Rhetorical Analysis Of Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

On August 28, 1963 over 200,000 people gathered around the Lincoln Memorial to hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his infamous speech entitled “I Have a Dream.” King’s speech, “I Have a Dream,” would initiate a change in the hearts and minds of even the most close minded Americans during the apex of the civil rights movement in America. He was able to stand up and inspire a torn and corrupt nation to action with his powerful speech. King was able to masterfully incorporate pathos and ethos in his rhetoric speech in order to supply proof to all Americans that racism and segregation was not our Founding Father’s intention for America.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had the ability to stir emotion in the hearts of both black and white Americans through his use of pathos. Knowing

that the majority of his audience were Bible believing, King’s use of the Bible definitely sparked an emotional response within his audience. King says, “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (3). By directly quoting scripture, King was able to use the Bible to construct a belief that what he was saying is truth. Throughout his speech, King stirs emotion in the hearts of his audience through his use of metaphors. King states “And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream” (2). King uses this metaphor of the American dream as a way to appeal to all Americans. He conveys that his dream is the same as any other white American. King is trying to persuade his audience that everyone deserves to have the freedom to dream and achieve those dreams. King continues to use pathos in order to appeal to his audience by using the appeal that he is a father and only wants more for his children. King declares, “ I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character” (2). This metaphor allowed his listeners to relate to him on a fatherly level, it made his audience realize that all parents have aspirations for their children. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was able to relate to his audience on an emotional level by utilizing pathos.
Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr. established credibility with his audience through the use of ethos. In his speech, he uses the Declaration of Independence to invoke authority for his cause. King states, “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” (1). By quoting the Declaration of Independence, he is establishing that the supreme law of the land is on his side. Another figure that King analyzes to established credibility with his audience his Abraham Lincoln. King declares, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the emancipation proclamation” (1). King’s use of Lincoln brought a certain authority into his speech that could not be obtained otherwise. Lincoln was a great man who empowered the American people throughout the civil war, he gained the trust of his country by establishing a new sense of freedom. Martin Luther King is invoking the authority of Lincoln and his view on civil rights by quoting this infamous leader. King sets up his own credibility by tapping into the authority of a great American and our

constitution.
Martin Luther King’s skillful and articulate use of rhetoric in his “I have a Dream” speech was a major turning point in American history and represented a firm stand for equal rights. He spoke out to confront the issues of racism in our nation. This speech was not the beginning or the ending, but a remarkable moment in the fight for equal rights of everyone. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “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!” (3).