the California ScienCenter for my museum trip.  In particular, I visited the Air and Space portion of the museum.  This area included Air and Aircraft, Humans in Space, Mission to the Planets, and Stars and Telescopes. There was also a smaller area in another part of the museum which I did not visit called the Air and Space Discovery Room  which was intended for little children).  The arrangement of the museum was very clever and added to the success of the exhibit.  There were various levels which a shuttle-like elevator took you up through.  The spacecraft and aircraft were also arranged strategically, with the oldest towards the bottom and the newest towards the ceiling.  Each craft had its own placard with information.  There were also various videos and audio clips playing throughout the museum.  Some of the most exciting parts of the Air and Space section were the hands-on activities. This included a wind tunnel in which you could actually enter and learn about drag.  Also, you can board a helicopter and work its controls. Overall, I enjoyed my visit to the Air and Space portion of the California ScienCenter thoroughly.  I have always had an interest in spacecraft and aircraft and the visit simply piqued this interest.  Although the museum is similar to other science centers around the nation, the quality of the artifacts, displays, and hands-on activities make a trip to the California ScienCenter more than worthwhile.