What Are The Rhetorical Devices In I Have A Dream Speech

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.

He does this by justifying his actions through the use of quotation, allusions, and pathos. As he justifies his action, King ultimately conveys a bigger idea of inequality and oppression in America. America is supposedly the land of freedom and equality, however with segregation, the creations of unjust laws, and oppression towards certain groups, people are tied down and restricted from their rights. Action is required to protect these rights, and waiting for a designated time is futile. This not only applies to issues of the past, but also issues of today. Many LGBT, blacks, females, etc. are still experiencing injustices in today’s time and age. Just like King’s claim, action needs to be taken now in order to protect the rights of the people and to establish

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

Secondly within the text King challenges the system that has been forced upon African Americans. Going back the the concept of segregation. It was designed to systematically keep the African American community oppressed without the community knowing it or the government directly stating it. The White lawmakers tried with all their power to keep the African American community powerless and have a sense of inferiority. Martin Luther King Jr. challenged those who tried to enforce this ideology by speaking against it despite the danger. He spoke out against these racist laws in the quote “A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law.” (92, King) Within this quote he speaks against the unfair laws that affected African Americans but they were not able to vote on. It is incredibly unfair and unconstitutional to deny someone the right to vote let alone create a law affecting a specific race without letting

In Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech, King makes use of an innumerable amount of rhetorical devices that augment the overall understanding and flow of the speech. King makes the audience feel an immense amount of emotion due to the outstanding use of pathos in his speech. King also generates a vast use of rhetorical devices including allusion, anaphora, and antithesis. The way that King conducted his speech adds to the comprehension and gives the effect that he wants to rise above the injustices of racism and segregation that so many people are subjected to on a daily basis.

King uses plenty of simile and also allusion in his speech. This makes much more people feel like what is going on is very unfair and disrespectful. He is comparing real world examples to everything that was going on during this time. The examples he uses are great for him, but they’re better for the way the American view the things that were happening around them during this time. King wants people to realize how unequally blacks are

King is trying to connect to the crowd of people and trying to get equal rights for everyone no matter their religion,color of their skin. “King is connecting with his audience member not only as a fellow man of color, but as a parent of children whom he hopes will inherit a better world because of his actions in the civil rights movement now” he is saying that he wants his kids to have a better life than him because he got judged by the color of his skin and he doesn't want that for his kids. A 100 years ago slavery was suppose to stop but it didn't. “ Five score year ago a great America in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree is a great beacon light of hope it millions of negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of injustice…..” this shows that even though slavery had ended it was still going on and people still had to do hard word just because the color if their

He mentions “that all men would be guaranteed the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;” however, how come this declaration only applies to white men and not black men? He raises the issue of discrimination against African Americans in front of millions of people and he states that there is no equality between both groups. This declaration should be taken seriously and understood by everyone and should not leave African Americans out. King also alludes to Abraham Lincoln’s speech at Gettysburg “5 score years ago,” which means that he is emphasizing that to this day one hundred years have passed and yet there is no change whatsoever. He also uses Lincoln’s words because he is literally standing at the Lincoln memorial.

The grievances occurring in 1963 weren’t supposed to still be an issue to African Americans. Dr. King references the Emancipation Proclamation and tells of the injustice still being reaped. They were given rights in the Constitution, but their daily lives tell another story. African Americans were still encountering racism through forms of employment and schooling. Dr. King wants to be given what they were promised: equality.

Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his speech, “I Have a Dream” in front of a million audience back in 1963. His speech served as a call for civil and economic rights for Americans and a call for an end to the racism that happened in the country. His speech has become an inspiration for people to fight for justice up until now. To this end, King uses rhetorical devices to address various points in support of his speech.

Martin Luther King, Jr. wanted peace and he was determined to speak it into existence. As powerful as King’s speech was and still is, it had to have a more concrete meaning. King’s approach to the situation only made his speech more dynamic because King was not just fighting for African Americans, but he was fighting for the world. King’s use of rhetorical devices made his “I Have a Dream” speech what it is today. Pathos was the dominant rhetorical device, but the way King used amplification, authority, and anaphora made the people of yesterday and today appreciate things a bit

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] Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation,”.stated Martin Luther King, Jr. in his speech “I Have A Dream,”.which he gave on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, during a march on Washington (1).King’s purpose in his speech was to expound on the need for change in civil rights, especially for black Americans. By utilizing repetition, an extended metaphor and light and dark imagery,King connects logically and emotionally to his audience to evoke a sense of power to overcome racism.

From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial more than two score years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King electrified America with his momentous "I Have a Dream" speech. Aimed at the entire nation, King’s main purpose in this speech was to convince his audience to demand racial justice towards the mistreated African Americans and to stand up together for the rights afforded to all under the Constitution. To further convey this purpose more effectively, King cleverly makes use of the rhetorical devices — ethos, pathos and logos — using figurative language such as metaphors and repetition as well as various other techniques e.g. organization, parallel construction and choice of title.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech is one of the most successful and most legendary speeches in United States history. Martin Luther King Jr. was a masterful speaker, who established a strong command of rhetorical strategies. By his eloquent use of ethos, logos, and pathos, as well as his command of presentation skills and rhetorical devices, King was able to persuade his generation that "the Negro is not free" (King 1). His speech became the rallying cry for civil rights and lives on as an everlasting masterpiece.