2024-04-09 en

MLK uses metaphors to paint a vivid picture of his message and to support his points. For example, when talking about how he trusts in the American nation to bring true equality, he mentions that “with this faith, we [the American people] will be able to hew out of the mountain of disparity a stone of hope” (ln. 25-26). With this example he symbolizes the scale of racial injustice, yet replacing hopelessness with a small but fierce hope.
In addition to this, he says that this hope will be able to “transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood”, visualizing a future where the racial stereotypes between the southern ex-slave states and the northern liberal states are replaced with unity and equality.

Biden’s speech

arguments

“And the list grows when it includes mass shootings at places like movie theaters, houses of worship, and, as we saw just 10 days ago, at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.”
“Since [the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting 10 years ago], there have been over 900 incidents of gunfires reported on school grounds.”
“When we passed the assault weapons ban, mass shootings went down. When the law expired, mass shootings tripled.”
“The idea that an 18-year-old kid can walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons is just wrong.”
“What in God’s name do you need an assault weapon for except to kill someone?”
“And the gun manufacturers have spent two decades aggressively marketing assault weapons which make them the most and largest profit.”
“For God’s sake, we have to have the courage to stand up to the industry.”
“What struck me was these kinds of mass shootings rarely happen anywhere else in the world.”
“But these kinds of mass shootings never happen with the kind of frequency that they happen in America. Why?”

devices

repetition: “when in God’s name”, “what in God’s name” (ln. 21, 37, 50) - sense of urgency, reinforce key points
metaphor: “To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away.” (ln. 13) - make the audience emphasize with the families of the victims
hyperbole - convey the speaker’s frustration
- “And don’t tell me we can’t have an impact on this carnage.”
- “I am sick and tired of it.”
appeal to emotion: call to action out of the listener’s empathy and compassion
- “I ask the nation to pray for them, to give the parents and siblings the strength in the darkness they feel right now.”
- “May God bless the loss of innocent life on this sad day.”
appeal to authority - support points with shared morals and ideas (christianity is deeply rooted within the American nation):
- “‘May the Lord be near the brokenhearted and save those crushed in spirit.‘” (quote from the bible)
- “God” (ln. 5, 19, 35, 37, 41, 49, 61, 63)

In the speech titled “Remarks by President Joe Biden on the School Shooting in Uvalde, Texas” published May 24, 2022 (the day after the incident) Biden expresses his condolences for victims of the shooting and persuades the listener that gun laws should tighten again.

Biden argues that mass shootings are generally not rare occurences in America and supports his claim with statistical evidence. Biden mentions that since the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in 2012 there have been “over 900 incidents of gunfires reported on school grounds” (ln. 23). He also points out that besides from school shootings there are frequent other shootings such as the shooting 10 days before the speech at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York (comp. ln. 27).

Furthermore, Biden presents the fact that the wide spread of assault weapons are the result of “the gun manufacturers have spent two decades aggressively marketing assault weapons” (ln. 39) because they “make the most and largest profit” (ln. 39).
He asks a rhetoric question followed by a hyperbole to further support his point and to express his frustration: “What in God’s name do you need an assault weapon for except to kill someone? […] Deer aren’t running through the forest with Kevlar vests on, for God’s sake. It’s just sick” (ln. 35-37).