The Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Speech

“Dear Mr. President, I have just listened to your speech to the nation it was one of the most eloquent profound and unequivocal pleas for justice and freedom of all men ever made by any president.” (King).

In hopes of creating a better sense of credibility, which encourages people to accept his idea or “dream”, King mentions the Declaration of Independence. Dr. king makes himself credible by challenging what citizens known as the unalienable rights. Unalienable rights, are rights that cannot be taken away from a human being. They are considered rights given to people by God himself, when they are born. In the third paragraph he quotes, ‘the unalienable Rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. “This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” He uses the quote to show that the Supreme Court should be on his side. However, he then goes on to tell how even though it should be on his side it is not. “It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note.” He is stating that the American government has neglected their promise to ALL of the American people. By doing this he is asking the readers to ask themselves, why has America failed to reach the expectations of equality? Why is the injustice only occurring to blacks? And most importantly, What can be done to change this? In another attempt to appear more credible, King often times quotes the bible. His use of the bible can cause an emotional response, but

King’s speech; he puts himself in everyone else’s shoes by saying, “I am happy to join with you today.” By doing this, he captures their attention by telling them that “today will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.” Now that the audience is fully engaged, he moves towards the sole purpose of his speech. He does this by saying that after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, “100 years later the Negro still is not free.” He goes on to continue to list some of the issues which still occur today and ends his introduction with saying “now is the time” to start action. The body of his speech is primarily made up of the summarization of injustice that the African American people face. He brings up the fact that some people are unable to vote and the police brutality’s which of course support his argument. He makes it personal by giving his insight of his hopes and dreams for the future by stating that his kids will “not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” The speech’s conclusion properly reviews Martin Luther King Jr.’s points and stimulates the emotions of the audience. He does this by using the repetition of the phrase “let freedom ring” to rejoin with the audience and really emphasizes his belief of the importance of freedom and injustice. Finally, the last line of his speech, “all of God 's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and

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.

Although King focused his speech primarily on the rights of black Americans, the message was all logical. He talks about nothing controversial in his speech neither does he degrade white Americans. His use of rhetoric appeals during the speech was a significant turning point for his claim to stop racism and discrimination and bring equality and freedom in the United States. King used all his means to inspire African Americans to believe in "genuine freedom" for themselves. “When all of God’s children, black men, and white men, Jews, and Gentiles, Protestants, and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing,” “Free at last! Free at last!” (King). More than 250,000 people gathered at Lincoln’s Memorial to witness the

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

King’s impact of logos throughout his speech allows him to convince not only African Americans but all Americans to support what he is saying. One example of logos is when he is comparing the African

In his speech, King demanded that African Americans were entitled to the same right as any other citizen as stated in the Declaration of Independence. With his speech he was able to captivate his audience with a testimony of peace and truth rather than given a regular speech. His language was skillful, creative and executed perfectly and up to present day has inspire many people all over the

King empathizes with how the African Americans were alienated and treated unfairly. Dr. King also uses logos in his speech to show evidence and reason. He states: “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.” (Goodwin, 4/1/2016, pp. 199-203)

King starts his speech by noting what a significant day this will become in history. He then discusses the Emancipation Proclamation and what a momentous decree that was, but then discusses how even a century later not much has

Martin Luther’s speech is King in the persuasion of overcoming racism as it describes his personal struggles, power of words, and hope for the future. On august 28, 1963 martin luther king jr demonstrated the long haul and battle that not only himself, but all colored folks experience constantly. Then with his vocabulary, choice of words and emotion in them, he already has the upper hands atop Atticus Finch. Instead of in the courtroom such as Atticus martin's speech was at the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC in front of many .Martin has hope that his words will change the future of black rights.

In his speech, King first begins his need for change by discussing the Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation outlines the written documentation of freeing African Americans from segregation and discrimination. In comparison to the Emancipation Proclamation, King also outlines the basic principles of

As Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his speech he makes a reference to Lincoln’s speech “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the

Dr. King used attribute and references throughout his speech to assist sway the audience, his experience, knowledge, and knowledge that helped more strengthen his arguments. During Dr. King’s speech, he raised the influence of United States President and his own views on civil rights and therefore the modification to come back. He commemorated the previous president and expressed “A great American, in which whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the emancipation proclamation.” He stated the freeing Proclamation to mention that it gave hope to Negros, for the liberty of slaves however it wasn’t enough as a result of Negros were still not free. His recognition additionally showed his use of attribute as a result of Lincoln was a person of power and a noteworthy president WHO sceptered the Yankee folks throughout the war and fought for freedom and equality. Also, several Americans viewed United States President as a job model, and by referencing him he convinced the audience to want they were fighting for an identical cause in seeking modification.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. opens his speech with “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the emancipation proclamation”, which freed all slaves and gave hope. He immediately mentions how 100 years later the Negro is still not free and is being treated unequal. He advises all Americans to take action immediately but to do so in a non-violent way. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made it aware that he wasn’t blind by all the pain and suffering they were going through but he was still holding on to his dream that one day everyone would be able to live in harmony. He also invokes authority by using the Declaration of Independence. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. quotes, ‘“unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit