Civil Disobedience Rhetorical Analysis

In the book “ 50 Essays” by Samuel Cohen : “ Civil Disobedience” by Charles Thoreau, “Letter from Birmingham” by Martin Luther King Jr., and “ Civil Disobedience: Destroyer of Democracy” by Lewis H. Van Dusen Jr. , and with each of these essays they use different ways throughout their essays to persuade the readers. I will be discussing the different appeals that each Author uses to draw in their audience by using ethos,logos,pathos,and Kairos. Each appeal has a different meanings, and as well a different way of connecting with its audience. Thoreau and Van Dusen uses similar forms of persuasion to obtain their audience's attention throughout the essays.

Thoreau and Van Dusen both tend to lean more towards the use of logos in their essays. In both essays they are both against the American government's laws, and stupidity and injustice within the laws. They both say that the American government is useless, and they are only there to work against you through the passing of unnecessary laws. As Therou states “ The Government itself, which is only the mode which people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and inverted before the people can act through it.” What Thoreau is trying to say here is that people put most of their trust into the government, and they always take our rights and suppress them
Henry David Thoreau, Lewis H. Van Dusen, and Martin Luther King Jr. all three found a way to show their messages through the different forms of persuasion in writing. By using the different way to draw in their audience they have shown to their readers that the power of persuasion, and the ability to stand for what is right you can accomplish almost anything. If Dr. King can help end the everlasting feud between African Americans and Whites with the power of what is right then anything can be accomplished with the right