The I Have A Dream Speech By Martin Luther King Essay

Within the, I Have A Dream Speech, it was presented to make a difference in society of the United States of America. “Martin Luther King, I realized, moved his people and the nation not only by being one of our most gloriously charismatic speakers, but because he was one of America’s greatest speechwriters,” Richard Green, author of Words That Shook The World: 100 Years of Unforgettable Speeches and Events.”

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 this speech, King utilizes diction throughout, such as "we," "America" and "free." Words like "we," and "America" in the same sentences and same speech, gives everyone, African-Americans, the feeling of being equal and they deserve to have the same rights. Thus giving hope to everyone that they will, one day, be equal in everyway and have the same unalienable

He refers to the principles voiced by the nation's founders in his appeal for racial equality. This strategy was especially important in light of the fact that the government was concerned that the Civil Rights movement might discredit the United States abroad. The government was worried that if they gave African-Americans freedom, the United States would be seen as weak and have been persecuting innocent people. Hence, it was perceptive of King to imply in the speech that he is not undermining the United States, but asking the country to do justice to the principles that were asserted to be the backbone of U.S. politics and society. King states, for example, that his dream was "deeply rooted in the American dream," (King 2) and that he dreams of a day when Americans "will be able to sing with new meaning `My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing'" (King 3). King then uses the words of that song to distinguish the different areas of the country where he hoped the United States would soon "let freedom ring" (King 3) for all its citizens. King alludes to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as being a "promissory note" (King 1) to all citizens, which those at the march were claiming as their inheritance. The speech gains power from King's stressing that he was asking the United States to live up to its principles and thus to fulfill the greatness of its pronounced creed.

With the people of The United States of America categorized as the audience, King speaks to people of all races and ethnicity. This discriminated audience included the grasping appeals to the ethos, pathos, and logos. As each appeal is fully informed of the rhetorical purpose, King finds a way to encourage all three. Through several metaphors and types of imagery, he makes the decision to speak to all of the appeals in order to accomplish to need for change. Clearly aimed directly at the hearts of blacks and making the whites feel ashamed of their actions brought together a turn in society as they knew it. This specific structure geared towards the audience was the main reason why King impacted Americans across the country and not just at the march. These different appeals mixed within the audience to help King influence his purpose of racial equality as each type of person could relate to his moving words.

In addition to the previous events, the “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963 took place. This was located on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to a crowd estimated at 250,000 people. The King gives this speech for freedom; it strongly concerns freedom from slavery, containing the non-violent movement, and a general

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.

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.

On August 28th 1963, Civil Rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr. made his infamous “I Have a Dream” speech. In the speech, King confronts the mistreatment of the African American community and the lack of free will they contain in society. Throughout the mid-1900s, the Civil Rights Movement took place, influenced by centuries of cruelty towards the African Americans.. The most influential speech in the modern era was said in front of thousands of Civil Rights activists who all shared a common goal; to fight for the respect and to be treated as equals within the United States.

The primary purpose of Dr. King’s eloquent and dramatically delivered speech is that of persuasion. King’s claim is the Negro people are still not free one hundred years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. This warrant is supported by King’s effective emotional appeal to his African American audience. He supports this with the following: "but one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free.” This is emotional because after one hundred years of oppression, the African American community has still not achieved their cultural and economic potential according to King. He is endeavoring to persuade his audience, fellow minorities and

King uses different elements to show his audience that he was a credible source. He sounds fair and sets up his own credibility by tapping into the authority of Lincoln and his view of the civil rights when he said: “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the emancipation proclamation.” and invoke authority in his cause when makes reference to the constitution where it says “black men as well as white man-would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” He also uses the bible to provide confidence in what he is saying for example when he says “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it

Martin Luther King’s speech was made after the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. He delivered the “I Have a dream” speech on the Lincoln Memorial steps. He verbalized this speech to millions of people blacks and whites. This is one of the greatest speeches because it has many elements like repetition, assonance and consonance, pathos, logos, and ethos.

King’s use of word choice intensifies his speech to stop racial discrimination in America. He uses negative words, like “captivity”, “poverty” and “persecution” to describe that African-Americans have no freedom and constantly being discriminated within society due to their skin colour. Kings distinctive voice begins with “One hundred years ago” is repeated, which suggest the lack of no change in the lives of African- Americas one hundred years after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation to free the slaves. King also states “America has given the Negro people a bad cheque, a cheque which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’, which recognises his use of a metaphor to express something that many people in the audience may have felt or even experienced. Personification is used when he says “that one day the nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed” America here is being compared to a human being who can rise up and live the true meaning of his belief. The intensity of King’s speech is built through bold statements and rhythmic repetition. Each repetition builds on the one mentioned before and is reinforced by King’s increasing passion “Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina…” It would always take a commanding voice to inspire thousands and King’s booming voice was well practiced in

"I have a dream," says Dr. Samuel Proctor, Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Rutgers University. "All the little children--you hear everywhere you go: 'I have a dream.' All the little children repeating that speech. It's become like the 'Star Spangled Banner' or the 'Pledge of Allegiance.' It's entered our culture." And so it has: "I have a dream" has become one of the most memorable phrases of the twentieth century. Of all the many speeches delivered at the Lincoln Memorial on that hot, steamy day of August 28, 1963, no other remarks have had such an impact as those of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His words reflected then, and continue to do so now, the

The speech “I Have a Dream” was delivered by Martin Luther King on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation on 28th August 1963. The speech was dramatically delivered on the steps of Lincoln Memorial and it was witnessed by about two million people. This speech is often considered to be one of the greatest and notable speeches in history and the top American speech of the 20th century.