Rhetorical Analysis Of I Have A Dream By Martin Luther King Jr.

"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.

The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro.” This quote shows integrity because King is responding to the challenges of his critics, and truly speaks about the struggles that black residents go through. During this time, they were waiting too long for the freedoms that they were

In his speech, King expresses, that the "Negro...finds himself in exile in his own land” (Jr., Dr. Martin). This expression yields empathy as it demonstrates that he sympathizes with the unreasonable treatment and distance of African Americans. He likewise utilizes highly conative words to bring out an enthusiastic reaction in the audience, for example, "chains of discrimination" and "oppression" to fortify the requirement for change. He also uplifts his audience through positive diction using words such as “freedom,” “majestic,” and “brotherhood” to spur and move his crowd. He additionally claims to logos through his utilization of analogies: “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient

King addresses in this quotation the reasoning behind the sit-ins and the protests that are underway in response to the discrimination that is occurring. His argument about justice is that the single injustice of the discrimination of black people at this time unhinges the idea of justice is encompassing and in this case it is not encompassing the entire population. He speaks of this mutuality between all humans, no matter the race or background of a person and this injustice is truly an injustice to everyone, whether they are affected directly or indirectly by this

King’s speech; he puts himself in everyone else’s shoes by saying, “I am happy to join with you today.” By doing this, he captures their attention by telling them that “today will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.” Now that the audience is fully engaged, he moves towards the sole purpose of his speech. He does this by saying that after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, “100 years later the Negro still is not free.” He goes on to continue to list some of the issues which still occur today and ends his introduction with saying “now is the time” to start action. The body of his speech is primarily made up of the summarization of injustice that the African American people face. He brings up the fact that some people are unable to vote and the police brutality’s which of course support his argument. He makes it personal by giving his insight of his hopes and dreams for the future by stating that his kids will “not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” The speech’s conclusion properly reviews Martin Luther King Jr.’s points and stimulates the emotions of the audience. He does this by using the repetition of the phrase “let freedom ring” to rejoin with the audience and really emphasizes his belief of the importance of freedom and injustice. Finally, the last line of his speech, “all of God 's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and

100 years after the delivery of the Emancipation Proclamation delivered by President Abraham Lincoln, a young man by the name of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also known as the father of the modern civil rights movement, would stand on stage in Washington D.C. and deliver a speech to over 250,000 people known as the “I Have a Dream” speech. Arguably, one of the most memorable speeches of all time, Dr. King would raise the issues of social injustice, police brutality, and racial segregation. Hoping to one day see equality, unity, and equity prevail in the United States. As promised by our forefathers, all Americans would have unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Dr. King would resonate this message in hopes that all would hear and that things would change for the better.

Martin Luther King's speech "I Have a Dream" delivered on August 28, 1963 is said to be the greatest demonstration of America's history. Dr. King intended to appeal to both black and white audiences through his inspirational speech. Written in a persuasive, stylistic manner, he used strong diction to call for a change in the nation, doing so without violence. He successfully combined the use of repetition, word choice and figurative language in his speech to connect to his audience and set the emotional tone of the harsh segregations facing African-Americans of the time.

Continuously throughout his speech, King refers to the movement for freedom as a beacon of light. It is something the people of America should follow as it promises hope for the future. Also, King compares the racial injustices to burning fire by saying “seared in the flames of withering injustice”. The use of powerful words such as “seared” and “flames” really stand out to the listeners and gives them a sense of pain and despair, helping them to see the wrongdoings of the people who allowed these injustices. King goes on to say “the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty..” giving listeners a sense that African Americans were cast into this imprisonment of injustice, not through their own faults, but through the oppression of others.

138). It even goes into detail of human needs, emotions and peoples skillsets. This framework had plenty of human emotions where Dr. King advocated for a society where all people are valued, respected, and ultimately provided opportunities to realize their potential. The core of his speech outlines his dream where all people are created equal, dreams of a day where his children will not be judged by the color of their skin, and dreams of a day when all children, black and white, will be able to join hands as brothers and sisters. King’s speech appeals to his empowerment of others and appeals for “freedom” repeatedly.

While King’s speech was very inspirational and motivating it was also very memorable as well. King struck a chord in the hearts of all of the American people that gathered to hear his speech, whether it was in protest or to join his side. At one point, he puts stated that he had a dream that one day his four kids would live in a country where they were not judged based on their skin

King inspires those who support equal rights for all “ to rise up from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial injustice”.and stand up for what they believe. He insists that people who believe in the cause to speak up and join together as one voice, to demand equal rights that they deserve. In addition King uses Light and Dark imagery to make a statement on how people have been waiting a long time to receive equality and the same freedom as everyone else. He does this by discussing the Emancipation Proclamation, and how “ It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

He continues by saying, “And so, we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.” Throughout this quote King has been referring to this ‘justice bank’ or ’insufficient funds’ but in reality this is just Kings way of using metaphor to represent the unalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness that the blacks never received. In this part of the quote King expresses the words freedom and security strongly to give his audience the feeling of security and the thought of being finally free. Martin Luther King uses the uneducated listeners as an advantage in his speech by saying things such as ‘freedom’ and ‘security’ to make them believe that this will be a problem that is fixed and they will have no doubts against his

King bemoans the fact that “one hundred years” after the Emancipation Proclamation an the end to slavery, “the Negro still is not free.” This may not seem like a typical logical appeal at first because it appeals to emotion, but it also points out that the revered Emancipation Proclamation that supposedly freed African-Americans, in fact, only lengthened the chains that bound them. King also argues that despite the words written in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” and are therefore guaranteed certain rights, African-Americans still have yet to be given those rights at all. He furthers the logical argument by comparing this denial of rights to a “bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’" (King). This appeals to the logic that if all men are created equal, then they should be treated equal; one man should not have more or less rights than

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.

Martin Luther King Jr is an African American civil rights activist during the 1960s. I decided to do my analysis on his speech "I Have a Dream" because this speech is very important in American history. The speech has a simple context. "I Have a Dream" speech was given during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. Dr. King's main purpose was to make a change in white and black citizens during the Civil Rights era. He wanted to end racism in the United States and wanted everyone to accept the change in a non-violent way. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold those truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” (Jr).