In 1963, prominent civil rights leader, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. of Atlanta, Georgia gave a speech to the numerous participants of the March on Washington movement. In his speech to those ardent supporters of civil liberty, King discussed his hopes and “dreams” for the salvation and freedom of his people in the United States of America. In his exceptional speech, Dr. King utilized the rhetorical strategies of Metaphor, Repetition, and Allusion to captivate his audience and to spread his message throughout the nation. Amongst his speech, Dr. King commands use of metaphors -- a comparison between two different things -- to inspire his audience deeply. In the beginning of the speech, King states that “five score years ago” Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation which intended to free the Negro slaves and brought “a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.” However after many years his people were not entirely free, bringing increased meaning to the comparison of “captivity” to that of a “long night” and freedom to that of “a joyous daybreak.” King’s metaphor not only brings hope to those fighting for justice …show more content…
and liberty but an even greater realization of the difficult path they have taken to free themselves from treacherous injustice. Dr. King’s excellent use of the metaphor brings power and effect to his speech. Repetition, or reuse of a word or phrase, amidst other rhetorical strategies in King’s speech, particularly stands out in a sense that it greatly emphasizes his important points and his main message.
In his address, King calls for the audience to “go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, [and to] go back to South Carolina” to fight for the rights and privileges given to other citizens in the United States. Later on King states that “with this faith, [they] will be able to transform…the nation, with this faith, [they] will be…free one day.” Again, Dr. King uses repetition; this time appealing to the crowd’s religious views by stating with hope, faith and prayer, the oppressed can be freed. Repetition not only emphasizes his call to action but continually builds on King’s increasing passion; intensifying his milestone
speech. Perhaps one of King’s most effective strategies in his oration for freedom is allusion -- a recall of historical events-- to the relevant past. In the beginning of his speech, Dr. King alludes to the time when the founding fathers and “architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence” promising freedom for all men. Despite their promise, King states that the following generations have ignored those sacred words of freedom for all. Dr. King’s historical allusion calls on the governance and lawmakers of Washington D.C. to honor and deliver their age old promise for the Negroes’ and all people in America. Use of allusion by Dr. King proves to be another powerful strategy in motion of creating a solid, heart spoken speech for liberty. During the March on Washington for civil liberties, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech on his “dream” for a brighter future in America, struck a chord in the hearts of nearly all of those who listened. His call to action for Negroes and the passionate supporters of civil justice to come together and fight for their God-given rights; utilizing powerful rhetorical strategies such as metaphor, repetition, and allusion; resonated across the country. “I have a dream today…” King stated again and again, drawing hope for all who listened. Through use of his powerful language style and voice, Dr. King brought hope of a great future to the subdued people of America.
On August 28th, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C, Martin Luther King Jr., spoke to roughly twenty-five thousands people attending the March on Washington for jobs and freedom. In Dr. King’s speech, “I Had a Dream”, he uses rhetorical devices to convey that all people are created equal and to educate the importance of the Civil Rights Movement.
Dr. King’s speech starts off with a very strong and well calculated use of logos. He starts his speech with a historical background of African Americans situations in America. He enlightens the audience that 100 years earlier Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation which gave all the slaves their freedom. Then after that statement he says that 100 years later African Americans are still not free. Yes, they are no longer sl...
Persuasion Throughout history there have been many struggles for freedom and equality. There was the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. There was the fight against government censorship in Argentina, spoken against by Luisa Valenzuela. And there was the struggle for women's equality in politics, aided by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
On August 28, 1963 more than 250,000 civil-rights supporters attended the March on Washington. Addressing the protesters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Profoundly, he proclaimed for a free nation of equality where all race would join together in the effort to achieve common ground. King stated his yearning for all colors to unite and be judged by character, not by race. African Americans would not be satisfied until their desire for freedom from persecution, bitterness, and hatred prevailed. Not only were the points in his speech powerful, but also the delivery he gave was so persuading and real that it changed the hearts of many people across America. By using four artificial proofs, mythos, logos, ethos, and pathos, Martin Luther King was able to open the eyes of people who were blinded by the color of skin.
