Rhetorical Analysis Of I Have Dream Speech

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his speech at the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” He used a metaphor to give a more vivid description of how the emancipation Proclamation impacted the lives of African Americans. He said “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 justice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.” (209)The statement “A joyous day break to end the long night of captivity” (209) is referring to the emancipation proclamation. The long night that King is referring to would be the many years that African-Americans were enslaved. King uses the rhetorical device of pathos to bring about emotion to the nation. He gives the image of oppressed beaten down slaves that have overcome slavery only to be denied their human rights once more. This was a very powerful opening marker for King because it sets the tone for the exact purpose of why he is delivering the speech. Another metaphor within the speech is when Kings says “It is obvious that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’.” (209)This dynamic metaphor paints a realistic picture for Americans explaining how people of color are not being granted their equal

Within this quote there are multiple metaphors that help bolden King’s thoughts: “crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination,” “island of poverty,” and “vast ocean of material prosperity.” These metaphors explain how it still felt nearly impossible to end discrimination, and how Negroes are on their own with no support. The use of the metaphors display a deeper and stronger meaning to the topics that King was passionate about. These rhetorical devices brought to the non-colored portion of the audience’s attention of how difficult the life of a Negro was and that freeing the slaves one hundred years ago was not enough.

In the beginning of this speech, King used a simile that really popped out. Martin said, “It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.” Here he is speaking about the Emancipation Proclamation and that it gave hope to Blacks. King was explaining how the signing of this was like a “breakthrough” for blacks. It gave blacks hope that one day they would be completely free, except even one hundred years after the signing of this by Abraham Lincoln, colored citizens were still not treated equally. He uses this figurative

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

Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech was given on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial to over 250,00 people and was broadcasted on TV for the people to see. It was one of the largest marches that Washington D.C. had ever seen. His message was a call to end racism in the United States and demand for civil and economic rights. Dr King's speech was highly successful because he used many different modes of persuasion to convince the American people to agree with his position on certain issues. The three main certain modes of persuasion that he used in his speech are logos, pathos, and ethos. The aim of Logos is to appeal to an audience by convincing them with reason or logic. Pathos aims at encompassing the emotional response from the audience and reduce the audiences ability to judge. Ethos deals with the character of the speaker, and also convinces the observers that the speaker and author is reliable.

By using allusion to historical leaders and documents, he reminds the audience of the past and strengthens his argument the time for change was long overdue. Repeating the phrases “I have a dream”, “Now is the time”, “Let freedom ring” and “Free at last”, King used anaphora and repetition to bring the speech to a great climax and leave the audience completely energized. King also used parallelism to unify the movement’s effort into one group of equal parts by urging the audience to “Go back to” Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, as well as “the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities”. He also used parallelism to send a message of unification to all parts of the country by repeating the phrase “Let freedom ring” combined with names of many of our country’s mountain ranges, just as in the song “America” by Samuel Francis Smith (My Country! ‘Tis of Thee). Perhaps it was King’s use of metaphors that made the speech draw in the audience. He described the circumstances of racism and inequality with phrases descriptive of slavery including “flames of withering injustice”, “chains of discrimination” which connected the audience to their past while inspiring them to change their future.

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.

In addition to King’s uses of allusions, the speech contains many contrasting metaphors and similes that influence his audience very effectively. He begins by pointing out that even though Negros are freed from slavery, they are still slaves “crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” King then goes on about how “America has given the negro people a bad check” whereas the check in this instance symbolizes their right to equality because the mistreatment of the Negroes and racial discrimination is evident and the check “has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’” meaning they have yet to feel what they too, are guaranteed. With that understanding of human nature, Martin Luther King, Jr. compares gradualism to a tranquilizing drug, implying that people have a tendency to relax when things are “cooling off.” But he urges for his people not to relax and to take charge “to make justice in reality for all of God’s children.”

When King gets up there to speak, he knows that he is fighting and uphill battle and the only way to persevere is with the power of numbers. King does what not many can do through the power of speech, he makes a nation realize that there is know true constraint holding them back from making change for the better of their great nation. King uses multiple metaphors in his speech to connect with the audience and create and emotional bond, one that they can relate to, a bond that unifies the masses to feel and understand what King is

One of the rhetorical devices that King uses during his speech is biblical references. He uses biblical references to catch his audience’s attention. King states that the people devoted to equal civil rights will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, righteousness like a mighty stream”

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.

    The speech opens up with a very strong use of diction that creates a logical and emotional appeal on the audience. At this point, the speech already created an appeal of pathos. He then goes onto create a very logical appeal when stating that the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 gave “hope to millions of Negro slave who had seared in the flames of withering injustice.” The Emancipation Proclamation was the first event where African Americans were increasing up the ladder of social hierarchy. Dr. King uses anaphora, the repetition of a word, to create and appeal of emotion and logic. He describes that it has been one hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation but still “the life of the Negro is still badly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination”,” the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast

“When will you be satisfied? We can never be satisfied as long as…” (King, 1963) showed the psychological status of the Negro and indirectly emphasized their desire for freedom and equality. Second, in the sentence “a state sweltering with the heat of injustice” (King, 1963), “swelter” belonged to a human feeling, so here it was an employment of the personification to describe the unfair treatment of the Negro in many states. Third, Martin Luther King showed his outstanding capability of wording to contain connotations. For instance, Martin Luther King wished that “one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight.” (King, 1963) The implied meaning of this sentence was that he hoped all discriminations against American citizens of color would be eliminated, and all citizens would be treated equal and enjoy their freedom. Compared with the direct way of speaking, the implied meaning could leave a deeper impression on the audience so that they could grasp and contemplate its connotation for a long time. Fourth, Martin Luther King tactically used ironies to criticize the absurdity of the prejudice held by the American government against the Negro. For example, in the third paragraph, he mentioned that “the Negro finds

Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was signed the blacks were still not free, Martin Luther King communicates this idea through repetition and diction. M.L.K. says "But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free." He uses "One hundred years later" as a diction and repetition in his speech. He makes it known that the blacks can no longer get pushed around in the dark, one hundred years was enough. The diction emphasizes "one hundred year later."

Picture yourself living in a society where people are judged and hated upon because of the pigment of their skin, terrible right? Enslaved, criticized, and alienated because there were “different” from everyone else. Even when granted freedom, colored men and women were still treated as if they were peasants to America. Martin Luther King Jr’s speech had the power to motivate this broken society to end their racist ways. After being lied to for many of years about being “free”, King decided that during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, he would put an end to it all. After hundred of years of being hurt by the “manacles of segregation and the chains of determination”(“ American Rhetoric: Martin Luther King I