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Martin Luther King Jr. and Toni Morrison Rhetorical Styles

Martin Luther King Jr. and Toni Morrison are two of the many great writers of the late twentieth century. Their styles follow rhetorical guidelines to create persuasive arguments and clear writing. To show how they accomplish this I will be comparing the rhetorical style used by King in "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," with that of Morrison in "Friday on the Potomac." Each of these works result from strong opinions surrounding the issue of racial equality in the United States, and each appeals to the desire of achieving that equality. In order to address a sensitive topic such as racism and achieve the desired results, the authors had to implement various methods of persuasion. While each author chooses different manners with which to accomplish this, each forms clear writing with convincing arguments. They achieve this clarity due to their understanding and use of ethos, pathos, and logos as the foundations for creating these arguments.

Before we can examine the writing on the basis of these three elements, we must first understand the meanings of each. They were conceptualized by Aristotle as the keys to persuading an audience. Ethos, directly translated, means "worthy of belief," and deals with establishing credibility. Pathos involves "putting hearers...into the right frame of mind with regard to certain issues and the speakers persuasive intent" (Smith 83). Logos includes the arguments that are used to make a point, and involves the basis upon which the arguments were made. The use of these three elements in harmony with each other will produce a persuasive argument according to Aristotle. Being that he did "write the book on rhetoric," I will be using the ideas of Aristotle as the blueprint for effective writing to which I will compare the works of King and Morrison.

First I will examine Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter which embodies all of the characteristics outlined by Aristotle. The most clearly presented element in King's article is the use of ethos. King establishes himself as a credible and learned man early in the letter so that the reader has an immediate connection with him, and then he carries the thought throughout the letter's entirety. Within the first paragraph he uses this tactic when he writes, "If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence during the day..." (Corbett 302). This statement effectively creates an image of Martin Luther King sitting in a position of power rather than in the stereotypical labor job all too commonly associated with a black man. By doing so it immediately breaks down possible underlying stereotypes that would affect the reader's ability to ration in an unbiased manner. His response also creates a connection with the clergymen by presenting a scenario with which they can familiarize themselves.

King employs another method that to establish his credibility by comparing himself to notable figures who were involved in struggles resembling his own. In doing so he uses a different strategy of conveying a vast amount of knowledge concerning the scriptures, to which the clergymen are most closely tied. For example he compares himself to the Biblical figures of the prophets and of the Apostle Paul when he says "Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their 'thus saith the Lord'...and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the Gospel of Jesus Christ...so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town" (Corbett 302). He also employs this method when responding to the clergymen's accusations calling him an extremist. In rebuttal to the accusation, he states that Jesus was an extremist as was Amos, Paul, Martin Luther, John Bunyan, Abe Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson. All of these characters are notable and considered heroes in one way or another. Comparing himself to them causes the argument of the clergymen to lose its strength and further establishes the importance of his goal.

In keeping with Aristotle's technique of forming a good argument, King also excels in the act of goodwill, in which you demonstrate "that you have the audience's best interests at heart" (Smith 81). King does so by acknowledging that the clergymen "are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth" (King 302). This strategy prevents them from growing defensive and dismissing everything he says. He also refers to them later in the letter as "friends."

By establishing his credibility with the audience, MLK successfully creates a noble character for himself with attributes that are commendable. The most apparent characteristic is that of his Christian beliefs which are conveyed strongly in his writing. He also exhibits a great deal of love for his cause to which he lends himself wholeheartedly. In addition he has a great dea

Rhetorical Devices Used by Patrick H.

Patrick Henry is well known for his "Give me liberty or give me death" speech. This speech was a primary factor in the Americans decision to wage war with Great Britain.

Persuading politicians through the use of literary devices, passionate wording and the risky inclusion of illogical arguments Patrick was able to provide convincing reasons for He starts his speech by addressing those who may disagree with him. Understanding that his conclusion is not the only intelligent conclusion, he emphasizes the importance of debate. Introducing the speech this way not only aids in opening the minds of the people opposed to his view, but it also gains the attention of those in attendance, causing them to wonder what he could say that would cause offense. Patrick designs the body of his speech to list the transgressions of the English. He even refers to the story of Judas' betrayal of Jesus in order to imply Great Britain's evil motives. This illustration implies that the eternal optimists who believe it to be possible to restore relations with the British are simply being deceived and set up for a betraying "kiss from。They would of recognized his use of the many fallacy's that were included in his speech. colonists will soon become slaves. These illustrations along with other powerful words audience would have seen through his attempts at appealing to ignorance or cardstacking. to convince the attendees of the Virginian Convention to decide on the side of revolution. illogical conclusions and biased predictions seem valid. Without the emotions his believe that these fallacies were actually helpful and necessary in convincing his peers of strategies his emotional appeal would not hold merit, his illogical reasoning would have speech, there are still many that criticize it for its use of logical fallacies. While it is thought process of those in attendance. By doing this Patrick made his generalizations cornered。

