Rhetorical Analysis Of I Have A Dream Speech

King’s speech was delivered during the March for Freedom in Washington August 28, 1963. With a determined tone, is motivation was to speak about racism of blacks in America. Slavery had long been abolished since 1865 with the 13th amendment. By law, African Americans were “free”, but the concept of freedom was like a myth. “The life of the Negro was still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination”. (King 9-10). There were no Civil or economical rights, blacks were still bounded by invisible chains of calamity. The purpose of King’s analysis is to bring hope to the people of color. Hope for a better tommorrow, hope that all their labor will not go in vain and hope that their children will live a better life. Moreover, He also argued to convince his audience that there should be an end to racism and equal rights for all races. He argued that freedom should be for all Americans, not just white Americans.

King desired a world in which African-Americans were not denied basic human rights; he believed, like the Declaration of Independence stated, “…all men are created equal” so an entire race should not be excluded from receiving the same freedom and justice provided to each white person. His speech emphasized that all people deserve to live in a world free of discrimination, a world where the color of a person’s skin does not dictate the way they are treated. King’s ambition was to motivate his fellow African-Americans as well as white supporters in the fight against oppression and segregation and to do it now. In his speech King stresses “…the fierce urgency of now,” because African-Americans equality cannot be delayed. He wrote the speech as a call to action for American citizens; he began it by highlighting the racial injustice they encountered and how, despite the Emancipation

Dr. King spoke his first allusion fairly quickly. The second sentence in his speech which was the beginning of the second paragraph is where he says, “Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation.” There are a few interesting things that Dr. King alludes to here that would have caught the attention of many. He began his speech very similar to how Abraham Lincoln began “The Gettysburg Address”. Lincoln’s first words of the address were, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Not only do Lincoln and Dr. King have a

   Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, "I Have a Dream", was delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. Dr. King starts his speech by recalling the Emancipation Proclamation which gave hope to those who were bound by slavery. Yet this hope has definitely faded. One hundred years later African Americans are still in captivity. Although slavery does not exist, those of color are bound by the color of their skin. While African Americans are a large part of society, they are pushed to the corners and often feel exiled in their own land. Dr. King speaks of two great documents; the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Each of these documents made wonderful

Martin Luther King Jr, one of the greatest proponents of national equality and universal civil liberties, was just originally a man with a dream. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, given during his March on Washington in 1963, encouraged many to enlist in the fight to solve years of injustices toward blacks, but it also opened many radically prejudice eyes that were sealed shut to the atrocities committed on the African American community socially, politically, and economically. King used his religious background, empowering rhetoric, and aspects of peaceful, non-violent protests to push forth his ideals of equality that continues to change American society, even today.

“I Have a Dream” was a pivotal speech delivered by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. on August 28, 1963. 250,000 civil rights supporters attended the March on Washington where the speech was delivered at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The peaceful demonstration was organized at the heels of President Kennedy’s proposal of civil rights legislation earlier in June 1963. Since 1960, Dr. King had presented several different versions of his “Dream” speech, but his delivery of the speech that day would be the last version and subsequently became copyrighted material. “I Have a Dream” was delivered 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.

It was this sentiment that lead the speech toward a call for action for the Negros and white sympathizers present, to change the status quo. King stated the Negros had been overly patient in their pursuit of their unalienable rights. It was their peaceful patients that King felt he would not be able to maintain if the actions of the government did not rectify the situation. Accordingly, King stated,” There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights” (King 1963). King envisioned himself at the center of the civil rights movement, but yet he felt he did not control the movement.

In Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech he touches on and brings into focus certain social justice issues. He talks about segregation, poverty among prosperity, police brutalities, and the right to vote. He asks his audience to work on certain commitments. Some of which include getting rid of segregation, non- violent protests, practicing no hate, and spreading hope for change where people feel there is none.

Boycotts, riots, criminal activity and violence were all events happening in 1963. Segregation was at its worse and minorities were getting sick of it, ready to take things into their own hands. However, Martin Luther King Jr. insisted that violence was not used. In an attempt to express his vision, he wrote his famous speech, I Have a Dream, and he delivered it in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the March On Washington. The speech was delivered in a very troubling time for America. Racism, segregation, and injustice were all factors that inspired King to write speeches and attempt to make a change. Although he was frustrated and angry with the way minorities were treated, he made sure to include in all of his speeches that violence is not the way. He emphasized that using violence would defeat the purpose of their protests. King focused on two main subjects in this speech; He warned America of things that will happen, and gave hope for future change. Anyone who witnessed the deliverance of this speech was greatly impacted by King’s rhetoric and method for delivering this speech. King was effective in delivering his speech by using rhetoric such as being persistent by using repetition, giving hope by using pathos, and trying to reason by using logos.

The Emancipation Proclamation was signed and issued on January 1, 1863 by Abraham Lincoln to abolish slavery. Since then, all slaves were legally free, yet racism remained. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech was first debuted at the Washington March in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. Almost 250,000 people attended and participated in the series of protests that took place. King’s “I Have a Dream” address initiated the ending of racism, discrimination, and segregation throughout America by repeatedly using rhetorical devices within his sermon.

At the March on Washington, August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the famous “I Have a Dream” speech. King was encouraged to write the speech because of all the injustices involving minority groups in America. He hopes to be a “beacon of light”(American Rhetoric:Martin Luther King) to many. Even though the “I Have a Dream” speech is targeted towards the negroes in the southern states in America that go through the struggle of inequality, it can be used to help all races. The purpose of the speech is to shed light on the discrimination and help all races come together in peace. MLK said the justice system was “bankrupt” and full of “insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity” (American Rhetoric:Martin Luther King, Jr I

Martin Luther King Jr. has been and is still a symbolic figure in the Civil Rights Movement that changed America forever. During this time in history, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his most famous speech of all time, ‘I Have A Dream’. It was this speech that made Martin Luther King such a vital and important figure in Civil Rights history in the US. Using repetition, tone, and theme, Dr. Martin Luther King executed the message at hand; that all people are created equal Speaking from the very steps of the Lincoln Memorial, a monument erected in honor of the President who abolished slavery in 1864 and signed the Emancipation Proclamation, Dr. King addressed the American people. His demand for justice and equality for African-Americans

Dr. King used ethos and references during his speech to help prove to the audience how knowledgeable he was about the issues he is speaking of to help strengthen his arguments and connection with the people. During his speech, he praised President Lincoln and his views on civil rights and the change to come. He complimented the former president by stating “A great

The Emancipation Proclamation was signed and issued on January 1, 1863 by Abraham Lincoln to abolish slavery. Since then, all slaves were legally free, yet racism still remained. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech was first debuted at the Washington March in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. Almost 250,000 people attended and participated in the series of protests that took place. King’s “I Have a Dream” address initiated the ending of racism, discrimination, and segregation throughout America by repeatedly using rhetorical devices within his sermon.

In “I Have a Dream” (1963), Martin Luther King delivers an invigorating and passionate speech regarding the condition of negroes and their treatment in America. King brings to light the wrongful conditions that surround negroes and draws direct comparisons with the Constitution and Declaration of Independence to highlight the discrepancies between the two. He utilizes allusions, inclusive diction, and metaphors in order to intensify the conditions in the public eye as well as heighten the necessity of a solution. While King explicitly addresses the negro, he is careful to apply a degree of inclusiveness in his speech to convey a message that is applicable to people of all color.