Martin Luther King's Speech

In Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence”, King asserts that the war in Vietnam is a “symptom” (7) of a much larger disease that affects the “American spirit” (7). The disease King mentions is causing destruction where ever it is found, and in the case of the Vietnam war, it has led to their oppression and the death of people. In the section, Strange Liberators, King states, “They move sadly and apathetically as we heard them off the land of their fathers into concentration camps where minimal social needs are rarely met. They know they must move or be destroyed by our bombs” (8). King believed that the disease was leading the United States to take drastic actions against the Vietnamese people. The U.S.

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.

Shortly before Martin Luther King was shot, he gave a powerful speech on civil rights. Martin Luther King’s last speech, ‘I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”, was given during the Memphis sanitation strike in which almost 1000 black workers were on strike for not being treated fairly. On April 3rd, 1968, MLK gave his final speech during the times of nonviolent civil rights protest, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” is remembered by people as MLK asking the black population to go out in the streets with him and non violently protest for what they deserve. In his speech, Martin Luther King effectively uses many allusions, repetition, and metaphors to indicate his key point of calling the African American community to action; as he told them

To explain his intentions for how they should go about protesting this time, King first deems it necessary to reassure his audience of their First Amendment privileges that they should receive for living in the United States. To do so, he uses the rhetorical device of repetition for the third time by saying that “Somewhere I [he] read” about certain freedoms that all citizens should be granted—multiple indirect references to the Constitution’s Bill of Rights. At the end, he says, “Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right” (King 4), brilliantly adding an antanaclasis that further embellishes the rhythmic manner of his speech. He is simply appealing to logos again in this instance; by recalling words from one of the most important documents in the country’s history, he is providing factual justification for the nonviolent protests he is about to

Initially, King starts by talking about the world and its problem to start appealing to the crowd’s emotions. At the beginning of the speech, King starts by talking about if he could travel throughout time, all the great places he would go, but at the end he says, “If you allow

Hello, today I am going to be talking about segregation oppression, War crimes, judgmental, and equality. Take a stand For your rights. Take a stand for the truth and Justice pencil. Everybody needs to be fair and great to each and everybody. So let's get started.

What makes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s speech so important till this day? It’s ability to still move people. Dr. King Jr. was one of the best speakers of his time during the Civil Rights Movement. He wrote many distinguished works, two of them being his I Have a Dream Speech and his letter, Letters from Birmingham. Letters from Birmingham Jail was written from jail after he was shortly arrested for attempting to share his views with clergymen on this racial injustice. Dr. King delivered his I Have a Dream Speech at a crucial Civil Rights rally across from the Washington Memorial. Both times he was trying to send the same message to the American people: Black Americans will no longer allow social injustices. In both works he employs figurative language and appeals.

I do agree with you, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speech gives me chills every time I hear it. There is a certain power in his voice and just to think that he lost his life for the sake of freedom. Of course, then as a child of almost seven I did not know what an impact this great leader would have on our country. When he died in 1968, I was twelve years old. Therefore, I lived through so many changes and such a time when my white classmates and I welcomed and received new friends into our school. We also used their school for certain grades and activities. I had no problem, because I had been taught to treat others with respect and kindness. Sure there were and will always be those who discriminate against people who are different from them.

“I have a dream today,” This is a quote from Martin Luther King’s speech against segregation. During the 1850’s, ‘coloured’ or ‘black’ people were segregated against by law. This included separate public facilities, divided education and less payment for the same work. This inequality caused many people to protest for their human rights against segregation. Their protest for equality gained many followers and eventually stopped the racism, causing both races to unite as one and gain their independence as one nation rather than two separate races.

Thank you for seeing our country for more than it was. Thank you for challenging the social structure, and for going against norms of the time. You saw people as what they were; people, regardless of color. You saw their heart and soul, and wanted to embrace the goodness in everyone. You fought for equality among all Americans, and I applaud you for pursuing the dream that you envisioned for our country. You are truly a good man. You persevered through trials and hardships. You were scorned and mocked by people, and yet you did not give up, that takes an exceptionally brave man. Without you Dr. King, our country would be a much different place than it is today. So, thank you for having a dream and then setting out to accomplish your

Both speeches were moving, evidentially historical and both had a vision for America, both speeches call for action, to achieve the goal to create unity towards a single purpose. However the goals differ from each speech, MLK’s speech looks towards ending racial segregations within the south and Obama’s was directed towards a vision of a better America in general.

King explains his idea of a utopia of America by using metaphors such as, “I would take my mental flight by Egypt and I would watch God's children in their magnificent trek from the dark dungeons of Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the promised land. And in spite of its magnificence, I wouldn't stop there.” Martin Luther King wants to convey his robust ambition for America to change their prejudice ways. He believes that we should all rise up together to obtain equality for people of all nationalities.

King is very good at capturing the audiences’ attention through emotional appeal. He makes sure to talk about the poor treatment people of color have had to deal with. “One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” (King). He uses this time span to put into perspective how long African Americans have been waiting to finally be free from treatment such as, segregation and discrimination. He uses analogies to help his audience

Everyone has dreams, but do yours influence you as Martin Luther King junior dreams did? Martin Luther King dreams of a world where there is true freedom, justice, and equality for blacks and whites. As he calls his fellow native Africans to stand up for their civil rights so that one day there will be no difference between black and white. By observing the goals King presents, what techniques he uses and how he appeals to his audience, we can then discover how effective these techniques are in achieving his goals. When dissecting Martin Luther King junior’s speech “ I Have a Dream,” I found the speech to be very influential, as it resulted in many people making it their own dream and taking actions to fulfill it.

Martin Luther King’s speech, I Have a Dream, rallied a historic march on August 28, 1963 to Washington, to show the importance of solving the United States racial problems. A large crowd of people gathered and listened to his uplifting and amazing words, (Garrison, 1831, pg. 2577). “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!” (Garrison, 1831, p. 2581)