This document outlines the agenda for a class on rhetorical strategies and persuasive techniques. It includes a review of Monroe's Motivated Sequence and a presentation on the three main types of motivational appeals: ethos, pathos and logos. It then discusses how these appeals are used in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Students analyze examples of rhetorical strategies like antithesis, metaphor, repetition and allusion from the speech. The class includes an in-class writing and homework to write and refine their own speech using these persuasive techniques.

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Class 20 EWRT 1A

2. +
Agenda
 Review:
 Monroe’s Motivated Sequence
 Presentation:
 The Motivational Appeals: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
 Discussion: "I have a Dream.”
 Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
 Rhetorical Strategies
 In Class Writing
 Rhetorical Strategies

3. + Have you reorganized your essay into
the five steps of Monroe’s Motivated
Sequence ?
I. In the attention step, speakers call attention to the
situation. (The Problem)
II. For the need step, speakers describe the difficulty,
trouble, distress, crisis, emergency, or urgency. (Its
Seriousness)
III. In the satisfaction step, speakers tell listeners how to
satisfy the need they establish. (The Solution)
IV. For visualization, speakers offer listeners a vision of
what life can be once their solution (offered in the
satisfaction step) is adopted. (The Promise)
V. The final stage is the action step when speakers offer
listeners a specific course of action to follow. (Call to
Action: Conclusion)

4. +
Motivational Appeals
Aristotle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAsxyffBqm0

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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.

6. +
Ethos (Greek for 'character') refers to the
trustworthiness or credibility of the writer or speaker.
Ethos is often conveyed through tone and style of the
message and through the way the writer or speaker
refers to differing views. It can also be affected by the
writer's reputation as it exists independently from the
message--his or her expertise in the field, his or her
previous record or integrity, and so forth.

7. +
Ethos
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. He is dressed well and is
well-spoken. His demeanor produces trust.

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Pathos (Greek for 'suffering' or 'experience') is often
associated with emotional appeal. But a better
equivalent might be 'appeal to the audience's
sympathies and imagination.' An appeal to pathos
causes an audience not just to respond emotionally
but to identify with the writer's point of view--to feel
what the writer feels.

9. + 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.”

10. 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: “It is
obvious today that America has defaulted on this
promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are
concerned.”
Hyperbole: obvious and intentional exaggeration: "I have a
dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and
every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough
places will be made plain, and the crooked places will
be made straight.”

11. Colloquialisms: a word, phrase, or expression characteristic of ordinary
or familiar conversation rather than formal speech or writing: For
example, King uses both "cooling off” and "blow off steam.”
Repetition: repeated word aimed at stimulating thought on a recurring
theme; used to create an 'auditory' stimulus: “freedom” and “dream”
are oft repeated by King.
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: “One hundred years later”
Parallelism: occurs when a writer or speaker expresses ideas of equal
worth with the same grammatical form: “With this faith we will be
able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go
to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we
will be free one day.”

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Logos (Greek for 'word') refers to the internal
consistency of the message--the clarity of the
claim, the logic of its reasons, and the
effectiveness of its supporting evidence. The
impact of logos on an audience is sometimes
called the argument's logical appeal.

13. +
Logos
In his “I Have a Dream” speech, King often uses his own
personal experience and observations of racism and injustice
to support his major arguments.
 He also uses logos in his analogies. When he states,
“America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check
which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’” (King)
His analogy is using logic as a form of reasoning. He reasons
is that everyone understands money and that the listener is
able to relate to being handed a bad check.