In her essay, "The Unbearable Whiteness of Skiing," author Annie Gilbert Coleman uses a variety of rhetorical techniques in order to convince the reader of the negative effects of the segregation that pervades ski slopes in the western United States. Irony is one of the strongest devices she employs as she discusses the fact that, although Hispanics and Native Americans are represented in the population of these western states, they are represented only in the kitchens and laundries of the ski resorts. In addition to exposing the irony of the situation, Coleman also uses similes, metaphors, meta discourse, and attention to structure in order to make her point that ski slopes do not fairly or accurately represent the population and that socioeconomic factors have given skiing a whiteness that has nothing to do with snow.

The author employs a careful structure in her essay so that the reader is driven to understanding her point as if he or she were getting off a ski lift at the beginning and careening downhill toward her purpose. Beginning with a historical approach in order to convey her message, the author discusses the growth and attitude of the sport in the 20th century. She describes the American adoption of the sport and all that it entails from the model of European skiers and resorts. "The whiteness of these places has clear historical roots," she explains. "Scandinavian and European immigrants to the West brought knowledge of skiing and ski making with them and, in doing so, significantly altered western mountain culture." The essay uses a historical approach in structure because it both gives authenticity to the research and also suggests a question. She makes it clear that skiing has jumped continents and evolved, but also says, "This historical context of the sport, however, does not explain why the growing ski industry and its clientele managed to retain such an enthusiasm for white ethnicities even after the influence of European dynamics fell off." Such a question suggests that the "unbearable whiteness" of the ski slopes involves complicated social and economic factors and cannot easily be explained away by the early pioneers of the trend. The reader continues the article as he or she wonders why one ethnic culture would be so valued in establishing ski culture, but other cultures are so excluded.

The author's structural suggestion of complexity opens the door for her use of metaphor in order to explain the "ethnic whiteout" of the ski culture. Europeans may have been an early influence, but that fact does not explain why non-whites living next door to Vail are not skiing there. The answer, suggests the author, lies in metaphor and simile. Skiing is not just a downhill rush, it is "like" something else and, in fact, "is" something else as the rhetorical techniques of simile and metaphor would suggest. As early as 1869, propaganda and advertising began comparing the Rocky Mountains with the famous European Alps when author Samuel Bowles write an account of his Colorado vacation entitled The Switzerland of America. For many years thereafter, the comparison became an important part of the rise of the ski culture in the United States. "Transforming the Rockies into the Alps proved quite popular among ski industry promoters..." and even the state of Colorado funded an advertising campaign calling the Rockies "the 'other' Alps." Not only were the Rocky Mountains comparable to the Swiss Alps for recreation, they were the Alps. Such a metaphor proved very effective in promoting the area to vacationers in the upper economic classes. It also proved effective in establishing and promoting a culture at the burgeoning ski resorts that was European in nature and therefore white.

The use of metaphors as a rhetorical device is both a technique used by the author and part of her evidence for her argument. She uses the device to persuade the reader about the "unbearable whiteness" of skiing just as the metaphor was used to sell the culture of European skiing to America. "Owners and advertisers blithely made the conscious choice to 'go Bavarian.' Vail marketers emphasized European image over all else in an ad that began in German. This ad tempted readers to discover Europe in Vail, where the skiing, continental flavor, and 'the kind of name-your-game apres that never quits' would provide a

vacation that 'comes off like it just came in from the Alps.'" The overt attempt to sell American skiing as if it were the same as European skiing is one more piece of convincing evidence Coleman uses to reinforce the idea that white European culture perpetuated and pervades still the resorts in the Rocky Mountains. The sustained use of metaphor hammers home her point.

The author uses meta discourse as a means to prove her thesis that the sport of skiing is dominated by white culture. The author directly addresses the reader in order to draw him or her into the argument and deepen the meaning of