Robert F. Kennedy

Robert F. Kennedy effectively addresses the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. through his numerous appeals to emotion, ethics, and reason in his persuasive speech. Throughout the speech Robert F. Kennedy persuades people to think the way he thinks and live in equality rather than acting in a destructive and violent manner. President Kennedy starts out first by directly addressing the audience, the statement “Ladies and gentlemen: I’m only going to talk to you for just a minute or so…” hooks the audience by giving them a sense of the speech being personal. After he has grasped the audience’s attention he addresses the issue of Martin Luther King, Jr. being killed. The death of him greatly appeals to the emotions of people because the audience members have most likely dealt with a loss and might have felt connected to Martin Luther King, Jr. I believe that the main purpose of the speech was to use such a tragic event to bond the American people and bridge the gap between whites and blacks at the time. “I would only say that I like dick and I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling.” President Kennedy is using his own personal experience of someone dear to him being assassinated the same way to show there are other ways to deal with grief than with violence such as continuing the vision of those taken from us. His expert experience of a loss through an assassination, where he acted calmly and