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Rhetorical Analysis Of I Have A Dream Speech

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his speech titled, "I Have a Dream" on August 28, 1963 in front of thousands of Americans with the purpose of attempting to motivate people to make a change. In this speech, Dr. King explains to his audience how acceptance and equality will make the Unites States a much better nation. Dr. King proves his points by utilizing imagery, diction, and figurative language; along with the primary strategies of pathos and ethos reasoning. Therefore, through his masterful uses of ethos, pathos, and writing styles; along with rhetorical questions, he is able to prove to America that segregation and racism were never supposed to be the intended foundations on which The United States of America were assembled.
Because Dr. King is a minister, he is generally regarded in very high respects by a majority of people. He refers to his audience as “my people” (line 39) which ultimately exemplifies how he shares their same respective points of view. King gave his speech at the Lincoln Memorial. Along with referencing the Emancipation Proclamation, he referenced one of former president Lincoln’s famous speeches given during the American Civil War. This Lincoln reference demonstrates an ethos appeal due to how it shows that he took the time to not only research, but to also give credit to the trailblazers that came before him in the fight for equality. He proposed these references in demonstration that he had given a great amount of thought to the preparation of his speech before hand; as well as to illustrate his credibility as a well educated man. In these respects it also helped him to gain the audience’s respect through paying his respects to the individuals who had fought for American civil rights before him. The moment King mentions Lincoln’s advancement, he becomes able to reach individuals that may not respect or agree with his views, but did respect and agree with the former President Lincoln. He is backing up his statements with more credible people, who agree with his points, that the audience can sympathize with. Acknowledging Lincoln and Lincoln’s efforts in righting a previous wrong, along with his ministry background, demonstrates MLK Jr. s upstanding, trustworthy reputation.
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