Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech Martin Luther King Jr’s dream speech purpose was to convey the idea of civil rights coming into existence. In August 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr mesmerized America with his electrifying memorable speech. The “I Have a Dream” speech was given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial; it was 40 years ago. His presence on the stage was unbelievable. His purpose was to deliver one of the most momentous and dramatically delivered speeches of all times. His rhetoric was demanding racial justice and the importance to immigrate society in America. Because of this rhetorical force, it was proven to be a touch stone for the understanding of social and political unrest. This rhetoric gave the country a vocabulary to understand and express what was taken place at the time. Dr. King thought it was mandatory that all people be treated fairly in America; that was the power point of his speech. …show more content…
Dr. King studied the bible, the Gettysburg address, and the U.S. Declaration of Independence. In the “I have a dream” speech, he use all of his research as a reference. His style of speech is described as a political treatise, a work of poetry, and a masterfully delivered improvise sermon with biblical language and imagery. Because of his ability to use rhythm and frequent repetition, it highlight his points of interest. His format was to always be an aid, to be a form of memorability which falls into parts. The first half is not a beautiful picture but one that is closer to a nightmare of racial injustice. He wanted action now and he used the term “Now is the time” in his speech. He states that America needs to be reminded of the urgency of Now. He used repetition before his statements to embed the thought to his audiences. As the ending of Part I, he stated. “We will not be satisfied until Justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty
Dr.King wanted everyone to hear and understand his dream and how it can make a difference. The speech was mainly for blacks, because they wanted to be treated fairly and have equal rights. Dr.King understood the pain blacks was having from being mistreated all those years and strongly wanted freedom for them. The speech was also addressed to white people too. He wanted them to fight along their side, because blacks deserve equal rights too. When Dr.King starts speaking for the blacks he says, “This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.”He states this to begin speaking on how nothing has changed for black’s freedom, but will change that day. In the his speech which is meant for whites fighting with blacks, Dr.King says “The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.” The speech gave a message to the blacks of hope with the promise that the goals of freedom and equality were likely to be achieved. The speech connected to whites that hope of African Americans, placing them squarely in the context of the American
When people hear the words “I have a dream” a specific man and a specific speech always come to mind. Martin Luther King Jr gave the I Have a Dream speech on August 28, 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln memorial. This is his most famous speech, not just because of the place and timing when it was delivered but also for the content and style in which it was written. King’s speech was full of well-structured sentences, allusions, and metaphors. This speech is not only recognized for its literary style but also for its effect on history.
"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.
In only about twenty minutes, Martin Luther King Jr informed, and left a huge impact on the American people during the mid-20th Century. He did this with his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, written in order to highlight the importance on ending racism and getting equal treatment for all Americans. During this time racism was a major problem in the United States. This problem was never-ending and needed to be brought to the attention of America. Freedom for African Americans was intended to happen through the Emancipation Proclamation, but new laws restricted this from actually happening. King spoke out about this everlasting issue on August 28, 1963 in Washington DC. The speech was very powerful as it contains plenty examples of pathos, ethos, logos and kairos. Using these rhetorical devices, King successfully presents his speech to America, leaving a significant influence.
King wrote one of the most influential speeches ever, and to be able to see if it was effective, an analytical tool could be used called The Rhetorical Triangle which helps the identify the speaker, the audience, and the subject in the speech. The speaker in “I have a dream” is Martin Luther King, Jr. The audience of the speech would be anyone during that time period who believed in the idea of cultures mixing. And the purpose of the speech was to encourage hope in people. He wished to unite white people and black people in peace
Martin Luther King’s speech was made after the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. He delivered the “I Have a dream” speech on the Lincoln Memorial steps. He verbalized this speech to millions of people blacks and whites. This is one of the greatest speeches because it has many elements like repetition, assonance and consonance, pathos, logos, and ethos.
Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historical speech, “I Have a Dream,” on August 28, 1963 in Washington D.C., Maryland at the Lincoln Memorial. King establishes ethos in his speech and the goal behind this rhetorical strategy is to allow his audience members to know that he is a credible source. He establishes pathos within his speech and the goal behind this is to appeal to the emotion of his audience in order to convince them to join him in the fight for equality. King also establishes logos, and the goal behind this strategy is to allow his audience to understand that he is making this speech to address the discrimination and unfair treatment of the Negros in the U.S. at this point and time. King applies several rhetorical strategies in his speech to deliver his perspective of
The speech I am going to analyse is called “I have a dream”. The speech is written by Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King was a Baptist minister and social activist, who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968.
Dr. Martin Luther King had a very big meaning behind his speech. When giving speeches he was very confident and influential to his audience. In his speech he utilizes many different types of figurative language to describe the current events. For example, King used comparisons and allusions to show people the nation that they lived in. For example, he says there should be freedom in every state, from every hill,, valley ,and mountain top.
In what ways does this extract/s show that Martin Luther King was an effective public speaker?
“I Have a Dream” is a famous speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. on August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. He born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, and was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee when he was only 39 years old. He was an American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. King became a civil rights activist early in his career because Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln and so on influenced him. Plus in October 14, 1964, King got the Nobel Peace Prize for struggling racial inequality through nonviolence. King delivered his well-known “I Have a Dream” speech, which he established his reputation
Using a variety of rhetorical devices, Martin Luther King Jr’s purpose of his “I Have A Dream Speech” takes a huge step for black americans by voicing the opinions of the people in a civil, non violent manner. He’s a role model for future activists to present the point clearly without hostility or anger, but with a firm tone and many of rhetorical devices. Dr. King gives the speech to help his cause of nonviolent activism against segregation and in favor of civil rights.
Martin Luther King Jr was the leader of civil rights in the United States. He had dedicated his life to the struggle for racial equality of African Americans. On August 28, 1963, King had given one of the most influential speeches of all times entitled " I have a Dream."The speech was the first critical step towards civil rights movement. Without king's opinion of freedom and equality it wouldn't have reached the hearts of many of his people, and they would have never stood up as a whole to defend their rights. During King's speech, he successfully expressed his opinions and emotionally affected many of his listeners.This success came from his sensitive approach to the audience, his use of style and his inspirational tone. The speech was given publicly to a huge audience as well as televised.The speech was delivered successfully as King made his opinion heard. The reason for the statement was for people to understand how others discriminated the African Americans. To let them know that they would not sit anymore and just take that. They were going to fight for their rights make their voice be heard.
He used some metaphors and some personification to connect his speech to his ideas. Mr.King all throughout his speech said “ I have a dream today! “( King,pg2)
‘I Have a Dream’ is a Martin Luther King’s most famous speech. It was a phrase in a speech he presented to a quarter million Americans on August 28, 1963. Since then, the speech has evoked feelings and thoughts among most people in the world. Martin Luther King dreamt of a country characterized by brotherhood and freedom from all forms of discrimination. The speech has been described as a work of poetry that was masterfully delivered. It was with imagery, frequent repetition and alliteration all as devices to create emphasis on the key issues. It was bursting with biblical language as well as its rhythm.