Monday, February 2, 2009
Aristotle's Rhetoric
Martin Luther King Junior's "I Have a Dream" speech clearly exemplifies Aristotle's theories of rhetoric. Rhetoric can be defined as "a searching study of audience psychology." Aristotle closely studied "the effects of the speaker, the speech, and the audience." Aristotle also believed that "rhetoric is the art of discovering ways to make the truth seem more probable to an audience that isn't deeply convinced."
"...The available means of persuasion are based on three kinds of proof: logical (logos), ethical (ethos), and emotional (pathos). Logical proof comes from the line of argument in the speech, ethical proof is the way the speaker's character is revealed through the message, and emotional proof is the feeling the speech draws out of the hearers" (Griffin).
The "enthymeme" is noted as the "strongest of the proofs." Aristotle stated that "...because they are jointly produced by the audience, enthymemes intuitively unite speaker and audience and provide the strongest possible proof...The audience itself helps construct the proof by which it is persuaded." After watching the "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King Junior, one can hear examples of the "logical" proof Aristotle spoke of with King's overall theme and that King obviously knew his audience quite well. King hinted in his speech that "God will reward non-violence," the civil rights movement must continue and that it also must continue to happen non-violently, and that "God will grant us our dream."
Aristotle believed that the speaker must also be credible, as "many impressions are formed before the speaker ever begins." Three qualities Aristotle wrote that help build credibility were "intelligence, character, and goodwill." In the example of Martin Luther King Junior, during the "I Have a Dream" speech, most would agree he exemplified all three of Aristotle's credibility traits.
"Pathos," another one of Aristotle's theories on rhetoric, describing how a speaker can get the audience to feel a certain way. Aristotle cataloged emotions and how to move and audience to feel these, just as Martin Luther King Junior did in 1963.
Aristotle also came up with the popular theory of the "five canons of rhetoric." The five canons are invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery- which are all shown in Martin Luther King's speech, and can be found my exact example in Griffin from pages 325-326.
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ReplyDeleteKing's speech as shown here is clearly a definitve example of rhetoric. After playing the video and hearing it again, I am struck by what would be in the category of the five canons, and that is style, specifically metaphor. The metaphor is not out of character for the speech, because of the stakes and the importance it held It is heightened language, again it relates to the idea of a speaker knowing his audience, specific to rhetoric. Two of the most powerful devices used by King are the metaphor, and repetition, this combination makes the speech sound like a negro spiritual written by a great god. It is also evident of how king aligns himself with his audience .In the beginning of the speech, he uses terms such as "my friend" and he never sets himself alone as a hater of the white man.This is source credibility. I was struck by even the very beginning of the speech, just before he recalls Lincoln he specifically uses the words "score" for years which immediately alludes to Lincoln and how he used that very word in the Gettysburg Adress. I think this is on purpose and skillfull rhetoric,King is literally using the same words of the great emancipator, and framing the speech consciously into something as important as the Gettysburg Adress. This small example is one of an enthymene. He never says this speech is as important as anything Lincoln ever said, but in fact that is what he is saying.This example is two fold, it is very high source credibility, none higher than Lincoln, and it is indicative of the definition of rhetoric which is as Griffin states, the art of discovering ways to make the truth seem more probable to an audience that isn't completey convinced. These are the ways King goes about convincing his audience,with the use of style, metaphor, source credibility, and the powerful use of the enthymene.
ReplyDeleteIt is very important to note that Martin Luther King's speech encompasses all five of the cannons of rhetoric. It gives the interpreter a way of breaking down his speech and analyzing the purpose behind each section. It seems as though, the "I Have a Dream" speech is one of the most influential and famous speeches simply because it addresses the five cannons and truly identifies with people. It is apparent that Martin Luther King conveyed and represented strong ethics in his speech and throughout his life. For this reason, his speech was heavy in the hearts and minds of the people. He was perceived to be intelligent, virtuous in character, and conveying a strong goodwill towards his audience. As with anything else in life, trust is extremely important. How can one be expected to accept new ideals and a new future if they do not trust the person conveying the ideas. Martin Luther King was also a master of emotional proof. He was able to speak in a way that really touched people and made them feel the power of his words. His goal was, of course, to inspire reasoned, civic, decision making, which he was able to do through the emotional connections he made with the audience through his rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteI agree that King's speech has a lasting impression not only for its meaning and significance for civil rights, but also because it is a solid example of rhetoric. He follows through with all three rhetorical proofs (logos, pathos, ethos) and also the 5 cannons of rhetoric. The way he captivated his audience was made possible by his following the different aspects of rhetoric. I thought that invention and memory were some his stronger points. By balancing common knowledge with new spins, and repeating his ideas constantly, he kept his point clear and concise.
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