Question

King says, “You may well ask: 'Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?' You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored.”
Which rhetorical strategy does King employ with this statement?
tone
ethos
logos
pathos

Answer 1

In this statement, Martin Luther King Jr. employs **logos**, or logical appeal. He presents a reasoned argument for why direct action is necessary, explaining that it serves to create tension that forces a community to confront issues that have been ignored. By addressing potential counterarguments and providing a rationale for direct action, King uses logical reasoning to clarify the purpose and necessity of such methods in the civil rights movement.