Civil Rights Comparison

Monday, February 23, 2015

Stasis Theory- MLK's March on Washington photo

The stasis theory is typically defined as a four to five question process used to provide background on the issue and help the reader come to consensus on the arguement the writer is going to make. In this the blog the main comparison is the rhetorical appeal that Dr. Martin Luther King was able to create by leading one of the largest non-violent peace protests during the civil rights movement compared to the rhetoric of the more radical and demanding black panther party's ten point plan.

The photo of Dr. King was taken during the historic March on Washington, moments before King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on August 28, 1963. The march was called as a result of the continuing discrimination that blacks have faced in terms of equal treatment in the workforce, and to advocate for the passage of a new Civil Rights Act. The result of the march as seen in the photograph was over 200, 000 Americans gathering to hear a series of songs, speeches, and prayers from some of the most progressive leaders during the civil rights movement.

The fact of the matter is that in the photograph Martin Luther King's joyous and welcoming facial expression can be easily noted. Also the such a diverse crowd had gathered to hear King speak also speaks volumes. This photograph and my knowledge of this historic event prove to show that the reason for the immense amount of people that gathered in unity to fight for equality among races in our nation, would not have occured if it was not for the love, positivity, and peaceful that Dr. King showed. That sense of positivity and non-violent approach is likely why so many people were supportive of King's message, as opposed to the black panther party's ten point plan.

Thomas Outing

2 comments:

CAGBFebruary 26, 2015 at 5:52 PM
Interesting and well written, Thomas. So do you think that the stasis in question here is one of action, as King is asking for, or demanding, social change? Or do you think that there is also an element of the jurisdiction stasis, as King is empowering a person of a certain mind and heart to act?
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CAGBFebruary 26, 2015 at 5:52 PM
Interesting and well written, Thomas. So do you think that the stasis in question here is one of action, as King is asking for, or demanding, social change? Or do you think that there is also an element of the jurisdiction stasis, as King is empowering a person of a certain mind and heart to act?
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Critical Introduction

Mike (Intro/Ethos)

Our names are Mike, Tommy, Ian, Jack, and Noah and we are five English 101S students at the University of Maryland, College Park. We have been studying rhetoric this semester and have been slowly becoming familiar with various rhetorical appeals. Although we are not experts on rhetoric, we have enough familiarity with the appeals to expand on them. We chose the Black Panthers 10-Point Plan and a picture of Marin Luther King’s 1963 March on Washington because we felt that both of these works greatly contributed to the Civil Rights Movement through completely opposite perspectives. The Black Panthers’ 1966 “10 Point Plan” radically and aggressively depicted the wants and beliefs of the Black community, while Martin Luther King’s 1963 March on Washington addressed the Black community’s needs through eloquence, peaceful protest, and sophisticated rhetoric. The Black Panthers’ 10-Point plan was aggressive in nature, often expressing radical views. They were not necessarily bad, as many people followed the regime. Martin Luther King Jr.’s approach was obviously more peaceful and sophisticated, thus creating more of a politically correct movement.

Jack (Major argument/Stasis)

Our blog shows that the Black Panthers’ 1966 Ten Point Plan radically and aggressively depicted the wants and beliefs of the black community, while Martin Luther King’s 1963 March on Washington addressed the black community’s needs with eloquence, peaceful protest, and sophisticated rhetoric. We compare these different approaches to the Civil Rights Movement by analyzing the ethos, pathos, and logos of each of the texts. Furthermore, we contrasted the types of audiences each text targeted and the audiences with which each text was more successful. Overall our blog analyzes and compares the effectiveness of differing approaches used by MLK and the Black Panthers.

Tommy (Kairos)

The issues represented by the texts are still very relevant today, especially considering the events of the past year such as the riots caused by the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and other similar cases. Racially charged protests are not simply a thing of the past. Determining which method of protest, whether it be a more aggressive and assertive stance of the Black Panther Party or the hope-filled non-violent stance of Dr. King, still remains a long unanswered question. Ultimately the answer probably lies in some happy medium between the two. However, we leave it up to the readers to decide which method has been more historically successful, and which approach would work better on the readers themselves.

Noah (Logos)

Our blog begins with analyses of the rhetorical situations of our texts and the major rhetorical arguments in each. We did this to introduce the texts, their backgrounds and the messages they convey to the audience. We then wrote about the rhetorical appeals used in each text to show how the authors intended to impart their arguments. Finally, we analyzed the audience that each text was designed for and the visual elements of each text. We used the analysis of the audience to show how each text was designed to target them. Overall, we introduced the texts and why they were important to get readers interested and engaged in our topic. Then we went into detail about the texts and the methods behind their reasoning and arguments to give readers insight about the texts. Lastly, we showed how the audience and visual elements of the texts further contributed to their purposes and show the impact of each text.

Ian (Pathos)

Although our blog focused on all of the appeals, we found that Dr. King and the Black Panthers especially appealed to the Pathos of their audiences. We not only wanted to examine the pathos of each text individually, but how they related to each other in a time of great social turmoil. We wanted to convey that the March on Washington was a sort of emotional high water mark of the civil rights movement; more progress towards equality was made in the coming years, but not quite to the level of expectations set in 1963. This sense of a letdown with the work of Dr. King was a strong influence in the creation of the Black Panthers. Tired of waiting, he Panthers worked to improve the lives of blacks directly rather than working for racial equality. The causation between the failures of Dr. King and the birth of the Black Panthers, especially in relation to their respective appeals to pathos, was very important, and we tried to highlight it in our blog.