Compare & Contrast:I Have a Dream and America's Multinational Heritage

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Compare and Contrast Essay
Authors use different elements of writing to pass across their information. Martin Luther king 's I have a dream and America's Multinational heritage by Ishmael reed, use some of those elements to appeal to their audience. Such elements of writing make it easy for the author to propel their narrations. Therefore, this paper will focus on the use of personal encounters, historical allusions, and appeals to ethos and pathos to compare and contrast both works.
The background information on both authors is a reflection of their work. Reeds can be considered as a precursor to his article, and therefore, this makes it a great appeal to ethos. Reed is an African American writer, and hence, his background makes it easy for him to connect with the audience. His article talks about social obstacles that affect African Americans in American society. Some people tend to consider other races apart from the whites to be "un-American." The author's background is an indication that he has had experience of some of the challenges that the Blacks face. Besides, this stands him a better position of writing about how individuals in modern American believe it to be a monoculture society. The writing is an indication of the discrimination that faces people from other ethnicities living in America. Regardless of the diversity of the American population in terms of people's ethnic origin, American society still believes that the country only has one culture. Besides, Reeds creates ethos by mentioning the views of the Yale professor's speech at the University of Wisconsin. Regarding the American culture. The professor argues out that America is a melting pot of different cultures (Reed 64). Given the fact that Yale is one of the most prestigious universities in the nation, then having one of their professors agree with the author's arguments adds more credibility to his work. As well, the background of Martin Luther Kind played a substantial role in the information he presented in his speech. Luther was best known as America's civil rights activist. He became the spokesperson of the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 up to 1968 when he was executed. In 1964, he won a Nobel prize for reducing racial inequality by the use of non-violent resistance. Therefore, this justifies Luther's urge to fight for the rights of the blacks as outlined in his speech. It is a successful appeal to ethos. Besides, Luther was an African American, and therefore, this is an indication that he had a first encounter with the problems that were facing the people from his race. His grievances are reflected in the speech as he points out that the emancipation proclamation was signed to free the Negro. However, one hundred years later, the Negros are still in captivity due to discrimination and segregation.
Besides, both authors have use pathos in their writings to present their views. For instance, Reeds quotes a novelist who said that the greatest achievement of humankind was through western civilization. He goes ahead to compare this statement with emotionally charged phrases such as "Hitler was a prophet," "white power," and "Naggers and Spic's Suck." He uses other emotional worlds to indicate western civilization as one of the worst events in the history of human beings (Reed 65). Reeds use various examples that form a negative emotional connection with the views of the opposition's side. An example is the Hitter's view on the murder of thousands of African-Americans. In a society that is full of people from different cultures across the world, then the killing of individuals from a particular race has no justification. Given that Reeds is African-American, then it is justifiable for him to feel emotionally disturbed by the killings of people from his ethnic origin. Besides, the fact that modern America considers itself as a monoculture nation, then it means that the lives of the murdered African Americans do not matter. Therefore, it is right for Reeds to write ideas that provoke negative emotions to the viewers of America as a monoculture nation. Similarly, Luther uses pathos to pass across the information on his speech. Being a civil rights activist, it is justifiable to speak his mind as well as the views of the members of the civil rights movement. In his speech, Luther points out the details of a promissory note that was signed to make every American its heir (King 1999). The note made a promise that all men, regardless of their race, would have rights of life, the pursuit of happiness and liberty. Therefore, Luther represents an emotional concern since the details of that note have not been honored. He talks about how America has defaulted the agreement of that note by giving the blacks a bad check, marked as insufficient funds. He also uses emotionally charged words by saying that he refuses to agree with the fact that the bank of justice is bankrupt. It is clear that the negros had been neglected, and t was time for them to earn their rightful democracy. The lack of justice is an indication that blacks face discrimination, poor living conditions, and low wages. Luther presented the speech at a time when black people had different living areas from the whites. While the whites lived in good estates, the blacks had a life in the ghettos. Therefore, most parts of Martin Luther's s...