Martin Luther King Speech Analysis

“Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation… But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free...the Negro is sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chain of discrimination,“ (King 261). During the civil rights movement Martin Luther King, Jr. had a speech about how they were treated and does not have much right like others, even they were supposed to be free long ago. During the 1960s, the group of people was treated poorly than another group of people. People who are treated unwantedly wanted a right, freedom, and change in society. Like what Martin Luther King told his audiences they were supposed to have the same

Martin Luther King Jr. built his speech around fighting unjust conditions placed on both African Americans and soldiers of the Vietnam war with non-violent protest. King is arguably the best speaker the world has seen, he knows how to get his audience passionate about the problems America faces while also informing them of what causes these problems.

In the most paramount time of racism in America, there a voice that enacted a call for change. Martin Luther King was a Baptist minister and social activist who spent countless years, fighting for a civil rights. It was on the date of August 28th, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln memorial is where King made his leap of faith and spoke out on the injustice of African Americans. His dream for African Americans to be equal, appealed to the emotions of his audience. The desire to live a civil life and not be oppressed was felt by many. Martin Luther King delivered a speech that would immensely make an impact on the country.

After reading and analyzing Dr.Kings “Remaining Awake during a Revolution” commencement speech that he presented at Oberlin College during his graduation ceremony; he wanted the people to have a good visual on what he was explaining and talking about. King wanted to inform the people about what was going; so he used allusions, statics, and logos.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist and first hand witness of mistreatment of African Americans from the mid-1950s until April 4, 1968 when he was assassinated. He was a black man who grew up during a time of segregation and injustice. King Jr. came from a loving and structured home in which his father was an influential role model and a had a big impact on his future professions. Religion was also a large part of his life and was one of the biggest influences for his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. In this contextual analysis I will be summarizing the historical context of King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech” and how it impacted his social standing and life's work. I will be exploring how Martin Luther King Jr.’s upbringing set the stage for his civil rights activism involvement and allowed him to become one of the most famous African Americans in the twentieth century.

On the day of August 28th, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the world’s most famous speech on the front steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The speech was lively announced on a bright sunny day in front of a heavy crowd, which is said to of had 250,000 mixed racial people standing before the podium. The crowd went wild while he spoke about his future motives to change the way America treats African Americans. The speech was given to persuade a change in America, by ending segregation and giving equal rights to the African American race. Martin Luther King was a Baptist minister, and a social activist. He led the civil rights movement from the mid-1950’s to his heavy-hearted death, when he was assassinated on April 4th, 1968. Although he was never around to see the beautiful work he had accomplished, his speech and motive helped in creating the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Dr. King performed a motivational speech by using Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, which influenced Americans to believe the idea that all men were created equal.

Life was difficult for African Americans before the passage of civil rights laws recognizing equal rights. They were constantly insulted with comments of racism. The photograph of a lunch counter protest from the article “Miss. honors 50th anniversary of its Woolworth’s sit in” in the USA Today shows three protesters being abused by an angry mob. From the photograph we can conclude racism was a big thing blacks had to deal with every day.

According to Martin Luther King,”The time is always right to do what is right” This shows Martin Luther’s fairness and well tuned logic. So I found that,”I Have a Dream” to be the more compelling speech for many reasons. His central idea of having the rights brought by the founding fathers come to fulfillment is very inspiring. His main ideas ,on the other hand, use rhetorical devices such as figures of speech and imagery to support his central idea well. He also uses allusions and ethos to help his argument.

In the early 1960, the civil right movement reaches its peak. Dr. Martin Luther King, founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and a civil right activist lead the great march on Washington, where he deliver his “I have a dream” in front of over 200,000 of people at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.

Late in the summer of 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave one of the most controversial speeches in American history. His goal was to make all men and women both civilly and economically equal with nonviolent protests, courtly worded speeches, and pacifistic marches. Since his time African Americans have been granted more freedoms, but they have not yet reached equality of the white man. A comparison of his America and America today would reveal that his dream has yet become a reality, and the bad check of yesterday has yet to be refunded. Dr. King butters up his speech with an astonishing metaphorical language, a phraseology that can be interpreted in two different ways, and a call to come together.

On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King jr delivered one of the most influential speeches in American history. America was in the thick of the Civil Rights Movement, and Martin Luther King jr desperately wanted to mend the deep tear in our country. King stood on the Lincoln memorial, and impacted the nation with his words. King spoke about the injustices of segregation and discrimination of African Americans that was taking place in the United States at that time. In his first statement King wrote, “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.” King was determined to unite as one, and cure our country of racial injustice through this speech, and relentlessness. King was able to inspire the nation with his words. In his speech, King masterfully includes uses of an ethical standpoint, an emotional connection, and a logical approach to prove that racism was not the intended basis of the United States.

In the early 1960, the civil right movement reaches its peak. Dr. Martin Luther King, founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and a civil right activist lead the great march on Washington, where he deliver his “I have a dream” in front of over 200,000 of people at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. The movement was to call for end of segregation and inequality and to give freedom and racial equality for all blacks in America. King aspired to move the hearts of the people and encourage then to believe that freedom and equality could exist even in the current circumstances.

First and foremost, Dr. King begins his speech by making it clear that he and the oppressed are American citizens and should be treated as such. By this statement alone, he questions the integrity of the American government and its loyal citizens. As through slavery and segregation, the Christian foundation of which America was built on has been discarded. What the founding fathers fought for and wrote in the Constitution mostly applied to white Americans. In a way, one can say that the minorities were fatherless because they did not look upon as American citizens. They were treated as the unwanted children of America and the Rosa Park bus incident which is the reason of his speech, portraits that perfectly.

still have a dream.” Using ethos helped demonstrate his credibility by showing that he can relate to Negros and that he too has personally experienced racial inequality.

During the 20th century, the oppression and segregation of black individuals in the United States was very common and people. “The Southern states kept African Americans separated from whites in almost all facets of life. In some cases, the disparities were appalling.” (David)This was clearly an infringement of human rights some of the founding founders of the United States. This was due to the fact that most of the African American citizens in the United States had ancestral roots that were mostly slaves and as a result, they were considered not fit to share the same privileges as the White Citizens. With this uprising, it was common to see formulation of protest groups and Human right activist who stood up to fight for the justice and equality