Whenever Martin Luther King Junior, began to speak, he held everybody’s attention. This was the case in 1963 during the pinnacle of the Civil Rights Movement when Martin gave his career defining speech “I Have a Dream”. Over a quarter million people attended the protest, and the crowd varied in color as well as cause. A crowd of this size would certainly frighten most people; but Martin was not the type of man to be phased easily. Martin grew up on the racist streets of Atlanta, Georgia and faced much adversity in his life. Not even thirty-five Martin would give a speech that would shake an embroiled nation to its core. Martin Luther King Junior gave a speech to beautifully wove together the three appeals of ethos, logos, and pathos into one
On August 28th, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous and powerful speech I Have a Dream, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. The purpose of his speech was to fight for the civil rights, equality, and to stop the discrimination against African-American people. His use of imagery, repetition, and metaphor in his speech had created an impact with his audience. King used the three rhetorical devices, ethos, pathos and logos to help the audience understand the message of his speech.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most important voices of America, who used non-violent methods to fight for freedom and equality for all in his nation. On August 28th, 1969, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., King delivered his most iconic speech “I Have a Dream.” In this speech, repetition, ethos, pathos, and logos are used to persuade the audience about the importance of the Civil Rights Movement. To create the greatest demonstration for freedom, he used these literary devices to “dramatize a shameful condition” (“I Have a Dream”). Although his life was taken away, his legacy continues to live on today.
Dr. King uses ethos, logos, and pathos effectively throughout his letter to address a large audience. He intertwines the three rhetorical strategies seamlessly to support his argument. Although Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has his critics in the clergy who argue against his civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, he effectively uses all three types of rhetorical strategies to effective persuade his critics by explaining why his actions are just and timely in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
Martin Luther King, Jr was an exceptional orator who knew how to persuade an audience into adopting his own beliefs and changing their perspectives through the way he weaved language techniques into his speeches. To add further impact, he delivered his message in a dominant, strong, emotional way in order to show that the African-American society were not afraid to fight against the unjustly treatment they endured for so long and that they weren’t taking no for an answer in regards to civil rights.
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.
On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech to more than 200,000 people during the March on Washington. King's speech was one of the most influential during the era of the Civil Rights Movement and is to this day recognized as a masterpiece due to its effect on the audience as well as for its eloquence and language. Many components went into this passionate speech that portrayed King's hopes for racial equality and a brighter future made the speech as moving as it was. It is doubtful that any person can guess that this speech was written without forethought regarding what goals King wished to accomplish in this speech. Martin Luther King Jr.'s eloquent language was perfectly suited to his audience, both his immediate and secondary audience, and his carefully chosen diction helped to shape arguable one of the most touching works ever spoken.
On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave one of the most notable speeches in American history, at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. King started off his famous “I Have a Dream” speech by stating the impact it would have on America’s civil rights movement: “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation” (King 1). With knowledge of rhetoric and persuasion, King had a substantial impact on the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr.’s use of ethos, pathos, and logos appeals enable King to persuade the audience to achieve equality.
King tells of his faith in Christianity to help win the fight to rights. King says, “Our actions must be guided by the deepest principles of our Christian faith,” this statement shows his faith in the power of Christianity. King wants to use love along-side faith to fight his war. On the other hand, King is also inspired by fellow civil rights activist. He quotes Booker T. Washington with this quote, “Let no man pull you so low as to make you hate him,” Washington’s words to hand in hand with what King believes. Bothe men believe in being peaceful and loving. They believe by being this way, blacks could earn their rights. Within this section King effectively uses loaded language. King says, “We are not wrong in what we are doing. If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong. If we are wrong, Jesus of the Nazareth was merely a Utopian dreamer who never came down to earth,” the entire section is loaded language. King says all of these thing to prove that blacks are not wrong for wanting rights and fighting for those
Martin Luther King Jr. was the most influential leader of the American Civil Rights Movement as he fought for the freedom of African Americans. King’s most influential speech is his “I Have a Dream” given on August 28, 1963.1 King himself was a man whom thousands of people admired. Martin Luther King Jr. uses an expressive tone in his speeches by using verbal powerful imagery toward his audience, reminding them of the challenges facing them and defeating racism. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired others to take action, lead by example, as shown in his speeches and promoted non-violence as a method for change.
King begins his speech by referencing important historical documents such as the Constitution of the United States and the Emancipation Proclamation. This is emphasized when he states, ”Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation...But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free”. Which shows how even though the Emancipation Proclamation freed the African Americans from slavery, they still are not free because of segregation. He then transitions to the injustice and suffering that the African Americans face. He makes this