Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King Jr.

In paragraphs 12-14 King uses a combination of rhetorical strategies to argue the urgency for changing current segregation laws. Kings selective use of imagery, parallel structure, and metaphors helps bring out the emotions of the eight clergymen, making them feel sympathy and understand Martin Luther King Jr.s point of view.

How does the speakers' rhetoric evoke a reaction from the audience, in the speeches? Political speeches use rhetorical devices to persuade the reader to engage in their speech. "I have a dream” by Martin Luther King Jr, ESPY award speech by Jimmy Valvano, JFK's inaugural address, the Gettysburg address by Abraham Lincoln, 2009 inaugural address by Barack Obama are examples of political speeches that contain rhetoric. Throughout the speeches asyndeton, procatalepsis, allusion, antithesis, ethos, pathos, logo, repetition and parallelism are used.

These circumstances would most often lead a person to have negative feelings, but Martin Luther King was an exception. Through hope and positive thinking, Martin Luther King was able to overcome the dark atmosphere that he was surrounded in. By coining the phrase “I Have A Dream”, Martin Luther King gives himself and others a sense that if you stay positive and believe in your dreams, you can elude the darkness that may try to bring you down in

Near the end of Martin Luther King’s speech a gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted to Dr. King saying, “Tell them about the dream, Martin”. At this point Dr. King stopped reading the speech and expressed his inner feelings saying “I have a dream..”(Mlk, 4). He continued to tell the crowd of his dream for the Negros to be free and equal and that they would be able to live happily and do as they pleased. He had a dream that America would live out the meaning of the constitution stating “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal”. He tells the crowd that at the end “We are free at last”. Dr. King’s choice of words and the tone in which he delivers his speech is enticing and pleasing to the crowd of America.

Dr. King used pathos and logos as well as ethos in his speech to appeal to the audience in a more emotional way. He mostly attempts to appeal to the audiences’ emotions, fears, and desires. When King repeats with the infamously famous quote, “I have a dream,” he stresses a sense of sympathy and hope towards the African American population during that time period. King states that the, “Negro…finds himself in exile in his own land.” In this phrase, King yields compassion as one can see when he emphasizes the unfair treatment and alienation of the African Americans. King also uses highly connotative language so that he could evoke a, emotional response to the audience such as, “chains of discrimination” and “oppression” to reinforce the need

Nelson Mandela once said, “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” Two civil rights leaders, Malcolm X and Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. showed their hopes in their choices. These two leaders, both wished to achieve racial equality. Dr. King’s message in his “I Have a Dream” speech was that the only way to achieve racial equality was by integration. In his speech, he used long, eloquent sentences with very vivid imagery to show his tone of hope and optimism and to aid his message of brotherly love, hope, and integration. This message could have possibly been affected by his background. Dr. King was raised in a very loving home with two parents who tried everything they could to shield him from the ugly racism outside, but he was

“But more basically,I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C.left their villages and carried their,”thus saint the lord” far beyond the boundaries of their home towns,and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world,so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town.like Paul,I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.”

Referring to “vaults of opportunity… riches of freedom and the security of justice”, Martin Luther King Jr. intelligently and metaphorically expresses how valuable equality is for African American citizens (King Jr. 2). After speaking out about injustice and lies, his discourse changes as it comes to an end. King Jr. focuses more on the unification of the nation instead of focusing only on African Americans. He faithfully believes the nation can “transform…. Into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood” (King Jr. 5). Highly contrasting from his first metaphors, the audience is provided a sense of peace and faith. Martin Luther King Jr. used many metaphors to mold the hearts of the audience and persuade them to believe in the civil rights movement.

On April 28, 1963 over 200,00 Americans gathered at the Washington monument to protest cruelty that was being spread among our country. On that day, one of the most famous speeches of all American history was delivered. From that speech, America experienced a change that has brought us to where we are today. In the famous, “I have a dream” speech proclaimed by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., many types of rhetoric was utilized to try and stop the racial inequality that was occurring within our country at the time.

It's the 1960's; American society is being torn asunder by civil unrest involving the struggle for equality at home and an inhumane war in Vietnam. In the midst of such turbulence, Martin Luther King Junior argues that American involvement in the war in Vietnam is unjust. He poignantly examines the thesis using appeals to ethos logos and pathos.

In the most paramount time of racism in America, there a voice that enacted a call for change. Martin Luther King was a Baptist minister and social activist who spent countless years, fighting for a civil rights. It was on the date of August 28th, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln memorial is where King made his leap of faith and spoke out on the injustice of African Americans. His dream for African Americans to be equal, appealed to the emotions of his audience. The desire to live a civil life and not be oppressed was felt by many. Martin Luther King delivered a speech that would immensely make an impact on the country.

A determinate of how effective a piece is can be recognized by how the piece affects the intended audience in the long run. In the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr, both authors use several different effective rhetorical methods to convey their messages to the audience. Edwards (one of the best speakers in his time) and King (one of the most influential Civil Rights activists) both use these methods in an effective way. King and Edwards both use different methods to convey their messages, but it is important to analyze what one is the most effective on the intended audience. You must analyze how Edwards uses direct addressing

Dr. King uses pathos appeal on paragraph two to get the reader feel that there is hope for the racial equality situation. The hope will make them more willing to fight this battle. On paragraph 2 of the speech, Dr. King says, “great beacon light” and “joyous daybreak to end the long night.” This brings hope to the reader because usually when someone hears light, they associate it with something good going to happen. Light is a symbol of something nice and good happening. When King talks about the “joyous daybreak,” he is talking about how even through the dark, there is light. This gives the audience hope that in the end there will be equal rights for everyone no matter what color they are. It is also a way to describe something hopeful. Paragraph

Martin Luther King Jr. advocates for non-violence throughout much of his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” However, he uses the extremist behavior of the black nationalists as a way to threaten the “white moderates” into siding with him on the issue of Civil Rights with the idea that he is the most moderate and sensible person leading the fight for equality. How can King justify using others’ violence to argue for nonviolence? Even though King’s tactics seems contradictory, it did help to encourage “white moderates” to advance his cause for equality, avoiding the violence of extremist groups.

Martin Luther King uses a lot of repetition in his speech. They are scattered throughout but very close. One of the repetitions in his speech is “I have a dream.” He uses this phrase to show what he sees in the future of America. One of the phrases he uses with it is: “I have a dream that one day this nation will and live out the true