Rhetorical Analysis Of I Have A Dream Speech

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became a civil rights activist shortly after attaining his doctorate in theology from Boston University. He later went on to deliver one of the finest speeches in United States history on August 28, 1963 entitled “I Have a Dream.” Over 200,000 people arrived to hear King deliver this speech. King uses a number of rhetorical devices to accentuate his point such as metaphors, antitheses, as well as anaphora’s. In addressing the nation Dr. Martin Luther King Jr effectively uses the appeals of Ethos, Pathos and Logos to convince the audience to take action in demanding racial justice for African-Americans; He envisioned a nation uniting as one to defend the rights of every ethnicity under the constitution.

Martin Luther King Jr., an American Baptist minister and a Civil Rights activist, became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is widely known for his speech that took place on 28 August 1963, “I Have a Dream.” This speech aimed toward the entire nation. King’s main purpose in this speech was to convince his audience to demand racial justice and for them all to stand up together for their rights. In this speech, King uses emotional and logical appeal to gain the audience's support. He applied many rhetorical devices to his speech to connect with the audience’s emotions, and to logically support his arguments.

One hundred years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation to stop slavery, Martin Luther King, Jr. presented the “I Have a Dream” speech to thousands of people. The day Luther King, Jr.’s speech was the day of the March on Washington, which was for the support of the rights o colored citizens, and for the termination of segregation. King delivered this speech with a tone of hope and determination in order to convince colored people to fight for their rights and persuade the citizens that all lives matter and should be treated equally. He also delivered it in order to urge the rights these people deserved. Luther stood before all these people to express his thoughts on equality and the rights his people were stripped of. Kings’ audience consisted of the citizens of America that believed in equality for all races. In the “I Have a Dream” Speech, Martin Luther King, Jr used many metaphors, similes, analogies, Pathos, and Mythos to connect with his audience on a superior level and develop his tone.

Dr. King starts off his speech with a powerful message, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. 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.” His use of historical context and the use of a technique known as ethos would help draw in his audience and intrigue them to listen. By utilizing historical context, such as the Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address, the Constitution, and Declaration of Independence, Dr. King was able to embrace every aspect of what his speech was about. Dr. King states, “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable rights’ of ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Further, with the appropriate allusions, context and quotations Dr. King was able to gain lots of credibility with his speech. Thus, allowing his audience to gain his trust.

This speech, written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. titled, “I Have a Dream,” was addressed to an audience of hundreds of thousands of people at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, in Washington D.C. It was intended to motivate his audience to believe in his cause of unity amongst all of mankind. His speech teaches that people all around the world are created equal. Martin Luther King Jr. uses various literary features throughout his speech in order to establish the unification of people of any background or skin color, and to encourage his audience to accomplish this goal.

On August 28th, 1963, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr stood on the steps in front of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. He spoke passionately for 17 minutes on his views about human equality for African Americans at one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in history. King played a major role in ending the segregation for African Americans. His rhetorical language left an impact on America. Through his use of appeals like ethos, logos, pathos, and other rhetorical techniques. He influenced Americans to believe in the notion that all men are created equal.

In the beginning of his speech, king uses ethos when he stated “Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation.” (King) He is referring to Lincoln, which helped bring authority in his speech. By bring up Lincoln in his speech it also helped him boost power with the civil rights act since Lincoln helped America out during the civil war.

King then starts to elaborate on the history of Negroes slaves. He explains how the Emancipation Proclamation was signed on the same place that his speech was being presented on (King 1). This was done in order to build the credibility of his speech by comparing it to another significant event in the then history. He then continues to build pathos by stating that even though slavery was officially ended with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, Negroes were not free. He continues by explaining how a Negro “lives on a lonely land of poverty” (King 1) and “finds himself in exile in his own land” (King 1) in order to bring a feeling of sympathy in the audience. Then the last sentence of this paragraph acts as a transition from the history to the purpose of King’s speech.

To start, the speech opens up with Dr. King stating how grateful he is for everyone who attended “the greatest demonstration of freedom”. This is an example at which he creates an appeal to pathos. He then creates a more logical standpoint stating “five score years ago,” Lincoln signed the “Emancipation Proclamation” that declared slaves free, blacks were no longer to be treated like property, and how it gave “hope to millions of Negro slaves who had seared in the flames of withering injustice”.

In the speech, he mentioned President Lincoln by saying,“Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation.” Mentioning Lincoln gave authority to his speech because President Lincoln helped Americans throughout the Civil War. Martin Luther King was citing the authority of Lincoln and his point of view on civil rights. Doing this provided a strong ethos appeal with his audience.

Martin Luther King Jr. addresses the struggle African Americans suffer living in a nation where they are a part of, but are heavily rejected by the masses. At the time of the speech, the United States was going through a rough time period of increasing racism and discrimination. He gave his speech during the March on Washington event led by Dr. King himself, in order to awaken the people about the injustice of racial inequality. The tone King present throughout the speech is determination and optimism for the future. In the “I Have a Dream” speech delivered on August 28, 1963 to the nation, Martin Luther King Jr. discusses the problems that are separating the people in the United States, attempts to inspire the country to come together as one; he then uses rhetorical devices which evoke emotion along with encouragement to ultimately end the dissatisfactions of racism and discrimination.

Leading and Moving a Society Through Words Words are perhaps one of the most influential tools a person can possess. It can stir a range of emotion, instill motivation, and give life to a push for change. With most great leaders in society, the ability to effectively use language, is one of the sole tools they can possesses and make them great influencers. Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., is one of these great leaders. Through his exceptional knowledge and effective usage of rhetoric skills, he was able to create real change in the Civil Rights movement.

King used ethos in his speech was when he stated, “When the architects of our Republic wrote the magnificent word of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing· a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men- yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” (king). Talking about the Constitution and Declaration of Independence in his speech showed that the Founding Fathers wanted all men to be equal, because a lot people glorify the Constitution and Declaration of Independence they felt they were letting their Founding Fathers down. Starting the speech with ethos had great impact on the audiences.

The marvelous use of ethos in this speech really brought out the problems that the blacks were faced with. The documents, government, and granted rights, said one thing but were they really meant for all? Even after the Emancipation Proclamation, Constitution, and Declaration of Independence, “the Negro still is not free”(“ American Rhetoric: Martin Luther King I Have a Dream”). All of these documents and promises made by the government about “freedom for all” wasn’t completely true because the blacks were given the same promise. They still had to sit in the back of the bus, and use different bathrooms, and go to segregated schools. King confronted the government about these unfair “rules” they produced by “ coming to cash this check”(“ American Rhetoric: Martin Luther King I Have a Dream”), meaning they have come to receive the promises they were given. The check was to give them “the riches of freedom” and “the security of justice“(“ American Rhetoric: Martin Luther King I Have a Dream”). He backs up his ethics by describing the real life actions he faced during the racist times like, physical violence and abusive

The speech I have chosen is Martin Luther King Jr.’s world famous speech, “I Have a Dream”. The speech was recited to some 200’000 - 300’000 people who attended the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” on August 28, 1963. It was delivered during a time of great discrimination towards, mainly, African-American communities. Over the span of fifteen years, these people of colour started to fight for their rights and freedom. This period of time came to be widely known as the “African-American Civil Rights Movement”. It first began as a group of students protesting the equality of the educational system in Virginia, or lack thereof. These seemingly small series of events that ended up with a lawsuit suing the education department was only the first stepping stone. Consequently, the outcry for equal rights didn’t stop there. The greatest names regarding equal rights, that are ingrained into American history textbooks for decades to come, would emerge from this period. The most notable of which are as follows: Martin Luther King Jr., who delivered the “I have a Dream” speech. Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger and later became the symbol for the “Montgomery Bus Boycott”, 1955-1956. Malcolm X, an outspoken public voice of the Black Muslim faith who believed that African-Americans must defend themselves against white aggression.