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Martin Luther King, Jr. is giving a passionate speech to Americans at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. He is addressing the lack of African American civil rights in 1963. Black people were facing segregation and discrimination throughout the country and King wanted to stop both of these. The speech was given with over 200,000 people present and in support of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his movement. King uses a variety of rhetorical strategies in his speech including, diction, figure of speech, anaphoras to get his point across. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s word choice is positive and uplifting to gain support for his cause. He never uses negative diction toward any person even though his and other African Americans civil rights are nonexistent. King, in spite of many white Americans hatred of African Americans, says that his followers should not feel any hostility towards them considering “their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom” (Paragraph 12). His word choice was very passionate and almost preacher like in a sense. …show more content…
King creates an emotional appeal to the audience by using powerful moral overtones such as his dream of the African American people being free from segregation and discrimination. The next rhetorical strategy King uses is figure of speech.
In his speech, he uses an extended metaphor that compares a bad check to the civil rights of African Americans. He states that the check was a promise to all men that they would be granted the “unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Paragraph 4) and that African Americans have been granted a bad check that came back to “insufficient funds” (Paragraph 5). Then, King goes on to declare that he and other African Americans should refuse to “believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt” (Paragraph 6) and should fight, peacefully, for the rights they deserve. Next, King uses imagery to illustrate images through the minds of his audience. He describes the state in which the African Americans are at the time of the speech by saying “the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity” (Paragraph
3). As a final point, King uses several anaphoras to get his point across in his speech. For example, he recites the phrase “We can never be satisfied” to begin paragraph 14 and starts the beginning of each sentence with that until the end of that paragraph. This shows his spirit towards what he wants done for the civil rights of black people. Another illustration of this rhetorical strategy is King repeats the expression of “I have a dream” in the beginning of paragraph 19 and ending in paragraph 23. Repeating these phrases is a very effective way of depicting the point King wants to get across. It shows the importance of the words following and brings attention to them. King’s speech was a very important movement in the acquisition of civil rights for African Americans. The speech is very enthusiastic and shows Martin Luther King, Jr.’s passion toward the subject. The rhetorical strategies he uses are very useful to his speech in the way of bringing emphasis to certain points. King’s rhetorical strategies that he uses are diction, figure of speech, and anaphoras.
Martin Luther King, Jr., born on January 15, 1929, was well known for his nonviolent movement to bring justice and to an end to the segregation of the people in the United States back in the 1950s. With King being the leader of a peaceful protest, it failed to bring equally to the colored people. Martin Luther King, Jr. was labeled as an “outsider” who was “hatred and violence” and that his actions were “unwise and untimely” from the Public Statement by Eight Alabama Clergymen (clergymen). In response, on the day of April 16, 1963, he wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail to declare and defense his movement was not “unwise and untimely” at all. To analyze his points, King used the powerful literary devices of pathos- use of an emotional appeal.ethos-
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...
In reading the first few paragraphs in the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr shows commitment to all African Americans. He says, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. In the one sentence King declared that he would fight racial...
talks about how African Americans in the South were being arrested and publicly chastened by the police force for their nonviolent protests. But, he extols these protests because of what they stand for. He says they “…preserve the evil system of segregation…I wish you had commended the Negro demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer, and their amazing discipline in the midst of the most inhuman provocation” (94). Because these people were aiming to end the discrimination they were facing, and did this in a peaceful manner that respected their Judeo-Christian values that all men are created equal, King saw it as exactly what this oppressed group needed. They needed a push of confidence to know that they were being treated unjustly, and that they did have the power to stand up to
Through pain in our hearts, comes wisdom through our minds.In Martin Luther King Jr.’s (MLK Jr.) eulogy by Robert F. Kennedy. The eulogy expresses MLK Jr.’s life and love to justice for his fellow human beings. Robert F. Kennedy was able to overcome injustice through non-violent means by using repetition and allusion in his speech.
On April 16, 1963, from a jail in Birmingham, Alabama, Martin Luther King Jr. composed an extensive letter to eight clergymen who condemned the timing of the civil rights movement. Although the letter was addressed to these eight clergymen, the Letter from Birmingham Jail speaks to a national audience, especially King’s “Christian and Jewish brothers”(King, 29). His peaceful but firm letter serves as a remarkably persuasive voice to an immensely chaotic mess, and is seen as a major turning point in the civil rights movement. King believes that without direct action, the full rights for African Americans could never be achieved. He defends the impatience of people in the civil rights movement, upholding that without forceful demonstrations, equality will never be reached. King upholds that human rights must take precedence over unjust laws. His eloquent language and use of classical argumentation make his case resilient and convincing. King’s expert use of pathos invokes anger, sympathy and empathy; his impeccable use of logos made his argument rational to all; and his use of ethos, especially his use of biblical references, makes his opinions more authoritative.
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
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.
Martin Luther King, Jr. wants to be the spokesperson of the African American community in the United States of America. His intention is to prove his opponents he has sufficient authority to promote the civil rights cause on behalf of his community. The first example that illustrates Martin Luther King, Jr.'s use of this strategy is present in the second paragraph of his letter: "I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference". Thus, he reminds his interlocutors of his position of leadership in the religious community....
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’s historical speech in 1963 has held great symbolic value not only for the African Americans, but also for all of the equal rights supporters of every age and race. He was the first one who really fought for the same rights of African Americans and therefore inspired other people to live his dream and to continue his work for racial equality.
August 28th, 1963 was the day that ignited the ending of racism and the beginning of equal rights. This day was the day of the March on Washington for jobs and freedom where several civil rights leaders were going to speak, including Martin Luther King Jr. The march consisted of tens of thousands of marchers to press the government for equality. MLK had many people help him write his speech, but once they were done helping, he made all different kinds of changes and corrections to make it perfect; he stayed up until 4 am the night before perfecting it. One of his advisers ,Wyatt Walker, suggested to him, “Don't use the lines about 'I have a dream',It's trite, it's cliche; You've used it too many times already.” (Younge Online). MLK took Wyatt’s
The purpose of the speech was to address the issues of segregation and racism as a whole. King speaks about the issues of racism and segregation in America during the 1960’s. He encourages the use of non-violent protests and to fight for equality to help America solve the issue. 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.