Rhetorical Analysis Of The American Dream

Political Speech

“The American Dream”, By Martin Luther King

The American Dream was a political speech that was made in 1963 on 28th August in the presence of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. by Martin Luther King. The speech that was made by Dr. King can be divided into six categories. In the first section comprises of the introduction part where he makes it clear on the issue of freedom. The second part he mentioned the hopes of black people which have not been realized yet it was given many years ago. On the third section, Martin shows how the blacks are still being discriminated and segregated at present. The fourth section he brings forth what can be done to avoid or to be changed to the then situation. The fifth section, Martin assures the people who are rejected that he wants to change their life. Finally, Luther concludes by saying equality for everyone can only be realized through hope and faith.
The Purpose of the speech that was made by Martin was meant to unite people who were living in America.

Luther brings to the attention of individuals that his aim was to be achieved by everybody when he said “greatest demonstration for freedom in American history.” He gave hope to the blacks by demonstrating that everyone was equal and they have same opportunities. In his speech, he showed how various people are treated according to their color of skin. Those who were being discriminated he advised them to go everywhere they come from, and they should not be afraid of the future. Martin continued to repeat this continually, and he was addressing everybody include those from Mississippi and any other place.
The speaker was very effective in delivering his speech since he employed different techniques for the overall success.

For example, Martin used imagery to give his speech successful such as “lonely island of poverty” and “vast ocean of material prosperity.” This image shows the distance that existed between the lives of the whites and those of the blacks. On the other hand, he mentioned that lonely island which is surrounded by an ocean indicates that majority are doing well in their lives. This is a clear indication that the white people are taking advantage of the blacks. The success of Martin speech can also attribute to the use of metaphor when he said the shadow of a great American. In this context, he meant that the person still dominates people head. This is because the shadow is something which exists if the sun does not go down. Martin Luther has managed to convey the purpose of his speech to the audience in a more constructive

manner.
When Martin was delivering his speech, he used gestures a lot to communicate to his audience. At various times he raised his hand as a sign of dissatisfaction of what the blacks were undergoing. Additionally, when giving his speech, he keeps on moving his head back and forth as a sign of injustice and determination. Similarly, his chin was held high up in the entire speech as a sign of being steadfast on what he was saying. Martin keeps adjusting his tone, especially where he wanted to put more stress. All these body languages helped him to deliver an outstanding speech which still runs down in the memory of most Americans.