14. + In Groups, look for examples of rhetorical
strategies in King’s Speech
 Antithesis: the setting of one
clause against another to which it
is opposed.
 Simile is the comparison of two
unlike things, connected with the
words “like” or “as.”
 Metaphor is a compressed simile
(the “like” or “as” is eliminated).
 Examples: Both general and
specific references that people will
understand.
 Anaphora: a repetition device
where the same expression is
repeated at the beginning of
two or more lines, clauses, or
sentences.
 Repetition: repeated word
aimed at stimulating thought on
a recurring theme.
 Parallelism: a writer or
speaker expresses ideas of
equal worth with the same
grammatical form
 Allusions: references to
literary, historical, and biblical
events

15. +
Rhetorical Strategies
Antithesis

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Antithesis
 “joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity”
[paragraph 2]
 “the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a
vast ocean of material prosperity” [3]
 “rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the
sunlit path of racial justice” [6]
 “This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent
will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom
and equality.” [7]
 “sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into
an oasis of freedom and justice.” [19]
Metaphor and simile

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 “battered by the storms of
persecution”
 “staggered by the winds of
police brutality."
 "The whirlwinds of revolt”
 “beautiful symphony of
brotherhood.”
 “signing a promissory note”
 “bad check”
 "No, no, we are not satisfied, and
we will not be satisfied until 'justice
rolls down like waters, and
righteousness like a mighty
stream.'"
 the Emancipation Proclamation
came “as a joyous daybreak”
Metaphor Simile
Examples

18. +
 Mississippi, New York [paragraph
13]
 Mississippi, Alabama, South
Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana [14]
 Georgia [18]
 Mississippi [19]
 Alabama [22]
 New Hampshire [32], New York
[33], Pennsylvania [34], Colorado
[35], California [36], Georgia [37],
Tennessee [38], Mississippi [39]
 “slums and ghettos of
our northern cities”
[paragraph 14]
 “the South” [25]
 “From every
mountainside” [40]
 “from every village and
every hamlet” [41]
Specific Examples General Examples
Anaphora

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ANAPHORA
 “One hundred years later…” [paragraph 3]
 “Now is the time…” [paragraph 6]
 “We must…” [paragraph 8]
 “We can never (cannot) be satisfied…” [paragraph 13]
 “Go back to…” [paragraph 14]
 “I Have a Dream…” [paragraphs 16 through 24]
 “With this faith, …” [paragraph 26]
 “Let freedom ring (from) …” [paragraphs 27 through 41]
Repetition

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Repetition
 freedom (20 times)
 we (30 times), our (17 times), you (8 times)
 nation (10 times), America (5 times), American (4
times)
 justice (8 times) and injustice (3 times)
 dream (11 times)
Parallelism

21. +
“Go back to Mississippi, go back to
Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go
back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana.”
“from every village and every hamlet, from
every state and every city”
“all of God’s children,” no matter if they are
“black men and white men, Jews and
Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics”
Parallelism
Allusion

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ALLUSION
 “Five score years ago…” [paragraph 2] refers to Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg
Address speech which began “Four score and seven years ago…” This allusion
is particularly poignant given that King was speaking in front of the Lincoln
Memorial.
 “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” [and the rest of paragraph 4] is a
reference to the United States Declaration of Independence.
 Numerous Biblical allusions provide the moral basis for King’s arguments: “It
came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.” [paragraph
2] alludes to Psalms 30:5 “For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a
lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.“
 “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of
bitterness and hatred.” [paragraph 8] evokes Jeremiah 2:13 “for my people
have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water,
and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.“

23. +
In-Class Writing
 Work to integrate these multiple rhetorical
strategies into your speech.
 Antithesis
 Metaphor/Simile
 Examples
 Anaphora
 Repetition
 Parallelism
 Allusion

24. +
Speeches
Speeches begin tomorrow.
Everyone should be
prepared to go first.
Everyone must show up on
Tuesday, Wednesday. and
Thursday to get full credit for
a speech. Failing to show up
on one day will result in a ten
point penalty.

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Homework
 Write, revise, or refine your speech.
 Use the list of strategies to generate
several ideas for your own speech.
 Read: SMG "Oral Presentations” 835-39
 Bring your final draft of your speech to
turn in. It should be formatted in MLA
style and have a works cited page.