Rhetorical Analysis Of I Have A Dream Speech

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.

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.

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.

The speaker of this essay that I will be writing about is Martin Luther King Jr. He was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia at his family house. He was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. was a great American, worked for civil rights in the United States in the 1950s and 60s. He became so popular and well liked that he was hated just as intensely by those who disagreed with the equal rights movement. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech. He followed what he believed in, doing the right thing fighting for the civil rights, and even though terrorists started

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.

Upon the arrival of August 28, 1963 At the Lincoln Commemoration 200,000 individuals accumulated after the Walk on Washington. This is the place Dr. Martin Luther conveyed his discourse "I Have a Dream" to America. He talked about the treacheries of isolation and separation of African Americans that was occurring in our country. In his first explanation he stated, "I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation." In this announcement he said what he was there to do. He was standing up for opportunity. Dr. Martin Luther addresses and exhibits would incite an adjustment in the brains and hearts of the American individuals. He stood up and enlivened a

In Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have A Dream” speech, he argues that America needs to stop being a place of injustice and start practicing equality. He helps to convey the point through his use of drastic diction for the duration of the speech. King wants to address the issue of inequality in America and provide the people of the country with a solution. The speech is trying to change the behavior of the population and change the policies it has now. Since the issue is caused by the Americans, he must find a way to appeal to the entire United States as a single audience. He does this by informing everyone of the issue, and telling them how they should go about fixing it. The timing of his speech is important because the U.S. was facing a period of mass discrimination. King’s goal is to voice, through his use of drastic diction and anaphoras, the idea that America has a problem that it needs to be fixed immediately.

Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, which addressed the injustice and oppression of African-Americans by white men and women. During the time of the Civil Rights movement, King dreams of a time when “little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers”. The purpose of the speech was to open the eyes of all Americans of the hatred that African-Americans experience every single day and he calls a stop to racism. King emphasizes to the United States government that the black community needs more rights that will put them at an equal level as the white community. In order to reach the audience in a meaningful way, King uses rhetorical devices that accentuates his message.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an extraordinary man who made an impact on his audience when he gave his speech on August 28, 1963. King was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout his life he had worked to find an end to racial discrimination against the Africans Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a speech called "I Have a Dream". This speech was written to explain to the audience that there needs to be an end to discrimination against the African Americans. He was also trying to persuade the audience to help him in the fight to accomplish his goals. To get his ideas across to the people he used rhetorical devices. Some of the devices he used were metaphors, repetition, and logos.

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.

Rebels turned into ralliers and Parrott rifles were swapped for picket signs. For the second time in American history, the nation went to war with itself. Not unlike the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement polarized the nation and brought a question before all Americans: “What’s next for African Americans?” As “general” of the war for rights, Martin Luther King, Jr. led troops through Washington D.C. and delivered the famous “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Like a general commanding his troops, the reverend speaks with a conviction and earnestness that demands attention; it is because of the tone created in the speech that King receives what he demands.

"I Have a Dream" is a very famous and enthralling speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A Baptist Minister and activist who believed in equal rights for not only African Americans, but for all of mankind. The speech was conveyed to the thousands of Americans on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington. It was also presented during an incredibly awkward time in American history when slavery was clearly abolished, but African Americans were not being treated with the same rights and respect as White Americans. Through King's powerful speech is where he wanted to give African Americans hope. Hope that one day blacks and whites could live amongst each other in peace and equality. He wanted his audience to have a sense of faith that one day things are going to change. The situation may look very pessimistic right now, but if they kept fighting and take a stand for what they believe in, then they will experience the sweet taste of freedom. King’s chilling speech stated that “all men were created equal, and that one day

In the 1960s there were a lot of events that were happening in the United States. President John F. Kennedy promised an ambitious agenda to eliminate injustice and inequality in a land the Four Fathers’ considered to be free and independent. The goal of making poverty, no more in the United States was not achieved because of the War in Vietnam, the fight for Civil Rights, and the Radical 60s all occurred in the time span of one famous speech that took place in this decade (History.com). On August 28 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist Minister and Civil Rights Activist, delivered his “I Have a Dream Speech” to an outstanding audience of 250,000 American citizens of all genders and colors, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. The main reason he gave this speech was to obtain equal rights for all people. Martin Luther King, Jr., utilizes sentence structure, word choice and repetition to reference past historical events to instill a sense of frustration that motivates African Americans by showing them previous failed attempts in order to get change to happen.

As I read through the speech, “I Have A Dream,” by Martin Luther King Jr, many thoughts crossed my mind from the vibrant words he spoke. This speech took place during the March on Washington, for jobs and freedom, on August 28, 1963. In his speech, he talks about the dream he has that black and white children will someday walk hand and hand together, and also he says, “ The sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood” (4). The purpose behind this American civil rights activist’s speech, was to provide his target audience, white people, with a perspective on how the racism that was taking place in the United States needed to end, and also, that his people, blacks, needed to gain civil and economic rights.

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.