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.

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.

From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial more than forty years ago, Martin Luther King electrified America with his momentous "I Have a Dream" speech. This speech demanded racial justice towards the mistreated black community of America. The theme of the speech was that all humans were created equal and that this should be the case for the future of America. King's words proved to touch the hearts of millions of people and gave the nation a vocabulary to express what was happening to the black Americans. This did not happen by chance. Martin Luther King's speech was carefully constructed so it would have the most appropriate diction to propose his facts and ideas. His speech involved multiple different literary techniques which were very

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.

Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech titled “I Have a Dream” on August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. In this speech, Dr. King is trying to persuade all races specifically Blacks and Whites to take action in order to gain freedom and harmony in the community. He tries to do this by using different techniques to appeal to his audience. It is shown that he uses pathos or emotional appeal throughout his speech. Also there are clear signs of logical appeal which is called logos. In addition, to logos and pathos, Dr. King uses ethical appeal to strengthen his argument. One of the key main techniques that Dr. King uses is figurative language which gives his speech more emphasis on why action is needed.

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.

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

Many may sit and wonder about the equality of blacks and whites in our nation, and how things became the way they are today. Furthermore, as I read through the speech, “I Have A Dream,” by Martin Luther King Jr, many thoughts like that 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 King’s speech, he talks about the dream he has that black and white children will someday walk hand and hand together. King also 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.

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

Martin Luther King Jr. organizes his speech in a chronological order. He starts off describing the plight of the black man, then speaks about the current state of the nation, and then his hope for the future. This structure appeals to his wide audience of oppressed blacks, middle-class white people, and alt-right movements that believed that the Civil Rights Movement was violent, and blacks were “bad”. For instance, “… the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” This statement resonates with blacks because it describes their plight, but also to show the whites what the others were going through. He continues to quote the Constitution to show that the nation has broken their promise to its people. This appeals to the audience’s emotions because it makes them feel guilty that their founding fathers broke their promise and they continue to break their promises. Dr. King also

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.

On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood in front of hundreds of thousands of people on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his influential “I Have a Dream” speech. King, a significant figure in the Civil Rights Movement, ignited activists across the nation that day as he encouraged and inspired his supporters to protest the injustice African-Americans experienced in their environment. Dr. King’s speech, efficacious for the use of rhetorical devices to demonstrate the necessity of racial equality to his audience, helped shape American society’s view and treatment of black people.

Martin Luther King Jr's “I Have a Dream” speech is a speech of hope for the future. Martin Luther King is reaching out to the people and demanding change. He speaks of a different and new society where black and white people are treated equally. King incorporates rhetorical devices like; parallelism, rhetorical questions, and repetition into his speech. These devices improve his points, persuade his audience, and make his speech one that is not easily forgotten.