Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” Analysis Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most quoted individuals of his time. He was a champion for equal rights among all and advocated for African American’s specifically. One of his most well known works is “I Have A Dream”. This speech is what King is mainly remembered for, and rightfully so. He discussed injustices and tensions at a time where so many people were afraid to speak out. Within this speech King uses Aristotle’s rhetorical devices, and common English literary devices. He also has a central theme throughout the speech. In order to understand the speech fully, the historical context of it must be analyzed as well. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the “I Have A Dream” speech on the steps of …show more content…
Within this call to action King utilized Aristotle’s rhetorical devices to really emphasize his points. (Website) Aristotle’s rhetorical devices include ethos, pathos, and logos. Each of these is showcased very well in “I Have A Dream”. Ethos is an ethical appeal of some kind. It also has to do with the credibility, and likeability factors of the speaker. This is exhibited in King’s speech when he states, “I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.” This appeals to ethos because it shows that King is rooting for the American dream. He doesn’t want individuals to succeed he wants his country to succeed. This gives him …show more content…
Not only did he use rhetorical devices, he used literary devices just as frequently. The three that stand out the most are his usage of metaphors, allusion, and repetition. His usage of metaphors is prominent when he states “ Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.” King was stating that racial injustice is like quicksand, and brotherhood is a solid rock. This is a unifying message that King uses, most likely to show how racial injustices don’t make sense. “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.” In this quote King is alluding to Abraham Lincoln. He does not directly state this, but it is obvious considering the setting of the speech, and the Emancipation Proclamation reference. King likely starts the speech this way to address racial injustices right away, and to begin to get to the main focus of his speech without too much hesitation. King also uses repetition to his advantage in this speech by stating “Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.” This is King’s attempt to make his final point, and call to action. This repetitive phrase helps King close out his speech on a truly strong note. (King) One of the central themes in King’s speech is that of justice. He never calls for pointless violence, or retaliation
Martin Luther King Jr., an American Baptist minister and a Civil Rights activist, became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is widely known for his speech that took place on 28 August 1963, “I Have a Dream.” This speech aimed toward the entire nation. King’s main purpose in this speech was to convince his audience to demand racial justice and for them all to stand up together for their rights. In this speech, King uses emotional and logical appeal to gain the audience's support. He applied many rhetorical devices to his speech to connect with the audience’s emotions, and to logically support his arguments.
Throughout his Letter King uses rhetoric devices such as Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to support the claim that, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." His use of ethos induces understanding
"I Have A Dream" is a mesmerizing speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was delivered to the thousands of Americans on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington. Aimed at the entire nation, King’s main purpose in this speech was to convince his audience to demand racial justice towards the mistreated African Americans and to stand up together for the rights afforded to African American under the Constitution. To further convey this purpose more effectively, King cleverly makes use of the rhetorical devices — ethos, pathos and logos — using figurative language such as metaphors and repetition as well as various other techniques e.g. organization, parallel construction and choice of title.
From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial more than forty years ago, Martin Luther King electrified America with his momentous "I Have a Dream" speech. This speech demanded racial justice towards the mistreated black community of America. The theme of the speech was that all humans were created equal and that this should be the case for the future of America. King's words proved to touch the hearts of millions of people and gave the nation a vocabulary to express what was happening to the black Americans. This did not happen by chance. Martin Luther King's speech was carefully constructed so it would have the most appropriate diction to propose his facts and ideas. His speech involved multiple different literary techniques which were very
In Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech (1963) "I Have a Dream," brings an up-roaring excitement to his audience, African-Americans, which fills their hearts. He employ's cases of diction and parallelism, telling everyone that he wants African-Americans to be truly free. This turned the tides for African-Americans in the United States, filling them with enthusiasm and the yearning for change.
King uses ethos, which is making himself seem credible, many times throughout his letter. An exceptional example of this would be in paragraph three, where King says, “...so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.” By comparing himself to the apostle Paul, it makes King appear to be more credible; more important and worthy of his position of leadership in the civil rights
King incorporates a myriad of stylistic devices that shape and develop the theme of the passage in the book. Through the periodic use of rhetorical questions such as,
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech is one of the most successful and most legendary speeches in United States history. Martin Luther King Jr. was a masterful speaker, who established a strong command of rhetorical strategies. By his eloquent use of ethos, logos, and pathos, as well as his command of presentation skills and rhetorical devices, King was able to persuade his generation that "the Negro is not free" (King 1). His speech became the rallying cry for civil rights and lives on as an everlasting masterpiece.
Near the end of Martin Luther King’s speech a gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted to Dr. King saying, “Tell them about the dream, Martin”. At this point Dr. King stopped reading the speech and expressed his inner feelings saying “I have a dream..”(Mlk, 4). He continued to tell the crowd of his dream for the Negros to be free and equal and that they would be able to live happily and do as they pleased. He had a dream that America would live out the meaning of the constitution stating “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal”. He tells the crowd that at the end “We are free at last”. Dr. King’s choice of words and the tone in which he delivers his speech is enticing and pleasing to the crowd of America.
Emotive imagery is flexibly employed by King in this passage to achieve his overall rhetorical goal.
When King gets up there to speak, he knows that he is fighting and uphill battle and the only way to persevere is with the power of numbers. King does what not many can do through the power of speech, he makes a nation realize that there is know true constraint holding them back from making change for the better of their great nation. King uses multiple metaphors in his speech to connect with the audience and create and emotional bond, one that they can relate to, a bond that unifies the masses to feel and understand what King is
Identify one rhetorical device and one structural device in that paragraph, and how those devices work to further King’s purpose.
On August 28th, 1963, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr stood on the steps in front of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. He spoke passionately for 17 minutes on his views about human equality for African Americans at one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in history. King played a major role in ending the segregation for African Americans. His rhetorical language left an impact on America. Through his use of appeals like ethos, logos, pathos, and other rhetorical techniques. He influenced Americans to believe in the notion that all men are created equal.
On August 28th 1963, Civil Rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr. made his infamous “I Have a Dream” speech. In the speech, King confronts the mistreatment of the African American community and the lack of free will they contain in society. Throughout the mid-1900s, the Civil Rights Movement took place, influenced by centuries of cruelty towards the African Americans.. The most influential speech in the modern era was said in front of thousands of Civil Rights activists who all shared a common goal; to fight for the respect and to be treated as equals within the United States.
Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” was a very inspiring and influential speech in American history and a stand for equal rights. His speech confronted racism in America. This was a remarkable moment in history for equal rights which is remembered to this day. “When all of God’s children, black men, and white men, Jews, and Gentiles, Protestants, and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing,” “Free at last! Free at last!)”