A big part of the reason why people were so moved by MLK's speech was because of his extrinsic ethos. One thing that gave him this credibility was that he was not a politician, but a minister. As a minister, people trusted Dr. King more because unlike politicians his only motive was to make a better world and not to give himself power. Dr. King did not endorse any political party because he believed both democrats and republicans were wrong in their handling of race issues. Another thing that gave Dr. King great credibility was his success in the Montgomery Bus Boycotts. Dr. King's leadership in this movement lead to the end of bus segregation. MLK's extrinsic ethos was so great that the FBI thought he was too powerful and even tried to lower his ethos by accusing him of committing adultery and being affiliated with communists.
Dr. King establishes intrinsic ethos in his speech by citing the Emancipation Proclamation and the Declaration of Independence to show that the laws that were currently in place to protect people in the United States were not substantial enough to stop mistreatment of black Americans. He also backs up his speech with evidence of the injustices towards black Americans like police brutality, segregated facilities, and voting restrictions.
This combination of extrinsic and intrinsic ethos gave Dr. King the power to gain people's trust and uplift them to come together and fight this injustice.
-Bilen Tirfe
Your analysis is very thorough and insightful, however you missed a very important fact that add on to the extrinsic ethos - that MLK himself is African American. He experienced the same situation as any other African Americans, therefore his claim is more relatable and credible for the audience. The fact that he is African American allows him to use the word "we" in his speech, which add on to the intrinsic ethos.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job evaluating both extrinsic and intrinsic ethos with this piece. Peijo makes a good point about the fact that MLK is credible because African American himself, but that fact is common knowledge so I can see why it was not mentioned in your analysis.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you that being a minister allowed MLK to gain more trust from his supporters. You did a great job giving detailed background information describing MLK's views in politics and motives, which gave him significant extrinsic ethos. I also agree with the previous comments that being african american substantially added to his extrinsic ethos. Besides being a minister, people trusted MLK because he was also one of them.
ReplyDelete-Julia Shultz
Nice work! I wonder if you might also discuss his "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" from earlier in 1963? How does that impact King's ethos?
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