Martin Luther King Junior ( Mlk )

There is a reason why Martin Luther Kings, “I have a Dream,” speech stands and is recognized as one of the greatest speeches of all time. MLK’s form of rhetorical demands for justice for the indifference to the black community is a touchstone for all to express and relate to the American racial tragedies of their time. Focusing on some of the specific examples (facts) to “ground” MLK’s arguments, to help enforce the use of Metaphors to emphasize contrasting concepts, while following the theme of repetition throughout, “I have a dream.” Within the speech, through audio recordings, the solid firm voice that the preacher to the masses utilizes is a significant acceptance to the lifestyle and constant training that MLK faced throughout his entire life.

Racism has always been a major problem in America. However, it was known to be the most problematic in the late 1950s. On August 28 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his infamous speech “I Have a Dream” to America. His dream highlighted the injustices of segregation and discrimination of African Americans that took place in this nation every single day. Dr. King inspired thousands despite the color of their skin, to take a stance against racism, with his powerful way with words. In his speech MLK efficaciously uses, Ethos, Pathos, and Logos by using allusions, developing credibility, in his speech to persuade all Americans to be aware of the problems with racism.

One example of symbolism he used would be, “Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of justice.” In that quote MLK talks about a dark and desolate valley of segregation and the sunlit path of justice. The dark and desolate valley of segregation is referring to the U.S. at that point in time. People were separated based on their skin color and there was no social or legal justice for the people of dark colored skin. It was a horrible time to live in. The sunlit path of justice MLK Jr. also talks about is how the U.S. should be now and in the future. There would be no segregation or injustice based on skin color. There would be peace between the two races. So, using that knowledge, MLK Jr. is saying, with the use of symbolism, that the U.S. needs to change from its unequal and horrid ways to ones that treat everyone equal.

many people still did not want to change. It took a strong leader, a person who believed in peace and justice for blacks, and Martin Luther King Jr. was that man.

Symbolism itself is the use of a symbol (like an object or fact) to represent an idea or quality that is not what the symbol itself physically is. MLK Jr. used symbolism as a way to show the reader or listener to his speech his ideas or his point in a clearer manner. One example of symbolism he used would be, “Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of justice.” In that quote MLK talks about a dark and desolate valley of segregation and the sunlit path of justice. The dark and desolate valley of segregation is referring to the U.S. at that point in time. People were separated based on their skin color and there was no social or legal justice for the people of dark colored skin. It was a horrible time to live in. When MLK Jr. talks

Lastly, MLk uses many metaphors in his speech to make it effective. One example of this is, “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from

Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most famous civil rights activists in the history of the United States. He gave several important speeches and promoted non-violent protests. His most famous speech was “I Have A Dream”, around a quarter of a million patrons, black and white, attended this empowering speech at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. The reason his speech was vastly successful in the movement against segregation and injustice was because of its repetitiveness.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech was an astonishing display of language that persuaded the American nation to dissolve the barrier that stood between equality for all in our great nation. The true beauty in Dr. King’s speech rests in his ability to persuade the audience at the Lincoln Memorial, as well as, the nation to believe that it is a necessity to rid the exigence of segregation. Through the usage of metaphors that engage the reader, King uses language as an instrument to control the audience’s emotions and fuel their ideas that they can be the ones to make the change to propel our nation from one mediocrity to greatness. In his speech, King uses an eloquent blend between symbols and emotions through metaphors to persuade the audience that there is no true constraint that can hold them from achieving their goal and use the historical March on Washington as the solution to this exigence that failed to wither away one hundred years ago when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

African American Baptist minister and activist, Martin Luther King, Jr., in his “I Have a Dream” speech, addresses racism against Negros and demands equal rights and freedoms. King’s purpose is to motivate his audience to join him in fighting for what they deserve. He shifts from an urgent, demanding tone at the beginning of the speech to a more hopeful and patriotic tone towards the end. Throughout the speech, Dr. King appeals to the audience’s desire to better their futures by utilizing figurative language, such as similes and metaphors, and rhetorical devices such as repetition and parallelism.

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.

We have all heard Martin Luther King’s famous speech, I have a Dream. His main goal was to convince everyone across the country to comprehend racial equality and to reinforce a solution for those individuals already engaged in the Civil Rights movement. You could say his speech was part of what made the movement successful. By him taking a stand, much attention was put into the problems that were going on. He was and still is viewed as an important leader who was an activist in the Civil Rights Movement. Here we will basically dissect parts of his speech and define the points he was making and trying to make. Throughout the paper, you will see how Dr. King uses Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to show his audience and make them feel what went on.

To begin with, MLK uses the rhetorical device Logos in his “I have A Dream” speech. He states on page 261 paragraph 2,”Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.” King selects this rhetorical device to make his speech more influential, respected, and effective by using this piece of logical information. King chooses this example of Logos to make his speech more influential, respected, and effective because when he stated that when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, the signature “gave hope to millions of Negro slaves…It became a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.” Based on his statement, we can conclude that many African American slaves had hope that other African Americans had a better future ahead of them. This rhetorical device persuades the audience to respect The Civil Rights Movement because he mentioned Abraham Lincoln. To elaborate, this mentioning of Lincoln persuades people to respect The Civil Rights Movement because Lincoln is known as “Americas Greatest President.” Being known as “Americas Greatest President” would influence people to respect the movement because those who believed he was “Americas Greatest President” would most likely contribute to the movement. Abraham Lincoln was known for being “Americas Greatest President” for many reasons, one of the reasons being how he signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Mentioning Abraham Lincoln fits into the occasion which is to end segregation and fight for freedom because it shows how even after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation; African Americans are still not free. By this I mean Colored people are still being treated differently and unfairly compared to Whites. This also fits

August 28, 1963 (Eidenmuller) marked a very important day in history that had an impact not only on America, but the whole world. On this day, Martin Luther King Jr. presented his well known I Have a Dream speech that aimed to eliminate racism, inequality and discrimination. He strongly believed that one day people would put their differences aside and come together. So, what happened to that dream? Along with other equality initiative ideas, they rarely make it past the idea stages or end in the actual eradication result. It is clear to us that even after 51 years, our societies still struggle with accepting full equality. Within those 51 years we have made a mass amount of progress but, a common thought would be that after this long the issue should have been eradicated. Two essays that can be used as an example of proof that racial inequality still exists in our society are, Black Men in Public Spaces by Brent Staples and Who Shot Johnny? by Debra Dickerson. In these essays, both provide solid evidence to support their main goal with the use of different writing styles, tone, and rhetorical devices to display how African Americans are perceived and treated by society.

“The time is always right to do what is right” (King). Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an influential man with an influential message. Since he was young, Dr. King was recognized as a skilled public speaker with a compelling message of truth, justice, honesty and, most notably, equality. As a boy, Dr. King attended segregated schools; he, firsthand, experienced the effects of racial discrimination through segregation in the United States.

In his speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” Martin Luther King Jr. reminds his audience of the agony, strength, and resentment they feel due to racial discrimination through personification, imagery, equivocation, and anaphora. In doing so, King persuades his audience of protestors to apply nonviolent methods of reform to gain equality while propelling a newfound sense of energy and motivation into the movement. King begins his speech by integrating personification and imagery to emphasize the pain and destruction that such unfairness creates in order to unify and convince his audience to make a change in the world. Through equivocation, he stresses the strength in the unified force of the African American community to demonstrate that passive resistance enough to achieve success. King alludes to the audience's anger in order to rally the protesters and incite energy in their tedious journey of reform. The rhetorical strategies of highlighting the various pathetic appeals works for the intended audience of demonstrators because this movement for equality has a very emotional origin.