Logos

Salvador Lopez


English 5B


Professor Baer


February 9, 2015

Logos analysis on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Henry David Thoreau

After reading both the letter and article from both authors. I noticed both authors try to make their point heard through out their writings. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his letter to the clergy men to inform them all about the non-violent protests and their beliefs. He felt like the people from Birmingham were being treated unfairly and unequal. He wanted to spread equality throughout the country. Then, Henry David Thoreau felt like the government gets into peoples ways and felt like if you put a lot of men in charge they will seem to make bad decisions. Throughout his writing he expresses how he feels towards the government. However, I for one feel like Dr. King Jr used less Logos than Thoreau.

Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. himself writes, "One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust." In other words, Dr. King Jr. believes that some laws are unjust due to their unfairness or inequality. I agree that some people have a right to morally but responsibly disobey unjust laws if they do not equalize. Ethos plays into factor, since his character answered that there is two types of laws unjust and just. He strongly believes there is two types of laws since one advocates breaking and then obeying such laws.

However, in Thoreaus writing he doesn't use authorities or examples he just using a deductive type of reasoning. 

For example Thoreau writes, “The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it." What Thoreau is basically trying to say in my belief is that people have chosen to execute their will towards the government; whereas, they do not know that the government can easily abuse their will before the people can act against it. This claim is a logos statement because it he is trying to persuade us by the use of reasoning. 

In conclusion, both writings share logos, but Dr. Kings writing sides more with inductive and Thoreau sides more with the deductive reasoning. Ultimately, these are both good writings that are trying to get their point heard throughout everyone. 

Letter from Birmingham Jail (ethos)

Salvador Lopez 

Professor Baer

English 5B

12:00-12:00pm

Letter From Birmingham Jail (ethos)

The writing, “The Letter From Birmingham Jail ” by Martin Luther King Jr. sets a strong and straightforward tone from the very beginning with powerful diction to explain himself in a well mannered way. Nevertheless, it is a response letter he wrote while he was imprisoned for defying the law in Birmingham. The letter was to his eight “fellow clergymen” as King mentions, who wrote an open letter statement criticizing his actions in Birmingham. As a result of the criticisms that crossed his path, King was definitely not flattered and felt the urge to explain his actions and explain why it was not erroneous for him to do. Thus, he decides to automatically respond and give an explanation in his letter to every criticism his clergymen wrote about him. This letter that King wrote has various examples of ethos. 

As King mentions in his speech, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow 
we stand today, signed the emancipation proclamation.”His use of ethos towards Lincoln was 
influential because Lincoln was an excellent president who empowered several Americans throughout 
the civil war. Later, he earned respect and trust from America and created a new form of freedom. In 
other words, King is just referring back to Lincoln and his stance on civil rights. Here, he is providing 
a powerful ethos appeal and is building credibility with his audience who have gathered on the day of 
March on Washington.
Furthermore, Martin Luther King Jr. states, " We have some eighty-five affiliate organizations all across the South, one being the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights." In making this comment, Dr. King Jr. urges the clergy men to believe that there is more organizations other than the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Dr. King Jr. refers back to his other organization to inform the clergy men that they want to spread equality throughout the country. In order to spread equality, the segregated city of Birmingham has to realize segregation is unfair and consider desegregating. 

Salvador Lopez

Professor Baer

English 5B

MWF 12:00-12:50PM

Letter from Birmingham Jail (Pathos)

This letter was for the clergy men of the Birmingham Jail. In this letter from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. we can point out certain Rhetorical situations that others might not see when they first read it. Therefore, i will be pointing out certain examples of Pathos from this letter. 

When i read this article for the first time i did not focus on the rhetorical aspect of it; however, after reading it an knowing about rhetorical situations some quotes in the letter stood out to me as pathos, ethos, and logos. For example, Dr.King wrote,"We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights." In this quote Dr. King uses pathos by sharing to us that people have waited 340 years for rights. This is a lot of years for someone to be waiting. He uses the years as  reference to say how much more do they have to wait? He wants to inform them that they have been waiting a long period, and they want their rights just like everyone else in the country. 

Furthermore, Dr.King also addressed to the clergy men,"There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in this nation" Dr.King points out to the reader that the colored don't have the same treatment as the whites do. King shares to us that if a colored persons belongings,premises, or themselves are destroyed upon, they don't worry for them as much as they would care for a white person getting hurt. King points out the injustice there is in Birmingham. He wants others to realize it just as bad as he does. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. never wanted to get revenge because it would get him no where, they would just consider him as another criminal. However, he non-violently wrote them this letter addressing them of the deeply segregated city.  

Steven Johnsons essay response

Salvador Lopez

Professor Baer

Englsih 5A

11/15/14

Steven Johnson’s “Why Games are Good For You” Response

            I feel like Steven Johnson’s essay is particularly well written in my opinion. I like how the author used more of a persuasive type of strategy to grab the author’s attention. For example, he persuades us by giving us information that we can relate to; Johnson gave us an example of GtaV a modern video game that people play now. I also liked how he brought up his counter argument and he also included a person named Dr. Spock who believed that video games were bad. I really enjoyed how Johnson had a lot of information for everything, but he didn’t bore me with it since he just didn’t hand us charts. Johnson actually shared his personal experiences; he didn’t keep it straightforward. I feel like being persuasive is one thing I can use in my Project 3 Paper. I feel like having information about my topic that is up to date is more persuasive to others than having a bunch of information that is from the 80’s. I just feel like having background knowledge and enough of information will help me get through my Project 3 with no worries

source #2 Project 3

Salvador Lopez

Professor Baer

English 5A

MWF 12:00-12:50 PM

Source #2

            I found another article,” A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being?” by Robert Kraut. This article is about samples helping to inform us that Social medias sometime lead in a negative way. When somebody wastes too much time on the screen they achieve negative impacts in their lives. For example, they share to us a sample of people on the internet too much causing them to become less interactive towards close family and friends. Then, they also share to us that if someone spends too much time on the screen then they can sometimes increase depression or loneliness. What they are trying to say overall is if you spend most of your time facing the screen, then you gain negative impacts in your life that some people might not even see. Some people cant even see depression till its too late; I suggest people should spend more time interacting with one another in person rather than being stuck on the computer looking at bright light. I feel like this article can help me by sharing some samples that people actually did that can cause people to think that social medias can affect the way we communicate.